Dr Claudia Vickers
Research Fellow
Australian Institute for Bioengineering & Nanotechnology
Building No. 75,
Corner College and Cooper Roads,
The University of Queensland
St Lucia Qld 4072
p: +61 7 334 63158
f : +61 7 334 63973
h: http://www.uq.edu.au/~uqcvicke/
e: c.vickers@uq.edu.au
Research Focus
I am the team leader for the Sucrose-to-Bioproducts program.
This research group is focused on producing biological replacements for
materials currently produced from petrochemical feedstocks. To do this, a
carbon and energy source is required for microbial fermentation. Sucrose
from sugarcane is abundant and is a primary agricultural industry in
Australia. However, development of sucrose as a carbon and energy source is
limited because most industrial E. coli strains cannot efficiently
use sucrose. We are investigating sucrose utilization in E. coli with
the aim of developing sucrose as a carbon and energy source for
petrochemical feedstock replacements. We are using production of two
compounds, isoprene and the biopolymer polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), as model
compounds for engineering high-level productivity in E. coli. We are
currently developing a microbial platform for production of butanol from
sucrose. (read more)
I am also involved with the Hylauronic Acid project. Hyaluronic acid (HA)
is a biological polymer with applications in the medical and cosmetic industries.
Currently, HA is produced either by extraction from animal tissues (rooster comb)
or by bacterial fermentation. Concerns regarding contamination of animal extracts
with infectious agents have resulted in a demand for production via microbial
fermentation to meet future needs. The rheological and biological properties of
HA are dependent on the molecular weight, which is highly variable; in particular,
high molecular weight HA is desirable for certain applications. However, high
molecular weight HA is not readily produced in microbial systems. Using metabolic
engineering, we have developed a number of S. equi subsp. zooepidemicus
strains which do produce high molecular weight HA. We are currently investigating
how we can increase both yield and molecular weight in these mutants. (read more)
Qualifications
PhD (Molecular Biology), The University of Queensland/CSIRO Plant Industry
Honours I (Molecular Biology), The University of Queensland
BSc, The University of Queensland
Research Experience
Research Fellow, AIBN, The University of Queensland, Australia
Senior Research Officer, University of Essex, England
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, ARC Centre for Integrative Legume Research, The University of Queensland, Australia
Publications
Journal Articles
Vickers CE, Gershenzon J, Lerdau MT, Loreto F (2009) A unified mechanism of action for volatile isoprenoids in plant abiotic stress. Nature Chemical Biology 5:283-291
Vickers CE, Possell M, Cojocariu C, Velikova V, Laothawornkitcul J, Ryan A, Mullineaux PM, Hewitt CN (2009) Isoprene synthesis protects transgenic plants from oxidative stress. Plant, Cell & Environment 32(5):520-531
Laothawornkitkul J, Paul ND, Vickers CE, Possell M, Taylor JE, Mullineaux PM, Hewitt CN. 2008. Isoprene and herbivore choice. Plant Signal Behav 3(12):1141-2.
Laothawornkitkul J, Paul ND, Vickers CE, Possell M, Taylor JE, Mullineaux PM, Hewitt CN. 2008. Isoprene emissions influence herbivore feeding decisions. Plant Cell Environ 31(10):1410-5.
Vickers CE, Schenk PM, Li D, Mullineaux PM, Gresshoff PM. 2007. pGFPGUSPlus, a new binary vector for gene expression studies and optimising transformation systems in plants. Biotechnol Lett 29(11):1793-6.
Vickers CE, Xue G, Gresshoff PM. 2006. A novel cis-acting element, ESP, contributes to high-level endosperm-specific expression in an oat globulin promoter. Plant Mol Biol 62(1-2):195-214.
Wilkinson MJ, Owen SM, Possell M, Hartwell J, Gould P, Hall A, Vickers C, Nicholas Hewitt C. 2006. Circadian control of isoprene emissions from oil palm (Elaeis guineensis). Plant J 47(6):960-8.
Buzas DM, Lohar D, Sato S, Nakamura Y, Tabata S, Vickers CE, Stiller J, Gresshoff PM. 2005. Promoter trapping in Lotus japonicus reveals novel root and nodule GUS expression domains. Plant Cell Physiol 46(8):1202-12.
Schunmann PH, Richardson AE, Vickers CE, Delhaize E. 2004. Promoter analysis of the barley Pht1;1 phosphate transporter gene identifies regions controlling root expression and responsiveness to phosphate deprivation. Plant Physiol 136(4):4205-14.
Schenk PM, Vickers CE, Manners JM. 2003. Rapid cloning of novel genes and promoters for functional analyses. Transgenics 4:151-156.
Vickers CE, Xue GP, Gresshoff PM. 2003. A synthetic xylanase as a novel reporter in plants. Plant Cell Rep 22(2):135-40.
Xue GP, Patel M, Johnson JS, Smyth DJ, Vickers CE. 2003. Selectable marker-free transgenic barley producing a high level of cellulase (1,4-beta-glucanase) in developing grains. Plant Cell Rep 21(11):1088-94.