Mrs Marja O Neill

Technical Staff

Research Interests

I am a member for the Forest Molecular Genetics Research Group where I completed a B.Sc. (Hons) and a M.Sc. degree in Genetics.  The B.Sc. (Hons.) degree involved constructing a cDNA library of Eucalyptus immature xylem tissue in lambda phage. While the Masters project was aimed at analysing the Eucalyptus grandis cellulose synthase 1 (EgCesA1) gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana and the effect that the expression has on endogenous Arabidopsis cellulose synthase and other cell wall related genes. The first part of the study involved isolating the EgCesA1 gene from cDNA and transforming wild-type Arabidopsis plants with a T-DNA construct containing EgCesA1.  This was accomplished using the Gateway^® transformation system and Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated plant transformation.  The second part of the study included expression analysis of EgCesA1 and other cell wall related Arabidopsis genes in transformed Arabidopsis plants in relation to wild-type untransformed plants by qRT-PCR and phenotypic analysis.

 

Currently I work as research assistant in FMG.  I am involved in microsatellite marker analysis of Eucalyptus and pine species, expression profiling of target genes and administration of the LightCycler^® 480 facility.