Research overview: Jenna is characterizing and mapping dark germinating mutants to identify downstream targets of SMAX1 in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Principal Investigator
Shelley Lumba, Assistant Professor
I specialized in molecular genetics during my undergraduate studies (2000) and applied these principles to study plant hormone signalling and development during my PhD at the University of Toronto (2006). I established high-throughput protein interaction methods in my post-doctoral work at the University of Toronto. I became an assistant professor in the Department of Cell and Systems Biology at The University of Toronto in September, 2016.
Postdoctoral Researchers
Zhenhua Xu
Research overview: Zhenhua is aiming to discover, and study the function of, the components in the strigolactone signaling pathway.
Bruno Aquino
Research overview: Bruno is working on a project to understand the function of proteins involved with strigolactone signaling pathway in seed germination.
James Bradley
Research overview: James is investigating how the highly sensitive strigolactone receptors found in certain parasitic plants function, and how this functionality has evolved.
Graduate Students
Michael Bunsick, PhD Candidate
Research overview:
Hayley McKay, MSc Candidate
Research overview: Hayley is researching the genetic pathways governing male and female flower development in the commercially important plant, Cannabis sativa.
Rachel McCullough, MSc Candidate
Research overview:
Undergraduate Students/Research Assistants
Flora Zhiqi Wang, 4th Year ROP
Research overview: Flora is identifying novel strigolactone receptors in arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi.
Jenna Hountalas, 4th Year ROP
Vanessa Ghorayeb, 4th Year ROP
Research overview: Vanessa is investigating the role of SMAX1 gene haplotypes on germination phenotype across global Arabidopsis thaliana accessions.
George Ly, 4th Year ROP
Research overview: George is conducting transcriptome-wide analysis of germination-related genes in Striga hermonthica.
Gianni Pescetto, Research Assistant
Research overview: Gianni is researching the phenotypic characterization of receptor properties involved in germination.