André Laroche Ph.D.

Research Scientist in Functional Genomics of Cereals

I am a plant molecular biologist with activities in identification of novel stripe rust resistance genes, in modification of a known defeated stripe rust resistance genes to engineer its functionality against novel isolates of stripe rust, in measuring wheat transcripts when modifying circadian clock genes in wheat toward improving its response to abiotic stresses under a climate change reality and in pyramiding a collection of different disease resistance genes in elite winter wheat germplasm using marker assisted selection.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Lethbridge, Alberta

Current research and/or projects

I use molecular genetic techniques to study plant response to fungal pathogens and to to environment, plant development and organization of plant fungal pathogens toward protecting yield of cereal crops.

Upcycling a defeated R gene of wheat, 2019-22

Circadian clock editing in wheat-ccWheat, 2019-23

Stomata signalling for wheat yield, 2019-23

A3GP disease forecasting, 2019-22

Nanocarrier technology for cereal seed treat, 2019-22

Improved Winter Wheat for Western Canada, 2018-23

Crop and Environment Interactions, 2018-21

Fungal and Bacterial Biosystematics, 2019-24

Research and/or project statements

Modification of known genes to improve cereal resistance against pests and abiotic stress
Identification of novel genes to improve cereal resistance to pathogens
Identification and quantification of crop pathogens using highly sensitive and specific techniques
Pyramiding many different disease resistance genes in elite winter wheat germplasm
Participating in mutlidisciplinary teams to improve diagnostic of pest impact on crops

Professional activities / interests

Cereal interaction with fungal pathogens
Cereal development and interaction with environment
Transcriptome analysis and gene identification of plant interactions with pathogens and environment
Training of undergraduate and graduate students in plant molecular genetics

Education and awards

Ph.D. 1987 Plant Sciences Western

M.Sc. 1983 Biology (Plant Physiology & Biochemistry) Sherbrooke

B.Sc. 1979 Biology (Physiology & Biochemistry) Sherbrooke

1989 - present: Wheat Molecular Geneticist, Lethbridge Research & Development Centre. Functional genomics of cereals.

1992 - present: Adjunct Professor, Department Of Biological Sciences (1992-1997 and 2005-present), Department Of Chemistry And Biochemistry (1997-2005), University of Lethbridge.

1987 - 1989: Visiting Fellow with Dr. J. Singh, Plant Research Centre, AAFC Ottawa. Molecular mechanisms of freezing tolerance in members of the Cruciferae

International experience and/or work

Co-supervisor of International Graduate Students

Key publications

Araujo, G.T., Gaudet, D.A., Amundsen, E., Frick, M., Aboukhaddour, R., Selinger, B.L., Laroche, A. (2023). Inoculum threshold for stripe rust infection in wheat. Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology, [online] 45(3), 304-319. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07060661.2023.2177888
2023 - View publication details
Michele Frick, Eric Amundsen, André Laroche. 2022. Distinguishing Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici isolates using genomic sequencing: A case study. Methods in Molecular Biology (In Press)
2022 - View publication details
Laurie J, Laroche A, Henderson I, Foroud N, Graf R, Subramaniam R, Bilichak A. 2022. In optimizing cellular processes for environmental challenges timing is everything! IWYP Science Brief #29
2022 - View publication details
Graf, R.J., Beres, B.L., Laroche, A., Aboukhaddour, R., Larsen, R.J., Humphreys, D.G., Randhawa, H.S., Foroud, N.A. (2022). AAC Vortex hard red winter wheat. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, [online] 102(2), 468-477. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjps-2021-0142
2022 - View publication details
Graf, R.J., Beres, B.L., Laroche, A., Aboukhaddour, R., Humphreys, D.G., Larsen, R.J., Randhawa, H.S., Foroud, N.A., Sidhu, H.S. (2022). AAC Coldfront hard red winter wheat. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, [online] 102(3), 785-795. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjps-2022-0043
2022 - View publication details
Laurie JD, Laroche A. 2021. COP26 Open Mic. Alberta Project Leads Science Conversations Series – Climate Change Focus. December 15, 2021.
2021 - View publication details
Thirugnanasambandam I, Vucurevich T, Shelton T, Watt C, Kav N, Laroche A. Validation of polyclonal antibodies against fungal pathogens of wheat: tan spot and Fusarium head blight. Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Meeting (Virtual) of the Plant Pathology Society of Alberta, Edmonton, AB 2021/11/04 - 2020/11/05. Oral presentation S7.
2021 - View publication details
Harvey C, Araujo GT, Frick M, Laroche A, Laurie JD, Graf RJ, Bilichak A. A genetic approach to improve wheat resilience to emerging stripe rust isolates using novel R gene sequences from Thinopyrum intermedium. Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Meeting (Virtual) of the Plant Pathology Society of Alberta, Edmonton, AB 2021/11/04 - 2020/11/05. Oral presentation T1.
2021 - View publication details
Bahrani, H., Båga, M., Larsen, J., Graf, R.J., Laroche, A., Chibbar, R.N. (2021). The relationships between plant developmental traits and winter field survival in rye (Secale cereale L.). Plants, [online] 10(11), http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/plants10112455
2021 - View publication details
Soto-Cerda B.J., Vasudevan A., Laroche A., Ragupathy R. (2022) Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) in Cereals. In: Bilichak A., Laurie J.D. (eds) Accelerated Breeding of Cereal Crops. Springer Protocols Handbooks. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1526-3_4
2021 - View publication details
Frick M, Bodell K, Masic T, Harvey C, Cradduck M, Jiang F, Foroud F, Graf RJ, Laurie JD, Laroche A. 2021. The circadian clock and regulation of plant growth factors in wheat Plant Biology 2021 Worldwide Summit Virtual Meeting. Poster # 404377
2021 - View publication details
Frick M, Bodell K, Masic T, Harvey C, Cradduck M, Jiang F, Foroud F, Graf RJ, Laurie JD, Laroche A. 2021. Identification of circadian clock regulated immune response genes in wheat. Canadian Society of Plant Biologists – Société canadienne de biologie végétale 2021 Virtual Meeting. Invited Oral presentation Abstract #101
2021 - View publication details
Dhakal, S., Reiter, J.W., Laroche, A., Schultz, E.A. (2021). Leaf vein pattern response to heat and drought requires genes that influence PINFORMED1 localization and is mimicked by ABA treatment. Environmental and Experimental Botany, [online] 185 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envexpbot.2021.104426
2021 - View publication details
Rabanus-Wallace, M.T., Hackauf, B., Mascher, M., Lux, T., Wicker, T., Gundlach, H., Baez, M., Houben, A., Mayer, K.F.X., Guo, L., Poland, J., Pozniak, C.J., Walkowiak, S., Melonek, J., Praz, C.R., Schreiber, M., Budak, H., Heuberger, M., Steuernagel, B., Wulff, B., Börner, A., Byrns, B., Čížková, J., Fowler, D.B., Fritz, A., Himmelbach, A., Kaithakottil, G., Keilwagen, J., Keller, B., Konkin, D., Larsen, J., Li, Q., Myśków, B., Padmarasu, S., Rawat, N., Sesiz, U., Biyiklioglu-Kaya, S., Sharpe, A., Šimková, H., Small, I., Swarbreck, D., Toegelová, H., Tsvetkova, N., Voylokov, A.V., Vrána, J., Bauer, E., Bolibok-Bragoszewska, H., Doležel, J., Hall, A., Jia, J., Korzun, V., Laroche, A., Ma, X.F., Ordon, F., Özkan, H., Rakoczy-Trojanowska, M., Scholz, U., Schulman, A.H., Siekmann, D., Stojałowski, S., Tiwari, V.K., Spannagl, M., Stein, N. (2021). Chromosome-scale genome assembly provides insights into rye biology, evolution and agronomic potential. Nature Genetics, [online] 53(4), 564-573. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41588-021-00807-0
2021 - View publication details
Thirugnanasambandam I, Vucurevich T, Shelton T, Watt C, Kav N, Laroche A. 2021. Development of a multiplex real-time immuno-PCR assay for the simultaneous detection of three wheat fungal pathogens. Fifth Annual Graduate Research Symposium (virtual) Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences (ALES) Graduate Students Association (GSA), University of Alberta, March 29-30, 2021. Poster
2021 - View publication details
Laurie JD, Laroche A. 2021. The circadian clock in the time of changing climate: Using biotechnology to accelerate wheat adaptation. Alberta Project Leads Science Conversations Series – Climate Change Focus. February 10, 2021.
2021 - View publication details
M. Frick, G.T. Araujo, K. Fujita, D. Van Essen, C. Harvey, J.D. Laurie, R.J. Graf and A. Laroche. 2021. Remodeling the functionality of the stripe rust resistance gene Yr10 against current virulent fungal isolates. UBC-STEM Appreciation Night, January 21, 2021.
2021 - View publication details
Araujo, G.T., Amundsen, E., Frick, M., Gaudet, D.A., Aboukhaddour, R., Selinger, B., Thomas, J., Laroche, A. (2021). Detection and quantification of airborne spores from six important wheat fungal pathogens in southern Alberta. Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology, [online] 43(3), 439-454. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07060661.2020.1817795
2021 - View publication details
Wei, C., Fan, R., Meng, Y., Yang, Y., Wang, X., Laroche, A., Liu, D., Zhao, W., Yu, X. (2020). Molecular identification and acquisition of interacting partners of a novel wheat F-box/Kelch gene TaFBK. Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology, [online] 112 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pmpp.2020.101564
2020 - View publication details
Smith MB, Ryabova D, Roy S, Tricker P, Lawson T, Laurie J, Laroche A,*Foroud NA. Cloning a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase YODA from Triticum aestivum for transgenic expression in wheat. 41st Annual Meeting of the Plant Pathology Society of Alberta. On-line meeting, November 4-5, 2020. (Poster Presentation)
2020 - View publication details