Miranda J. Meents

Dr. Miranda J. Meents

Former Mansfield Lab – PhD Candidate (Sept 2012 – Dec 2018

miranda.meents@botany.ubc.ca
LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/miranda-meents-a9417575
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Miranda_Meents
Google Scholar: scholar.google.ca/citations?user=1WWekGoAAAAJ&hl=en

Currently Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Ljerka Kunst’s lab in the UBC Botany Department

Project

Un-Packing the Golgi Apparatus: Exploring Golgi Structure and Function During Xylem Development

Research Interests

Though this organelle was first discovered nearly 120 years ago, and is found in all eukaryotes, our understanding of the Golgi apparatus is far from complete. Plants provide an important model system in which to study the Golgi, partly because individual Golgi stacks are easily identified in live-cell imaging and electron microscopy. I am using these techniques to look at synthesis in the Golgi of the hemicellulose xylan, a major component of plant secondary cell walls. By transforming plants with an inducible ‘switch’ that allows me to turn on the master transcription factor VND7, I can also turn on secondary cell wall, and xylan, production. I can then map both the xylan biosynthetic enzymes (eg. IRX9) and their products within the three dimensional structure of the Golgi. This will give us a better understanding of the interplay between Golgi structure and function during production of large amounts of protein and polysaccharide cargo.

Education

BSc – Biological Sciences, with Honours and Great Distinction, University of Lethbridge (2009)

Selected Publications and Conference Presentations

de Michele R, McFarlane HE, Parsons HT, Meents MJ, Lao J, González Fernández-Niño SM, Petzold CJ, Frommer WB, Samuels AL, Heazlewood JL (2016). Free-flow electrophoresis of plasma membrane vesicles enriched by two-phase partitioning enhances the quality of the proteome from Arabidopsis seedlings. Journal of Proteome Research (Publication Date (Web): January 19, 2016).

Watanabe Y, Meents MJ, McDonnell LM, Barkwill S, Sampathkumar A, Cartwright HN, Demura T, Ehrhardt DW, Samuels AL, Mansfield SD (2015). Visualization of cellulose synthases in Arabidopsis secondary cell walls. Science 350:198-203. DOI:10.1126/science.aac7446

Arango-Velez A, Galindo Gonzalez LM, Meents MJ, El Kayal W, Cooke BJ, Linsky J, Lusebrink I, Cooke JEK (2013). Influence of water deficit on the molecular responses of Pinus contorta x Pinus banksiana mature tree to infection by the mountain pine beetle fungal associate, Grosmannia clavigera. Tree Physiology.  34 (11): 1220-1239. doi:10.1093/treephys/tpt101

Garrett JJ, Meents MJ, Blackshaw MT, Blackshaw LC, Hou H, Styranko D, Kohalmi S, Schultz EA (2012). A novel, semi-dominant allele of MONOPTEROS provides insight into leaf initiation and vein pattern formation. Planta. 236(1):297-312. doi.org/10.1007/s00425-012-1607-0

Meents MJ, Mansfield SD, Samuels AL (2015). Balancing Xylan Biosynthesis in a Highly Active Golgi Apparatus During Secondary Cell Wall Production. 2015 Gordon Research Conference on Plant Cell Walls. Waltham MA. July 11-17. (Outstanding Poster Award).

de Michele R, Gonzalez Fernandez-Nino S, McFarlane HE, Parsons HT, Meents MJ, Samuels AL, Frommer WB, Heazelwood JL (2014). An Arabidopsis Plasma Membrane Proteome: Data Analysis and Annotation. UBC Botany Graduate Student Symposium. Vancouver, BC. April 11, 2014 (First Place Poster).

Meents MJ, Schultz EA (2009). Temperature Sensitive Infertility in Autobahn, a Vein Patterning Mutant Showing Ectopic Auxin Response. International Plant Vascular Development Conference. Banff, AB. May 8-10.

Awards, Grants, Scholarships

  • Outstanding Poster Award – 2015 Gordon Conference on Plant Cell Walls
  • First Place, Semifinals – 2015 UBC 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition
  • Best Poster – 2014 UBC Botany Graduate Student Symposium
  • Best Oral Presentation of an Honour’s Thesis – 2009 University of Lethbridge, Luke Stebbins Symposium
  • Working on Walls (WoW) Training Program (2012)
  • NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship – Doctoral (CGS-D3) (2014)
  • University of British Columbia Four Year Fellowship (2014)
  • Li Tze Fong Memorial Fellowship (UBC Faculty of Graduate Studies) (2013)
  • NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master’s (CGS-M) (2012)
  • NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA) (2009)

 

Last updated: April 2019