Glandular trichomes are fascinating plant natural product factories
capable of sequestering large volumes of metabolites at the plant surface. Using Cannabis sativa
as a model plant, my research focuses on the cellular context of metabolite
production and accumulation within glandular trichomes. In particular, I am
studying the processes that enable Cannabis
to synthesize, transport and accumulate high levels of cannabinoids and terpenoids
of interest by combining high resolution imaging techniques with genomic and
transcriptomic resources.
Currently,
I am a postdoctoral fellow funded
by the MITACS Elevate Program. My position is jointly supervised by Dr. Jonathan Page, Anandia Labs and Dr. Lacey Samuels in the Department of Botany at the University of British Columbia.
In my graduate work, I combined genetic,
molecular, and biochemical tools to study a related biochemical pathway in
pollen wall formation in Arabidopsis thaliana. Many similarities can be drawn between my PhD research on the
formation of the highly recalcitrant polymer encasing pollen walls, known as
sporopollenin, and the formation of cannabinoid-rich glandular trichomes, as
both biosynthetic pathways produce polyketide products with spatially distinct
sites of synthesis and accumulation. Although metabolite transport mechanisms are hypothesized to
operate in the movement of cannabinoids from their site of synthesis in disc
cells to their site of accumulation in glandular trichome cavities, the
mechanisms governing this translocation are poorly understood.
Education:
Doctor of
Philosophy, 2014
Department of Botany, University of British
Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia
Thesis: Building the pollen wall: the role of
transport proteins and sporopollenin translocation in the formation of the
specialized cell wall encasing Arabidopsis
thaliana pollen
Advisors: Dr. Carl J. Douglas, Dr. A. Lacey Samuels
Bachelor
of Science (Honours), 2008
Department of Biological Sciences, University of
Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
Thesis: PEX5p and PEX7p: Peroxisomal matrix protein
receptors with putative microtubule binding activities in higher plants
Advisor: Dr. Douglas G. Muench
Publications:
Quilichini, T.D., A.L. Samuels, C.J. Douglas (2015) Analysis of developing pollen grains within intact Arabidopsis thaliana anthers by Olympus two-photon laser scanning microscopy. Bio-protocol 5(23): e1677. [abstract]
Quilichini, T.D., A.L. Samuels, C.J. Douglas (2014) ABCG26-mediated polyketide trafficking and hydroxycinnamoyl spermidines contribute to pollen wall exine formation in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 26(11): 4483-4498. [abstract]
Quilichini, T.D., E. Grienenberger, C.J. Douglas (2014). The biosynthesis, composition and assembly of the outer pollen wall: A tough case to crack. Phytochemistry DOI: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2014.05.002 [abstract]
Quilichini, T.D., C.J. Douglas, A.L. Samuels (2014) New views of tapetum ultrastructure and pollen exine development in Arabidopsis thaliana. Annals of Botany 114 (6): 1189-1201. [abstract]
Qin, P., B. Tu, Y.
Wang, L. Deng, T.D. Quilichini, T. Ling, H. Wang, B. Ma, S. Li (2012).
ABCG15 Encodes an ABC Transporter Protein, and is Essential for Post-meiotic
Anther and Pollen Exine Development in Rice. Plant Cell Physiology 54:
138-154. [abstract]
Quilichini, T.D.,
M. Friedmann, A.L. Samuels, C.J. Douglas (2010) ATP-Binding Cassette
Transporter G26 is required for male fertility and pollen exine formation in
Arabidopsis. Plant Physiology 154: 678-690. [abstract]
Quilichini, T.D.,
and D.G. Muench. (2008) The microtubule proteome: A role in regulating
protein synthesis and import into organelles? In: The Plant Cytoskeleton: a Key
Tool for Agro-Biotechnology. YB Blume et al., ed. NATO Science for Peace and
Security Series C - Environmental Security, pp. 267-281. [abstract]
