Roles and responsibilities
Associate Research Officer, Seed and Root Biology - Plant Abiotic Stress Focus
Team Lead, Cereal Improvement Technologies
Current research and/or projects
Prototyping Root System Architecture in Avena: Technologies for Environmental Sustainability and Food Security - Focuses on root system architecture phenotyping and identifying root diversity in Oats using 2- and 3-dimensional imaging approaches including the development of methods for breeding applications.
Toward Optimizing Pulse Root System Architecture for Seed Protein and Sustainable Yields - Focus on root system architecture phenotyping using 2- and 3-dimensional imaging approaches and the identification of root diversity contributing to key traits in peas initially.
Standing Strong: Maximizing Yield Potential by Optimizing Stem Strength and Biomass Partitioning - Phenotypic and genetic analysis of plant lodging and associated traits such as structural and soluble carbohydrates, stem strength, yield, height, and other parameters in wheat.
Education
Ph.D. Biological Sciences – Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada
Thesis: The role of abscisic acid metabolism in western white pine seed dormancy.
M.Sc. Botany – University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Thesis: Alpha-galactosidase and beta-mannoside mannohydrolase in tomato seeds and fruit.
B.Sc. Biology – Queen’s University, Ontario, Canada
Professional activities/interests
- Seed maturation, dormancy, and germination
- Abiotic stresses including drought and lodging
- Diverse crop expertise including cereal and pulse species
- Functional genomics, bioinformatics, phenotypic and quantitative trait analyses, transcriptome studies, non-coding RNAs, protein:protein interaction.
Awards
- NRC-ACRD Award for Scientific Excellence, Research team’s discovery of the wax and inhibitor of wax genes in wheat (2017)
- NRC Outstanding Achievement Award, Individual Award recognizing excellence in research for Plant Cell publication. Plant Biotechnology Institute (2011)
- Best Poster, Research Symposium, Plant Biotechnology Institute (2008)
- NRC Outstanding Achievement Award, Hormone Profiling Team, Plant Biotechnology Institute (2006)
- President’s Ph.D. Research Stipend, Simon Fraser University (2005)
Key publications
Huang D, Zheng Q, Melchkart T, Bekkaoui Y, Konkin DJF, Kagale S, Martucci M, You FM, Clarke M, Adamski NM, Chinoy C, Steed A, McCartney C, Cutler AJ, Nicholson P, Feurtado JA. 2019. Dominant inhibition of awn development by a putative zinc-finger transcriptional repressor expressed at the B1 locus in wheat. New Phytologist, doi: 10.1111/nph.16154.
Huang D, Feurtado JA, Smith MA, Flatman LK, Koh C, Cutler AJ. 2017. Long noncoding miRNA gene represses wheat β-diketone waxes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 114: e3149-e3158.
Feurtado JA. 2017. Physiology of Seed Maturation. In: Thomas B, Murray BG, Murphy DJ, eds, Encyclopedia of Applied Plant Sciences, 2nd Edition, Elsevier, London, UK, pp. 521-531.
Jaradat MR, Feurtado JA, Huang D, Lu Y, Cutler AJ. 2013. Multiple roles of the transcription factor AtMYBR1/AtMYB44 in ABA signaling, stress responses, and leaf senescence. BMC Plant Biology 13: 192-210.
Huang D, Koh C, Feurtado JA, Tsang EWT, Cutler AJ. 2013. MicroRNAs and their putative targets in Brassica napus seed maturation. BMC Genomics 14: 140-164.
Feurtado JA, Huang D, Wicki-Stordeur L, Hemstock LE, Potentier MS, Tsang EWT, Cutler AJ. 2011. The Arabidopsis C2H2 zinc finger INDETERMINATE DOMAIN1/ENHYDROUS promotes the transition to germination by regulating light and hormonal signaling during seed maturation. Plant Cell 23: 1772-1794.
Terskikh VV, Zeng Y, Feurtado JA, Giblin M, Abrams SR, Kermode AR. 2008. Deterioration of western redcedar (Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don) seeds: Protein oxidation and in vivo NMR monitoring of storage oils. Journal of Experimental Botany 59: 765-777.
Feurtado JA, Kermode AR. 2007. A merging of paths: abscisic acid and hormonal cross-talk in the control of seed dormancy maintenance and alleviation. In: Bradford KJ, Nonogaki H, eds, Seed Development, Dormancy and Germination (Annual Plant Reviews), Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, UK, pp. 176-223.
Terskikh VV, Feurtado JA, Ren C, Abrams SR, Kermode AR. 2005. Water uptake and oil distribution during imbibition of seeds of western white pine (Pinus monticola Dougl. ex D. Don) monitored in vivo using magnetic resonance imaging. Planta 221: 17-27.
Ross ARS, Ambrose SJ, Cutler AJ, Feurtado JA, Kermode AR, Nelson K, Zhou R, Abrams SR. 2004. Determination of endogenous and supplied deuterated abscisic acid in plant tissues by high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry with multiple reaction monitoring. Analytical Biochemistry 329: 324-333.
Feurtado JA, Ambrose SJ, Cutler AJ, Ross ARS, Abrams SR, Kermode AR. 2004. Dormancy termination of western white pine (Pinus monticola Dougl. Ex D. Don) seeds is associated with changes in abscisic acid metabolism. Planta 218: 630-639.
Feurtado JA, Banik M, Bewley JD. 2001. Characterization and cloning of an alpha-galactosidase present during and following germination of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) seed. Journal of Experimental Botany 52: 1239-49.
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