Kresimir Sola
B.Sc. Biology (2012) University of Zagreb
I started my M.Sc. degree in September 2012. My research focuses on understanding properties of the seed coat mucilage using molecular and genetic techniques. I am trying to identify mechanisms through which plants control cell wall cohesiveness by isolating and cloning suppressors of the mucilage mutant mum2 that has defects in mucilage extrusion.
Yi Chen Lee
B.Sc. Life Science (2007) National Taiwan University
M.Phil. Plant Sciences (2009) University of Cambridge
I started my Ph.D. in the Haughn lab in September, 2012. In my M.Phil. project, I studied signaling transduction between chloroplast and nucleus. My Ph.D. project focuses on the secretion of pectinaceous mucilage and a pectin-modifying enzyme, MUM2 in Arabidopsis seed coat. I use confocal microscopy and other microscope techniques to study the secretion pattern of MUM2 and the possibility that it is co-secreted with mucilage..
Robert McGee
B.Sc. Biological Sciences (2009) University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
M.Sc. Plant Biology (2014) University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
I started my Ph.D. in the Haughn lab in September, 2013. My Masters project was a joint venture between the University of Canterbury and the NZ-government funded Plant and Food Research. This project focused on studying the genetic architecture within a genetic locus that controls parthenogenesis (asexual seed reproduction) in Hieracium praealtum. Staying in the field of seed biology, I have shifted gears with my Ph.D. project and I am now working on seed coat biology. The overall aim of my research is to engineer the mucilage composition in Arabidopsis thaliana seeds to determine how the composition of mucilage impacts its properties. In order to do this I need utilise a set of newly identified seed-coat specific promoters, which will be used to express carbohydrate active enzymes into the seed coat epidermal cells.
Alex (Mingzhe) Liu
B.Sc. Agronomy (2014) Northwest A & F University, China
M.Sc. (2016) Northwest A & F University, China
I got my Bachelor’s Degree of Agronomy in 2014 at Northwest A & F University in China. I continued my research at the same university focusing on plant lipid metabolism and obtained my Master’s Degree in 2016. My Master’s thesis mainly involved investigation of genes that control seed oil accumulation in a model plant Arabidopsis. Therefore, I believe that joining the Haughn & Kunst lab for my Ph.D. is a perfect fit for me.
For my Ph.D. research, I am interested in cloning and functional analysis of genes which may influence both seed lipid metabolism and seed coat development using molecular and genetic techniques. I am currently working on several Arabidopsis lines which exhibit changes in seed oil content compared with wildtype Arabidopsis and trying to find out the underlying cause of their oil variation.