Mihai Miclăuș, Ph.D.

About me: I hold a PhD degree in Plant Molecular Biology from Rutgers University (PhD advisor - Dr. Joachim Messing). After graduating (2011), I returned to Romania (my homecountry) - and to be more specific, in Transylvania; yes, it does exist :-) During a six-month postdoc at the University of Bern in Dr. Rémy Bruggmann's group (2015), I've started my bioinformatics training. My lab does basic and applied research, using maize as a model system. We have recently genotyped (i.e., GBS) the available maize germplasm in Romania and close neighbours, including the Rep. of Moldova, as one of the main breeding grounds for the former USSR (more than 2,300 inbred lines and 475 OPVs), and are currently collaborating with breeders to assist them in the breeding efforts. Our basic research is mainly focused on using maize cytolines to study nuclear gene expression and anterograde/retrograde signalling.

Publications:

Miclaus, M., Balacescu, O., Has, I., Balacescu, L., Has, V., Suteu, D., Neuenschwander, S., Keller, I., and Bruggmann, R. Maize Cytolines Unmask Key Nuclear Genes That Are under the Control of Retrograde Signaling Pathways in Plants, Genome Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/gbe/evw245 Advance Access publication October 3, 2016

Xu, J. -H., Wang, R., Li, X., Miclăuş, M., Messing, J. Locus- and Site-Specific DNA Methylation of 19 kDa Zein Genes in Maize, PLoS One, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0146416, 2016

Șuteu, D., Băcilă, I., Haș, V., Haș, I., Miclăuș, M. Romanian Maize (Zea mays) Inbred Lines as a Source of Genetic Diversity in SE Europe, and Their Potential in Future Breeding Efforts, PLoS One 8(12): e85501. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0085501, 2013

Miclaus, M., Wu, Y., Xu, J-H., Dooner, H. K., and Messing, J. The Maize High-lysine Mutant opaque7 is Defective in an acyl-CoA Synthetase-like Protein. Genetics, 10.1534/genetics.111.133918, 2011.

Miclaus, M., Xu, J-H., and Messing, J. Differential Gene Expression and Epiregulation of Alpha Zein Gene Copies in Maize Haplotypes. PLoS Genetics, 7(6): e1002131. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1002131, 2011. 

Calviño, M., Miclaus, M., Bruggmann, R., and Messing, J. Molecular Markers for Sweet Sorghum Based on Microarray Expression Data. Rice, 2, pp. 129-142, 2009.

Completed research projects as PI:

2018 – 2020

Unlocking the full potential of 1,200 maize inbred lines for nowadays societal needs using state of the art molecular biology tools – funded by the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, CNDI-UEFISCDI, grant no. PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2016-2629. € 100,000

 

2017 - 2018 

Adding 250 inbred lines to the world map of maize breeding by unveiling their genetic structure – funded by the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, CNDI-UEFISCDI, grant no. PN-III-P2-2.1-PED-2016-0051, € 100,000

 

2015 – 2017

Understanding the control of nuclear-gene-expression by the cytoplasmic genomes using maize cytolines – funded by the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, CNDI-UEFISCDI, project number PN-II-RU-TE-2014-4-1767-41/2015, € 124,000

 

2012 – 2016    

Evaluating the existing genetic diversity among local maize inbred lines towards developing new hybrids, with superior qualities and increased productivity – funded by the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, CNDI-UEFISCDI, project number PN-II-PT-PCCA-2011-3.1-0511-103/2012, € 440,000