Dr. Vojislava Grbic
Arabidopsis Developmental Genetics/ Genomics of plant-pest interaction/ Biotechnology
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Position: Associate Professor Office: Rm 341 WSC Phone: 519 661-2111 x 86898 Fax: 519 661-3935 Email:vgrbic@uwo.ca |
Research:
Arabidopsis Developmental Genetics
The aim of my research is to understand the molecular mechanisms that govern diversity of plant shoot forms. We are using the reference plant Arabidopsis thaliana for which excellent molecular-genetic resources are available and thousands of wild inbred strains have been collected, including some (e.g. Sy-0) with altered shoot morphology. We initially identified changes in the expression of flowering time genes FLC, FRI and HUA2, as required for the establishment of the Sy-0 phenotype and the lab is now focused on understanding the functions of the HUA2 gene, a putative pre-mRNA processing factor. We are also analyzing natural genetic variations in the floral regulator MAF2 that is a member of the tandemly duplicated cluster of MADS-box containing transcription factors in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Selected publications:
1. Rosloski SM, Jali SS, Balasubramanian S, Weigel D, Grbic V. (2010) Genomic rearrangements and natural variation in splicing of MADS AFFECTING FLOWERING 2 leads to diverse flowering responses in Arabidopsis thaliana. Genetics 186, 263-276.
2. Wang Q, Sajja U, Rosloski S, Humphrey T, Kim MC, Bomblies K, Weigel D, Grbic V. (2007) HUA2 Caused Natural Variation in Shoot Morphology of A. thaliana. Curr Biol. 17, 1513-1519.
3. Poduska B, Humphrey T, Redweik A and Grbic V (2003) The synergistic activation of FLOWERING LOCUS C by FRIGIDA and a new flowering gene AERIAL ROSETTE 1 underlies a novel morphology in Arabidopsis. Genetics 163, 1457-1465.
Genomics of plant-pest interaction
http://www.spidermite.org/gapm/
To develop alternative pest control strategies for sustainable agriculture, it is important to understand the interaction between plant and its herbivore. We are using the Arabidopsis thaliana and the newly established chelicerate model Tetranychus urticae (spider mite) to uncover genomic responses of both organisms during plant-herbivore interaction. This work is part of the international collaborative initiative (GAP-M, http://devbiol.zoo.uwo.ca/spidermite/) that is funded by Genome Canada and Ontario Genomics Institute, and by Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation.
Selected publications:
1. Miodrag Grbic, Thomas Van Leeuwen, Richard M. Clark, Stephane Rombauts, Pierre Rouzé , Vojislava Grbic, and 49 more. (2011) The genome of Tetranychus urticae reveals herbivorous pest adaptations. Nature 479:487-492.
2. Grbic´ M, Khila A, Lee K, Bjelica A, Grbic´ V, Whistlecraft J, Verdon L, Navajas M, Nagy L (2007) Mity model: Tetranychus urticae, a candidate chelicerate model organism. Bioessays 29, 489-496.
Biotechnology
The overall goal is to exploit fundamental knowledge to develop novel tools for sustainable agriculture and development of novel materials. To date, two applications are under development:
a) RNAi-based pest control for the spider mite
b) spider mite silk as natural bio nanomaterial
