Natalie has been awarded a prestigious Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology (QEII-GSST). These merit-based awards are offered to the top applicants to the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) program to encourage excellence in graduate studies at publicly-assisted universities in Ontario, such as UofT. Congratulations, Natalie!
Natalie is off to visit our collaborator, Prof. Berit Ebert, at Ruhr University Bochum in Germany for the next three months. Natalie has been awarded an NSERC Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement to support her travel and she will be conducting biochemical analyses of cell wall samples. Congratulations Natalie and good luck with your experiments!
Plant cells must carefully regulate cell wall synthesis to maintain growth and to respond to developmental, biotic, and abiotic signals. Cellulose, the main load-bearing component of the plant cell wall is made at the cell membrane, so plants can regulate cell wall synthesis by regulating whether cellulose synthase enzymes are active and localized in the cell membrane, or whether they are held inactive within the cell. Yu’s paper in Current Opinion in Plant Biology reviews the mechanisms by which cellulose synthesis is regulated by cellulose synthase enzyme trafficking to the plasma membrane (via exocytosis) or removal from the plasma membrane (via endocytosis).
Free access to the full-text is generously provided by Current Opinion in Plant Biology until October 5.
McFarLab undergraduate Rowan Brookman graduated from his BSc today. As an NSERC-USRA, CSB498 student, and UTEA summer student, Rowan studied how glycosylated proteins and their interactors influence cell wall deposition and root growth. In September, Rowan will join Robin Cameron’s lab at McMaster University as an MSc student. Congratulations Rowan and best wishes with your future work!
Next week, Natalie will give a talk at the Cell Wall Research Conference. The meeting is being held in-person in East Lansing, Michigan, but Natalie will be attending virtually. Catch up with Natalie if you have questions after her talk!
Yesterday, Raegan successfully defended her MSc thesis: “Border Patrol: Real-Time Monitoring of Cell Wall Stress”. Her committee said she “defended beautifully”; congratulations Raegan!
In collaboration with the Yoshioka, Provart, and Desveaux labs, the McFarLab has been awarded funding from the NSERC Research Tools and Instruments program to revitalize critical infrastructure in the department.
You can read more about the award in the news post on the CSB website.
Heather has been granted an Early Researcher Award from the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities. The Early Researcher Awards program provides funding to new researchers working at publicly funded Ontario research institutions to build a research team and will fund a graduate student position and several undergrad positions in the coming years. Undergrads should check CLNX for open work-study positions in the McFarLab.
The McFarLab welcomes nine (9!) summer undergraduate students to the lab this week:
Terrence Amponsah joins the group as a BCB430 student to add new functions to one of our image analysis macros for ImageJ.
Rowan Brookman will continue his summer NSERC-USRA and CSB498 project work as a UTEA winner.
Lella Erceg has transitioned from being a volunteer to a CSB498 project student.
Eskandar Mohammad joins the group as our new summer work-study student.
Li Quan Soh has joined the group as a BCB330 student to conduct network analysis of cell wall glycoproteins.
Leonardo Tullo joins the group as a new volunteer student working with Eduardo.
Rylan Vincent will be working virtually while he also conducts a CSB397 research abroad project.
Carlos Wang will continue volunteering virtually and working on his meta-analysis project.
Vicky Zhu has transitioned from being our fall-winter work study student to having a project of her own as a CSB URA winner.
Welcome to the McFarLab, everyone!
If you’re wondering how these students came to join the group, check out the info on joining the McFarLab team. (hint: Rowan, Eskandar, and Rylan have all participated in the CSB Plant Genomics and Biotechnology Focus Program!)
McFarLab undergrads Vicky Zhu and Rowan Brookman have won summer research awards! Vicky won a CSB Undergraduate Research Award and Rowan a University of Toronto Excellence Award. Congratulations to you both!