Contact details: name@slu.se
Frauke Augstein – Postdoc – Frauke is from Germany and obtained her Bsc and Msc degrees from RWTH Aachen University including an exchange year at the NTNU Trondheim, Norway. She moved to Sweden where she did her PhD at Uppsala University studying plant root xylem developmental plasticity in response to water deficiency and salt in Annelie Carlsbecker’s lab. She is now investigating the genetic basis of graft incompatibility in Solanaceae species, as tomato and pepper, and the molecular regulation of grafting induced dwarfing using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Email: frauke.augstein
Ellen Fasth – PhD student – Ellen is from Sweden and received her BSc in biology from Umeå University and her MSc in Genetic and Molecular Plant Biology from Uppsala University. Currently, she is investigating the trade-off between defence and regeneration. Apart from science, she enjoys reading, writing and spending time at the summer cottage. Email: ellen.fasth
Elsa Hesslow – MSc student – Elsa is from Sweden and is currently a master’s student in the Applied Biotechnology program at Uppsala University. She has a BSc in Biotechnology from KTH in Stockholm, and has also studied Philosophy and Economics at the University of Edinburgh. She is now doing her thesis project in the lab investigating the role of genes involved in grafting tomato and Arabidopsis. Email: elsa.hesslow
Jinbo Hu – Postdoc – Jinbo is from China and obtained his PhD at the CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences in Shanghai, where his research focused on unraveling the molecular mechanisms underlying the functions of LAZY genes in plant gravity sensing and development. Currently, his research is dedicated to exploring the roles of non-coding RNAs in plant grafting and regeneration processes. Email: jinbo.hu
Abdul Kareem – Postdoc- Kareem is from India and obtained his PhD from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Thiruvananthapuram. During his PhD, he investigated the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying plant regeneration. On completion of his PhD, he moved to Australia as a Postdoc in the laboratory of Marcus Heisler at the University of Sydney to study the coordination of cell polarity during organ formation. He is currently investigating how plants connect their vasculature during plant grafting and why some plants fail to graft (graft incompatibility). He will specifically look at the graft junction formation in different plant species. Email: abdul.kareem.vk
Martina Leso – Postdoc – Martina is from Italy. She received her BSc in Biotechnology from Trento University, and moved to Sweden for her Master’s degree at Uppsala University. She joined the group for her MSc project and then PhD focusing on the role of cell walls during parasitism and grafting. She is currently looking into the influence of sugars during grafting. Email: martina.leso
Nilam Malankar – Postdoc – Nilam is from India and obtained her PhD from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune. During PhD, her research focused on understanding the functions of small non-coding RNAs during stolon-to-tuber transitions in potato. She is currently investigating the effect of abiotic stresses on regeneration during grafting. Email: nilam.malankar
Charles Melnyk – Professor in Plant Physiology – Charles is from Canada and obtained his BSc Hons degree in Biochemistry at his local university in Ottawa. He moved to the UK where he did his PhD at the John Innes Centre and University of Cambridge with David Baulcombe studying mobile small RNAs. He stayed on in Cambridge as a Research Fellow at Clare College and the Sainsbury Laboratory with Elliot Meyerowitz and Ottoline Leyser where he initiated his research on understanding the developmental basis for how plants graft and how parasitic plants infect. Having worked at a plant nursery for four summers, Charles is a keen botanist but also enjoys road cycling, cross country skiing, jogging and traveling. Email: charles.melnyk
Norea Persson – MSc student – Norea is from Sweden and holds a BSc in Horticultural Management from SLU. She is currently pursuing an MSc in Plant Biology for Sustainable Production at SLU. Her master thesis explores how stress priming affects different regeneration processes in plants. Email: norea.persson
Yanbiao Sun – Postdoc – Yanbiao is from China and obtained his PhD from the VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology at Ghent University, Belgium, His did his PhD research in Bert De Rybel’s lab focused on understanding how SPL genes regulate changes in cell division orientation and control the phase transition of the root apical meristem. He is now working as a postdoc in Charles Melnyk’s lab, investigating the role of plasmodesmata (PD) in grafting and regeneration, as well as studying the horizontal gene transfer (HGT) during grafting. Email: yanbiao.sun
Abhinav Uniyal – PhD student – Abhinav is from India and obtained his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Delhi. During his MS (Research) at IISER Thiruvananthapuram, he worked on characterising centromere-associated proteins and their role in uniparental genome elimination. For his PhD, his research focuses on understanding the mechanism of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) during grafting. Email: abhinav.uniyal
Anna van Wüllen – PhD student – Anna is from Germany and obtained her MSc in Biotechnology at the University of Münster, focusing on phytopathology and plant immunity. She is currently working on her PhD project, which focuses on parasitic plant infections and related reactions and mechanisms in the host plant. Email: anna.van.wullen
Ritu Yadav – PhD student – Ritu is from India. She obtained her BSc in Botany from Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi, and her Master’s in Biological Sciences from IISER, Thiruvananthapuram. She’s currently working on her PhD project, which focuses on the mechanisms involved in the activation and regulation of plant regeneration. She enjoys reading, writing, and hiking in her free time. Email: ritu.yadav
Former Group Members
Anna Kokla, PhD student. Now working at 10X Genomics.
Ming Feng, Post-doc. Now a Professor at Shandong Agricultural University.
Amrit Nanda, Post-doc. Now working at Plants for the Future.
Constance Musseau, Post-doc. Now working at Syngenta.
Shamik Mazumdar, PhD student. Now a post-doc with Simon Stael.
Theo Serivichyaswat, PhD student. Now Chief Operating Officer at BioByteX
Prashanth Ramachandran, Post-doc. Now post-doc with Jose Dinneny.
Ai Zhang, Post-doc. Now an Associate Professor at Northwest A&F University
Charles Melnyk's Lab 