Dr Melissa de Oliveira Santos Garcia
I'm a plant geneticist interested in plant breeding and the use of new genetic diversity. After completing my BSc in Biological Sciences, I did a MSc on Genetics and Plant Breeding where I looked at the genetic diversity in a genus of Brazilian orchids. During my PhD, I continued to work on genetic diversity and its use in plant breeding by studying a legume forage. This project was a collaboration between the University of Campinas and the Brazilian Agricultural Corporation (Embrapa) to assist their breeding programs. Following my PhD, I got a postdoc position to study sugarcane as part of a large program aiming at improving sugarcane for ethanol production.
In 2011, I moved to Australia to work at the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG). At ACPFG, I was involved in several projects such as the introgression of yield QTL into different backgrounds, the development and use of new molecular markers and marker technologies, QTL mapping and genome wide association studies. I was also involved in a collaboration with DuPont Pioneer to study hybrid wheat.
Since 2015, I have been working on the ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hub for genetic diversity and molecular breeding for wheat in a hot and dry climate (IH130200027) where I lead a program that looks at germplasm development for genetic diversity, mostly through the use of a nested association mapping population.
Appointments
| Date | Position | Institution name |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 - 2011 | Postdoctoral Fellow | University of Campinas |
| 2011 | Research Fellow | University of Adelaide |
Language Competencies
| Language | Competency |
|---|---|
| English | Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review |
| Portuguese | Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review |
Education
| Date | Institution name | Country | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 - 2009 | The University of Campinas | Brazil | PhD |
| 2002 - 2004 | The University of Londrina | Brazil | MSc |
Research Interests
Genetics, Quantitative Genetics
Journals
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2017 | Tucker, E. J., Baumann, U., Kouidri, A., Suchecki, R., Baes, M., Garcia, M. ... Whitford, R. (2017). Molecular identification of the wheat male fertility gene Ms1 and its prospects for hybrid breeding.. Nature communications, 8, 1, 869-. 10.1038/s41467-017-00945-2 |
| 2015 | Hayes, J., Pallotta, M., Garcia, M., Öz, M., Rongala, J. & Sutton, T. (2015). Diversity in boron toxicity tolerance of Australian barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) genotypes. BMC Plant Biology, 15, 1, 231-1-231-14. 10.1186/s12870-015-0607-1 |
| 2015 | Jayatilake, D., Tucker, E., Brueggemann, J., Lewis, J., Garcia, M., Dreisigacker, S. ... Mather, D. (2015). Genetic mapping of the Cre8 locus for resistance against cereal cyst nematode (Heterodera avenae Woll.) in wheat. Molecular Breeding, 35, 2, 66-1-66-12. 10.1007/s11032-015-0235-3 |
| 2014 | Garcia, M. & Mather, D. (2014). From genes to markers: Exploiting gene sequence information to develop tools for plant breeding. Methods in Molecular Biology, 1145, 21-36. 10.1007/978-1-4939-0446-4_2 |
| 2013 | Garcia, M., Vigna, B., Sousa, A., Jungmann, L., Cidade, F., Toledo-Silva, G. ... Souza, A. (2013). Molecular genetic variability, population structure and mating system in tropical forages. Tropical Grasslands - Forrajes Tropicales, 1, 1, 25-30. |
| 2013 | Garcia, A. A. F., Mollinari, M., Marconi, T. G., Serang, O. R., Silva, R. R., Vieira, M. L. C. ... Vencovsky, R. (2013). SNP genotyping allows an in-depth characterisation of the genome of sugarcane and other complex autopolyploids. Scientific Reports, 3, 3399-1-3399-10. 10.1038/srep03399 |
| 2013 | Whitford, R., Fleury, D., Reif, J., Garcia, M., Okada, T., Korzun, V. & Langridge, P. (2013). Hybrid breeding in wheat: technologies to improve hybrid wheat seed production. Journal of Experimental Botany, 64, 18, 5411-5428. 10.1093/jxb/ert333 |
| 2012 | Santos-Garcia, M., de Toledo-Silva, G., Sassaki, R., Ferreira, T., Simeão Resende, R., Chiari, L. ... de Souza, A. (2012). Using genetic diversity information to establish core collections of Stylosanthes capitata and Stylosanthes macrocephala. Genetics and Molecular Biology, 35, 4, 847-861. 10.1590/s1415-47572012005000076 |
| 2012 | Santos-Garcia, M., Karia, C., Resende, R., Chiari, L., Vieira, M., Zucchi, M. & Souza, A. (2012). Identification of Stylosanthes guianensis varieties using molecular genetic analysis. AoB Plants, 2012, 1, pls001-1-pls001-14. 10.1093/aobpla/pls001 |
| 2011 | de Oliveira Santos Garcia, M. (2011). Mating systems in tropical forages: Stylosanthes capitata Vog. and Stylosanthes guianensis (Aubl.) Sw.. Euphytica, 178, 2, 185-193. 10.1007/s10681-010-0293-x |
| 2010 | Rego Oliveira, L., de Faria, R., de Fatima Ruas, C., Ruas, P., de Oliveira Santos Garcia, M. & Carvalho, V. (2010). Genetic analysis of species in the Genus Catasetum (ORCHIDACEAE) using RAPD markers. Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology: an international journal, 53, 2, 375-387. 10.1590/S1516-89132010000200017 |
| 2010 | Hotta, C. T., Lembke, C. G., Domingues, D. S., Ochoa, E. A., Cruz, G. M. Q., Melotto-Passarin, D. M. ... Souza, G. M. (2010). The Biotechnology Roadmap for Sugarcane Improvement. Tropical Plant Biology, 3, 2, 75-87. 10.1007/s12042-010-9050-5 |
| 2010 | Aurelle, D. & de Oliveira Santos Garcia, M. (2010). Permanent genetic resources added to the Molecular Ecology Resources Database 1 February 2010-31 March 2010. Molecular Ecology Resources, 10, 4, 751-754. 10.1111/j.1755-0998.2010.02871.x |
| 2009 | de Oliveira Santos Garcia, M., Sassaki, R., Ferreira, T., Resende, M., Chiari, L., Karia, C. ... Souza, A. (2009). Polymorphic microsatellite loci for Stylosanthes macrocephala Ferr. et Costa, a tropical forage legume. Conservation Genetics Resources, 1, 1, 481-485. 10.1007/s12686-009-9112-x |
| 2009 | Souza, L., Mantello, C., de Oliveira Santos Garcia, M., de Souza Goncalves, P. & Souza, A. (2009). Microsatellites from rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) for genetic diversity analysis and cross-amplification in six Hevea wild species. Conservation Genetics Resources, 1, 1, 75-79. 10.1007/s12686-009-9018-7 |
| 2009 | Santos, M., Sassaki, R., Chiari, L., Resende, R. & De Souza, A. (2009). Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci in tropical forage Stylosanthes capitata Vogel. Molecular Ecology Resources, 9, 1, 192-194. 10.1111/j.1755-0998.2008.02308.x |
| 2009 | VARELA, E. D. U. A. R. D. O. S. O. U. S. A., GONÇALVES, E. V. O. N. N. I. L. D. O. D. A. C. O. S. T. A., SANTOS, M. E. L. I. S. S. A. D. E. O. L. I. V. E. I. R. A., SAMPAIO, I. R. A. C. I. L. D. A. & SCHNEIDER, H. O. R. A. C. I. O. (2009). Isolation and characterization of 11 microsatellite loci in the mangrove crab,
(Ocypodidae: Ucidinae). Molecular Ecology Resources, 9, 5, 1395-1397. 10.1111/j.1755-0998.2009.02674.x |
| 2009 | Ruas, C., Nakayama, T., Ortiz, M., Kuroki, M., Stuessy, T., Ruas, E. ... Ruas, P. (2009). Isolation and characterization of eight microsatellite loci from the endangered plant species Hypochaeris salzmanniana (Asteraceae). Conservation Genetics, 10, 5, 1413-1416. 10.1007/s10592-008-9749-0 |
| 2009 | de Oliveira Santos Garcia, M., Karia, C., Resende, M., Chiari, L., Jungmann, L., Zucchi, M. & Souza, A. (2009). Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci in the tropical forage legume Stylosanthes guianensis (Aubl.) Sw.. Conservation Genetics Resources, 1, 1, 43-46. 10.1007/s12686-009-9010-2 |
| 2008 | Pinheiro, F., de Oliveira Santos Garcia, M., Palma-Silva, C., Barros, F., Meyer, D., Salatino, A. ... Cozzolino, S. (2008). Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci in Epidendrum puniceoluteum, an endemic orchid from the Atlantic Rainforest. Molecular Ecology Resources, 8, 5, 1114-1116. 10.1111/j.1755-0998.2008.02175.x |
| 2008 | Pinheiro, F., Santos, M., Barros, F., Meyer, D., Salatino, A., Souza, A. & Cozzolino, S. (2008). Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci in the Brazilian orchid Epidendrum fulgens. Conservation Genetics, 9, 6, 1661-1663. 10.1007/s10592-008-9514-4 |
| 2008 | Santos, K., Santos, M., Laborda, P., Souza, A., Peroni, N. & Nodari, R. (2008). Isolation and characterization of microsatellite markers in Acca sellowiana (Berg) Burret. Molecular Ecology Resources, 8, 6, 1417-1419. 10.1111/j.1755-0998.2008.02213.x |
| 2007 | Ferreirs-Ramos, R., Laborda, P., de Oliveira Santos Garcia, M., Mayor, M., Mestriner, M., Souza, A. & Alzate-Marin, A. (2007). Genetic analysis of forest species Eugenia uniflora L. through of newly developed SSR markers. Conservation Genetics, 9, 5, 1281-1285. 10.1007/s10592-007-9458-0 |
| 2005 | de Fatima Ruas, C., Vanzela, A., de Oliveira Santos Garcia, M., Fregonezi, J., Ruas, E., Matzenbacher, N. & de Aguiar-Perecin, M. (2005). Chromosomal organization and phylogenetic relationships in Hypochaeris species (Asteraceae) from Brazil. Genetics and Molecular Biology, 28, 1, 129-139. 10.1590/S1415-47572005000100023 |
| 2005 | Cardamoni Diniz, L., de Fatima Ruas, C., de Paula Carvalho, V., Torres, F., Ruas, E., de Oliveira Santos Garcia, M. ... Ruas, P. (2005). Genetic diversity among forty coffee varieties assessed by RAPD markers associated with restriction digestion. Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology, 48, 4, 511-521. 10.1590/S1516-89132005000500002 |
I am currently a co-supervisor of two PhD students, Habtamu Tura and Jessica Schmidt.
Committee Memberships
| Date | Role | Committee | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 - ongoing | Member | Wheat Initiative Expert Working Group on Wheat Breeding Methods and Strategies |
Position
Research Fellow
Phone
83139809
Campus
Waite
Building
Plant Genomics Centre
Room Number
2 17
Org Unit
School of Agriculture, Food and Wine