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Recent Alumni from the Rotation PhD Programme

Three examples of the achievements of recent alumni illustrate how the rotation year can provide a strong foundation for the development of an excellent PhD research project.

Alex Graf (2010)

Alex used simple yet powerful experimental approaches to link several aspects of plant biology that had previously been studied separately – carbohydrate metabolism, the circadian clock and the control of plant growth and development. The result is a new perspective on the relationship between plant productivity and the diurnal cycle of photosynthesis and nocturnal starch breakdown. Alex’s results, which were published in PNAS, have opened up entirely new avenues of research which are currently being explored through new research funding to his supervisor, Alison Smith. Alex joined the rotation student PhD programme at JIC in October 2005, having completed his first degree at the Martin Luther University, Germany. He is now undertaking a post-doctoral position at the ETH laboratory in Zurich.

Alex commented: "I enjoyed my time as a research student at JIC because it was the perfect environment for a successful PhD where cutting edge technology meets experience and creative thinking."

Comparot-Moss S., Kötting O., Stettler M., Edner C., Graf A., Weise S. E., Streb S., Lue W. L., MacLean D., Mahlow S., Ritte G., Steup M., Chen J., Zeeman S. C., Smith A. M.(2010) A putative phosphatase, LSF1, is required for normal starch turnover in Arabidopsis leaves. Plant Physiology 152 685-97.

Graf A., Schlereth A., Stitt M., Smith A. M.(2010) Circadian control of carbohydrate availability for growth in Arabidopsis plants at night. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 107 9458-63.

Jaeger K. E., Graf A., Wigge P. A.(2006) The control of flowering in time and space Journal of Experimental Botany 57 3415-3418

Sebastian Marquardt (2010)

Sebastian used a forward genetic approach to dissect an RNA-mediated chromatin silencing pathway involved in the control of flowering time. Working with his supervisor, Caroline Dean, Sebastian was able to identify several new genetic components that link a histone demethylase activity with the co-transcriptional processing of nascent noncoding transcripts. The results, which have been published in the high-impact journals PNAS and Science, have broad relevance for understanding the control of gene expression by noncoding RNA and chromatin modification in animals, fungi and plants. Sebastian joined JIC from the Max Planck Institute, Cologne and is continuing his research career at Harvard Medical School.

He commented: "My time as a research student at the JIC was fantastic. Doors were always open and I could receive a lot of support in pursuit of my developing interests".

Liu F., Marquardt S., Lister C., Swiezewski S., Dean C.(2010) Targeted 3' processing of antisense transcripts triggers Arabidopsis FLC chromatin silencing Science 327 94-97

Manzano D., Marquardt S., Jones A. M., Baurle I., Liu F., Dean C.(2009) Altered interactions within FY/AtCPSF complexes required for Arabidopsis FCA-mediated chromatin silencing Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 106 8772-7

Marquardt S., Boss P. K., Hadfield J., Dean C.(2006) Additional targets of the Arabidopsis autonomous pathway members FCA and FY Journal of Experimental Botany 57 3379-3386

Frank Sainsbury (2009)

Frank Sainsbury was awarded the 2009 student prize for outstanding innovations in research on plant-based expression systems in the laboratory of his PhD supervisor, George Lomonossoff. The impact of Frank’s thesis research has been dramatic. In particular, it has led to the development of a non-replicating virus-derived vector that provides extremely high-level protein production in plants. The new CPMV-HT expression system has already been adopted worldwide for the rapid expression of high value protein components. Examples of important applications include the safe development of animal vaccines and the production of antibodies for therapeutic purposes. The research that Frank undertook during his PhD resulted in a large number of publications in refereed journals and several oral presentations at international meetings. There have also been several review articles and a patent application. The technology has been licensed through Plant Bioscience Ltd to the Canadian Biotechnology Company, Medicago Inc. After leaving JIC, Frank progressed to a post-doctoral position at the University of Laval, Canada, where he continues his exciting studies on the production of high-value proteins in plants.

Frank commented: “I really enjoyed my PhD studentship at the John Innes Centre because I was given the opportunity to chose the direction of my studies through the rotation student programme and was provided with the most fantastic research support and facilities.”

Aljabali A. A. A., Sainsbury F., Lomonossoff G., Evans D. J.(2010) Cowpea mosaic virus unmodified empty viruslike particles can be loaded with metal and metal oxide. Small 6 818-821.

Saunders K., Sainsbury F., Lomonossoff G. P.(2009) Efficient generation of cowpea mosaic virus empty virus-like particles by the proteolytic processing of precursors in insect cells and plants. Virology 393 329-37.

Sainsbury F., Liu L., Lomonossoff G. P.(2009) Cowpea mosaic virus-based systems for the expression of antigens and antibodies in plants Methods in Molecular Biology (Editors: Faye L.) Humana Press Inc. 483 25-39.

Sainsbury F., Thuenemann E. C., Lomonossoff G. P. (2009) pEAQ: versatile expression vectors for easy and quick transient expression of heterologous proteins in plants Plant Biotechnology Journal 7 682-693.

Mugford S. T., Qi X., Bakht S., Hill L., Wegel E., Hughes R. K., Papadopoulou K., Melton R., Philo M., Sainsbury F., Lomonossoff G. P., Roy A. D., Goss R. J., Osbourn A.(2009) A serine carboxypeptidase-like acyltransferase is required for synthesis of antimicrobial compounds and disease resistance in oats. Plant Cell 21 2473-2484.

Mugford S. T., Qi X., Bakht S., Hill L., Wegel E., Hughes R. K., Papadopoulou K., Melton R., Philo M., Sainsbury F., Lomonossoff G. P., Roy A. D., Goss R. J., Osbourn A.(2009) A serine carboxypeptidase-like acyltransferase is required for synthesis of antimicrobial compounds and disease resistance in oats. Plant Cell 21 2473-84.

Sainsbury F., Lavoie P-O., D'Aoust M-A., Vezina L-P., Lomonossoff G. P.(2008) Expression of multiple proteins using full-length and deleted versions of cowpea mosaic virus RNA-2 Plant Biotechnology Journal 6 82-92.

Sainsbury F., Lomonossoff G. P.(2008) Extremely high-level and rapid transient protein production in plants without the use of viral replication Plant Physiology 148 1212-1218.

Sainsbury F., Canizares M. C., Lomonossoff G. P.(2007) Cowpea mosaic virus-based expression vectors Virus Expression Vectors (Editors: Hefferon, Kathleen L.) Research Signpost, India 339-355.

Sainsbury F., Tattersall A. D., Ambrose M. J., Turner L., Ellis T. H. N., Hofer J. M. I.(2006) A crispa null mutant facilitates identification of a crispa-like pseudogene in pea Functional Plant Biology 33 757-763.