John D. Laurie, Ph.D.

Research Scientist - Enabling Technologies

Molecular biology

RNAi

Genome editing

Cereals

Plant reproduction

Plant tissue culture

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

5403-1st Avenue South, Lethbridge, Alberta

Current research and/or projects

Principal Investigator together with André Laroche (Co-Lead). Title “Circadian clock editing to increase wheat yield.” CAP – International Wheat Yield Partnership. 2019-2023
Principal Investigator. Title “Nanocarrier technology for the next generation of cereal seed treatments.” AI, AWC, SWDC. 2019-2022

Principal Investigator. Title “Precision breeding in wheat mediated by engineered haploid inducers.” AAF, AWC, SWDC. 2018-2021

Principal Investigator. Title “A Comparative Genomics Approach to Improve Doubled Haploid Breeding for Common and Durum Wheat.” AAF, AWC, SWDC. 2018-2021

Co-Investigator. Title “Stomata signalling pathways for increasing yield potential in wheat.” CAP – International Wheat Yield Partnership. 2019-2023

Co-Investigator. Title “Breeding malting and food barley cultivars for western Canada.” ASC-11 Barley Cluster Activity#3. 2018-2023

Co-Investigator. Title “Unraveling the molecular mechanisms behind abiotic stress tolerance in Medicago sativa and adoption of advanced molecular breeding technology for alfalfa improvement.” AAFC Abase. 2018-2021

Co-Investigator. Title: “Elucidating and exploiting rhizosphere processes for improved soil health and productivity.” AAFC Abase. 2018-2021

Co-Investigator. Title “Upcycling a defeated disease resistance R gene of wheat.” Alberta Funding Consortium. 2019-2022

Professional activities / interests

Agriculture › Biotechnologie

Sciences › Recherche scientifique

Technologie › Biologie moléculaire

Education and awards

Ph.D., Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
M.Sc., Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
B.Sc., Botany, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

International experience and/or work

2015 – 2017, Research Associate: Plant Epigenetics, University of Cambridge. U.K.
2012 – 2015, Senior Research Associate: Plant Epigenetics, University of Nebraska, U.S.A.
2008 – 2012, Post-Doctoral Fellow: Maize seed development, University of Arizona, U.S.A.

Key publications

Laroche A, Singer S, Foroud N, Laurie J, Pittman A. 2020. Modern studies in Crop Sciences / Études Contemporaines chez les Grandes Cultures. Lethbridge AgExpo 2020, Lethbridge, AB, February 26-28, 2020.
2020 - View publication details
Laroche, A., Frick, M., Graf, R.J., Larsen, J., Laurie, J.D. (2019). Pyramiding disease resistance genes in elite winter wheat germplasm for Western Canada, 7(6), 739-749. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cj.2019.08.005
2019 - View publication details
M. Frick, C. Harvey, D. Mohler-Penna, J. Larsen and A. Laroche. 2019. Identification of Novel R Gene Sequences from Thinopyrum intermedium. Proceedings of the 40th Annual Meeting of the Plant Pathology Society of Alberta Lacombe, AB 2019/11/04 - 2019/11/06
2019 - View publication details
Bilichak A., Gaudet D., Laurie J. (2020) Emerging Genome Engineering Tools in Crop Research and Breeding. In: Vaschetto L. (eds) Cereal Genomics. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2072. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-9865-4_14
2019 - View publication details
Bilichak, A., D. Gaudet, and J. Laurie, Emerging Genome Engineering Tools in Crop Research and Breeding, in Cereal Genomics: Methods and Protocols, L.M. Vaschetto, Editor. 2020, Springer US: New York, NY. p. 165-181.
2019 - View publication details
Li, G., Wang, D., Yang, R., Logan, K., Chen, H., Zhang, S., Skaggs, M.I., Lloyd, A., Burnett, W.J., Laurie, J.D., Hunter, B.G., Dannenhoffer, J.M., Larkins, B.A., Drews, G.N., Wang, X., Yadegari, R. (2014). Temporal patterns of gene expression in developing maize endosperm identified through transcriptome sequencing, 111(21), 7582-7587. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1406383111
2014 - View publication details
Ali, S., Laurie, J.D., Linning, R., Cervantes-Chávez, J.A., Gaudet, D., Bakkeren, G. (2014). An Immunity-Triggering Effector from the Barley Smut Fungus Ustilago hordei Resides in an Ustilaginaceae-Specific Cluster Bearing Signs of Transposable Element-Assisted Evolution. PLoS Pathogens, [online] 10(7), http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1004223
2014 - View publication details
Xin, M., Yang, R., Li, G., Chen, H., Laurie, J., Ma, C., Wang, D., Yao, Y., Larkins, B.A., Sun, Q., Yadegari, R., Wang, X., Ni, Z. (2013). Dynamic expression of imprinted genes associates with maternally controlled nutrient allocation during maize endosperm development, 25(9), 3212-3227. http://dx.doi.org/10.1105/tpc.113.115592
2013 - View publication details
Laurie, J.D., Linning, R., Wong, P., Bakkeren, G. (2013). Do TE activity and counteracting genome defenses, RNAi and methylation, shape the sex lives of smut fungi?. Plant Signaling & Behavior, [online] 8(4), http://dx.doi.org/10.4161/psb.23853
2013 - View publication details
Laurie, J.D., Ali, S., Linning, R., Mannhaupt, G., Wong, P., Güldener, U., Münsterkötter, M., Moore, R., Kahmann, R., Bakkeren, G., Schirawski, J. (2012). Genome comparison of barley and maize smut fungi reveals targeted loss of RNA silencing components and species-specific presence of transposable elements. Plant Cell, [online] 24(5), 1733-1745. http://dx.doi.org/10.1105/tpc.112.097261
2012 - View publication details
Bakkeren, G., Ali, S., Laurie, J.D., Cervantes-Chávez, J.A., Song, X., and Linning, R. (2010). "Genetic and genomic studies to understand the molecular basis of sex and pathogenicity in Ustilago species.", XVI Biennial Workshop on the Smuts and Bunts, Lethbridge, AB, Canada, June 14-18, 2010. (Presentation)
2010 - View publication details
Ali, S., Laurie, J.D., Linning, R., and Bakkeren, G. (2009). "Analysis of a genomic region in the barley smut fungus, Ustilago hordei, containing a cluster of predicted secreted proteins and an avirulence function.", 14th International Congress on Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, Centre des congrès de Québec, Québec City, QC, Canada, July 19-23, 2009.
2009 - View publication details
Laurie, J.D., Linning, R., and Bakkeren, G. (2008). "Hallmarks of RNA silencing are found in the smut fungus Ustilago hordei but not in its close relative Ustilago maydis.", IVth International Ustilago Meeting, Rauischholzhausen, Germany, August 20-24, 2008. (Presentation)
2008 - View publication details
Laurie, J.D., Linning, R., and Bakkeren, G. (2008). "Hallmarks of RNA silencing are found in the smut fungus Ustilago hordei but not in its close relative U. maydis.", Keystone Symposium: RNAi, MicroRNA, and Non-Coding RNA, Whistler, BC, Canada, March 25-30, 2008. (Poster)
2008 - View publication details
Bakkeren, G., Laurie, J.D., and Linning, R. (2008). "Analysis of a gene cluster harbouring an avirulence function in the barley smut fungus, Ustilago hordei.", IVth International Ustilago Meeting, Rauischholzhausen, Germany, August 20-24, 2008. (Presentation)
2008 - View publication details
Laurie, J.D., Linning, R., Bakkeren, G. (2008). Hallmarks of RNA silencing are found in the smut fungus Ustilago hordei but not in its close relative Ustilago maydis. Current Genetics, [online] 53(1), 49-58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00294-007-0165-7
2008 - View publication details
Laurie, J.D., Linning, R., and Bakkeren, G. (2006). "Analysis of a candidate avirulence gene, UhAvr1, from the basidiomycete barley smut pathogen Ustilago hordei.", 12th International Congress on Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, Cancun, México, December 14-18, 2005. (Abstract)
2006 - View publication details