April 5, 2022
CSB Professor Shelley Lumba aims to alleviate global hunger by preventing crop loss caused by parasitic plants
Professor Shelley Lumba was recently appointed to the post of Associate Professor in Cell & Systems Biology to pursue her work on the molecular signalling that activates germination in parasitic plants. Her work was profiled in a piece from UofT News titled "Researcher aims to alleviate global…
August 16, 2021
Hybrid receptor from Lumba lab suggests how parasitic plants evolve
Professor Shelley Lumba’s lab found out how benign plants develop the ability to become parasites on other plants in new research published in PNAS. Many plants release strigolactone hormones to promote beneficial interactions with soil fungi. Parasitic plants like witchweed can sense…
April 30, 2021
Cannabis’ Hermaphrodite Conundrum
Guest post by Hayley McKay The commercial cannabis industry is facing a looming problem: it doesn’t have the ability to cultivate cannabis efficiently. Sure, growers have tried to co-opt basement grow-op techniques for large scale production, but fundamental plant science is still missing. Not…
January 6, 2021
CSB Year in Review: Top Stories of 2020
As the year comes to a close, we look back on the achievements of students, staff, and faculty in the Cell and Systems Biology Department. Here are some of the top CSB stories of 2020. Research discoveries in CSB In 2020, researchers in the Cells and Systems Biology Department made strides with…
May 26, 2020
Parasitic plant study by Professor Shelley Lumba reveals unexpected pathway to germination of witchweed seeds
The crop fields of sub-Saharan Africa have fallen under a spell cast by the witchweed Striga hermonthica. Every year, this parasitic plant targets and destroys over eight billion dollars worth of staple crops, leading the UN to declare Striga infestations as a major impediment to poverty…