The Amaranth Genome -

Dr. Michael Deyholos holds a B.Sc. in Genetics from the University of Alberta, and a Ph.D. in Plant Molecular Biology from McGill University.  His doctoral dissertation focused on the developmental genetics of the plant vascular system. Subsequently, he completed postdoctoral studies on abiotic stress genomics at the University of Arizona. Following 12 years as a faculty member of the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta, he moved to the University of British Columbia, where he is currently Professor and Head of Biology.  He has continued his use of whole genome sequencing, transcriptome, and proteome analysis to study relationships between the cell wall, pathogens, and small metabolites in plants.  His laboratory was a major contributor to the sequencing and annotation of the genomes of flax, amaranth, and other vascular plants.  He was also a major contributor to the One Thousands Plants project.

Dr. John D?lano-Frier got his B.Sc. in Food Biochemistry and Engineering at the Instituto Tecnol?gico y de Estudios Superiors de Monterrey, in Mexico, his M.Sc. inFood Science, with Distinction, at The University of Reading, in England, and his Ph.D. at Washington State University under the supervision of Dr. Ryan. His doctoral dissertation was centered on the role of systemin and prosystemin, the first bioactive peptide reported and its protein precursor, respectively, in biotic stress response regulation. He is now a Research Professor at Cinvestav, at Irapuato. Here, he has continued to research systemin and related peptides, not only as regulators of defense response but also of mutualistic relationships with beneficial microorganisms, such as non-pathogenic bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi. He has also concentrated on the study of biotic responses in grain amaranth, and his group has recently developed a reliable method to genetically transform grain amaranth roots, from which transgenic amaranth plants can be regenerated. He is also interested in defining the role of transcriptionally restricted genes in the regulation of stress responses and/or development processes.