Roles and responsibilities
Research Council Officer: I am a biochemist specializing in protein structure-function (interactions and engineering). I work across a spectrum of fields focused on the protection of Canada's agricultural crops and oceans and the value-added bioprocessing of agricultural- and marine- derived biomass into useful materials.
Current research and/or projects
BioMax: Oxidoreductases for hemicellulose upgrading to bio-derived cross-linkers. 04/2022 – 03/2024 (Co-PI) Alliance Grant – Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Mycotoxin Detoxification for Reduction of Food Waste. O3/2021 – 03/2024 (Lead) Agri-Food Initiative Grant – National Research Council
Advanced Pulse Processing Techniques for Reduction of Allergenicity. O1/2021 – 03/2024 (Co-PI) Sustainable Protein Production Grant – National Research Council
Applications of Genetic Code Expansion for Development of Biocatalysts to Enable Value-added Bioprocessing. 08/2020 – 08/2024 (Co-PI) Alliance Grant – Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Fungal Pheromone Receptors in Host-Pathogen Interactions Events 05/2018 - 04/2024 (Lead) Discovery Grant - Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada & National Research Council of Canada.
Education
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1998-2001
Post-Doctoral Associate, University of Basel, 1997-1998
Ph.D. Biochemistry, Queen’s University, 1997
B.Sc. Biochemistry, University of Manitoba, 1988
Affiliations
Adjunct Professor: Dept of Chemistry and Biomelocular Sciences, University of Ottawa
Adjunct Professor: Dept of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Queen’s University
Key publications
(last 5 years only)
Sharma T, Jomphe RY, Zhang D, Magalhaes AC, Loewen MC (2024) Fusarium graminearum Ste2 and Ste3 receptors undergo peroxidase-induced heterodimerization when expressed heterologously in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Biochem Cell Biol. 2024 Oct 22. doi: 10.1139/bcb-2024-0104.
Lister, JGR, Loewen ME, Loewen MC*, St-Jacques AD*. (2024) Rational design of disulfide bonds to increase thermostability of Rhodococcus opacus catechol 1,2 dioxygenase. Biotechnol Bioeng. 2024 Nov;121(11):3389-3401. doi: 10.1002/bit.28808.
Wong, MCH, Grant T, St-Jacques AD, Karbalaei-Heidari HR, Robotham A, Loewen ME, St-Jacques AD, Budisa N, Loewen MC (2024) Global incorporation of meta-fluorotyrosine or met-fluorophenylalanine into 1,2 catechol dioxygenase modulates substrate binding affinities. Front. Synth. Biol., 01 August 2024. Volume 2 - 2024 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fsybi.2024.1419557.
Lu Y, Burton IW, Ashe P, St-Jacques AD, Rajagopalan N, Monteil-Rivera F, Loewen MC. (2024) Characterization of a partially saturated and glycosylated apocarotenoid from wheat that is depleted upon leaf rust infection. Gene. 2024 Jan 30;893:147927. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2023.147927.
Sridhar PS, Vasquez V, Monteil-Rivera F, Allingham JS, Loewen MC. (2024) A peroxidase-derived ligand that induces Fusarium graminearum Ste2 receptor-dependent chemotropism. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2024 Jan 4;13:1287418. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1287418.
Forero N, Liu C, Sabbah SG, Loewen MC, Yang TC. (2023) ACS Omega. 2023 Assay Development for Metal-Dependent Enzymes-Influence of Reaction Buffers on Activities and Kinetic Characteristics. Oct 18;8(43):40119-40127. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c02835.
Robinson KA, St-Jacques AD, Shields SW, Sproule A, Demissie ZA, Overy DP, Loewen MC. (2023) Multiple Clonostachys rosea UDP-Glycosyltransferases Contribute to the Production of 15-Acetyl-Deoxynivalenol-3-O-Glycoside When Confronted with Fusarium graminearum. J Fungi (Basel). 2023 Jul 2;9(7):723. doi: 10.3390/jof9070723.
Bahadoor A, Robinson KA, Loewen MC, Demissie ZA. (2023) Clonostachys rosea 'omics profiling: identification of putative metabolite-gene associations mediating its in vitro antagonism against Fusarium graminearum. BMC Genomics. 2023 Jun 26;24(1):352. doi: 10.1186/s12864-023-09463-6.
Murphy RM, Stanczyk JC, Huang, Loewen ME, Yang TC, Loewen MC (2023) Reduction of phenolics in faba bean meal using recombinantly produced and purified Bacillus ligniniphilus catechol 2,3‑dioxygenase. Bioresources and Bioprocessing. In press https://doi.org/10.1186/s40643-023-00633-8.
Robinson KA, St-Jacques AD, Bakestani ID, Beavington BAG, Loewen MC (2022) Pea and lentil 7S globulin crystal structures with comparative immunoglobulin epitope mapping, Food Chemistry: Molecular Sciences, 5, 100146, doi: 10.1016/j.fochms.2022.100146.
Sharma T, Sridhar PS, Blackman C, Foote SJ, Allingham JS, Subramaniam R, Loewen M. (2022) Fusarium graminearum Ste3 G-Protein Coupled Receptor: A Mediator of Hyphal Chemotropism and Pathogenesis. mSphere. Nov 15:e0045622. doi: 10.1128/msphere.00456-22.
Mohapatra DP, Robinson KA, Huang F, Kirpalani D, Loewen MC, (2022) Insights into Increasing Selenate Reductase Enzyme Activity in the Presence of Nitrogen-Doped Graphite Electrodes for Selenium Effluent Treatment. Water Mar 16; 14,931; doi: 10.3390/w14060931.
Diddi N, Lai L, Brookbank BP, Hussain S, Nambara E, Todd C, Nourimand M, Tar'an B, Song D, Holbrook L, Doshi K, Loewen MC, Luna EK, Shipp J, Leach JE, Robinson SJ, Abrams SR. (2021) 3'-(Phenyl alkynyl) analogs of abscisic acid: synthesis and biological activity of potent ABA antagonists. Org Biomol Chem. Mar 17. doi: 10.1039/d1ob00166c.
Demissie ZA, Robinson KA, Loewen MC. (2021) Draft genome resources for the plant-beneficial fungi Clonostachys rosea strains ACM941 and 88-710. Mol Plant Microbe Interact. Jan 6. doi: 10.1094/MPMI-10-20-0294-A.
Buhrow LM, Liu Z, Cram D, Sharma T, Foroud NA, Pan Y, Loewen MC. (2020) Wheat transcriptome profiling reveals abscisic and gibberellic acid treatments regulate early-stage phytohormone defense signaling, cell wall fortification, and metabolic switches following Fusarium graminearum-challenge. bioRxiv 2020.09.17.302737; doi: 10.1101/2020.09.17.302737
Demissie ZA, Huang F, Song H, Todd AT, Vrinten P, Loewen MC. (2020) Barley "uzu" and Wheat "uzu-like" Brassinosteroid Receptor BRI1 Kinase Domain Variations Modify Phosphorylation Activity In Vitro. Biochemistry. 59:2986-2997. doi: 10.1021/acs.biochem.0c00424.
Rajagopalan N, Lu Y, Burton IW, Monteil-Rivera F, Halasz A, Reimer E, Tweidt, R, Brûlé-Babel A, Kutcher HR, You FM, Cloutier S, Cuperlovic-Culf M, Hiebert CW, McCallum BD, Loewen MC. (2020) A phenylpropanoid diglyceride associates with the leaf rust resistance Lr34res gene in wheat. Phytochemistry. 178:112456. doi:10.1016/j.phytochem.2020.112456.
Sridhar PS, Trofimova D, Subramaniam R, González-Peña Fundora D, Foroud NA, Allingham JS, Loewen MC. (2020) Ste2 receptor-mediated chemotropism of Fusarium graminearum contributes to its pathogenicity against wheat. Sci Rep. 10:10770. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-67597-z.
Demissie ZA, Witte T, Robinson KA, Sproule A, Foote SJ, Johnston A, Harris LJ, Overy DP, Loewen MC. (2020) Transcriptomic and Exometabolomic Profiling Reveals Antagonistic and Defensive Modes of Clonostachys rosea Action Against Fusarium graminearum. Mol Plant Microbe Interact. 33:842-858. doi: 10.1094/MPMI-11-19-0310-R.
Demissie ZA, Brown WG, Loewen MC. (2019). A Universally Primed-Polymerase Chain Reaction (UPPCR) Marker to Discriminate Clonostachys rosea ACM941 from Related Strains. J Fungi. 5(39)
Luu K, Rajagopalan N, Ching JCH, Loewen ME, Loewen MC. (2019). The malate-activated ALMT12 anion channel in the grass Brachypodium distachyon is co-activated by Ca2+/calmodulin. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 294: 6142-6156.
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