Liz Mahon Email & Phone Number

Vancouver, Bc, Ca

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

I co-founded BryoSphere with Dr. Hila Behar, with the aim of producing specialty chemicals in a sustainable way. As CSO, I lead development and execution of all our scientific projects and implement a market-first approach in the selection of key scientific milestone. At Bryosphere, we are harnessing the power of moss to make rare, plant-derived specialty chemicals for various sectors, including personal care, supplements, therapeutics, and food & beverage. Moss, with its exceptional versatility and scalability, serves as the ideal chassis for the efficient production of complex plant metabolites. By leveraging cutting-edge tools in molecular biology, BryoSphere is making rare plant compounds abundant in commercial quantities.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

I worked in Dr. Lacey Samuels lab investigating the role of the Golgi in the production of xylan, a key component of plant secondary cell walls. We aimed to better understand how the xylan biosynthetic complex is localized within the Golgi and functions to produce the quantities of xylan needed during secondary cell wall biosynthesis.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Under the supervision of Dr. Shawn Mansfield I worked to genetically modify poplar trees for improved use in biofuel, pulp and paper. More specifically, I worked to incorporate high-value flavonoid compounds into the wood of poplar, which may be extracted during processing, adding value and helping to make poplar an economically viable source of biofuels.As a part of my thesis, I learned to genetically transform poplar trees with genes isolated from other plant species, using agrobacterium mediated transformation. I optimized lab protocols for isolating plant enzymes using both E.coli and yeast expression systems. I also performed kinetic assays to determine substrate specificity and catalytic efficiency of those enzymes. I been extensively trained on the use of HPLC (High-performance liquid chromatography) and GC machines (Gas chromatography) optimized protocols for the analysis of plant flavonoid compounds from both plant extracts and in vitro enzymatic assays. I am proficient in fluorescence microscopy, and I was trained in confocal microscopy. In addition, I optimized a protocol for visualizing flavonoids in plant stem tissue using a multi-photon confocal imaging. Finally, as part of my thesis, I employed several chemical techniques to analyze the resulting wood chemistry of the transgenic trees, including klasons, thioacidolysis, extraction of soluble phenolics, saponification, and isolation of holo-and alpha-cellulose.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Helped to lead the laboratory section of a third year plant physiology course Biology 351. Supervised student groups during their independent projects as part of the second half of the laboratory course, providing feedback and direction through out the development and execution of the student's projects.

Edmonton, Alberta

Under the supervision of Dr. Janice Cooke, I investigated the molecular mechanisms which contribute to lodgepole and jack pine defense responses to mountain pine beetle fungal associate G. clavigera, and investigated the influence of water deficit on these defensive mechanisms. Using data generated from a large scale microarray experiment, I characterized the transcriptome-wide responses of lodgepole and jack pine seedlings inoculated with G. clavigera and grown under either well watered or water deficit conditions. Within the microarray data set, I identified several putative chitinase genes, which are known plant defense response genes, as highly upregulated in response to inoculation. I mined transcriptomic data sets in order to identify and characterize members of the lodgepole and jack pine chitinase gene families. I then compared expression patterns of select chitinase gene pairs between lodgepole and jack pine seedlings inoculated with G. clavigera using quantitative real time PCR in 384 well plates. I went on to explore allelic variation of three putative orthologous pairs of chitinase genes in approximately 200 individual jack and lodgepole pine seedlings sampled from across Canada.

I taught the laboratory component of second year level "Fundamentals of Plant Biology" course. My responsibilities included leading pre-lab discussions, assisting students with plant dissections and with sketching plant structures. My responsibilities also included preparing quizzes as well as marking quizzes, lab reports and final exams

I spent two years as an undergraduate researcher in Dr. Janice Cooke’s lab where I learned and performed fundamental techniques in molecular biology such as PCR reactions, gel-electrophoresis, cloning genes into E. coli, gene sequencing, RNA and DNA extractions, and cDNA synthesis. I designed and ran quantitative real time PCR reactions in 384 well plates, and I learned to statistically analyzed the resulting expression patterns.

Doctor Of Philosophy - Phd, Plant Molecular Biology

Master'S Degree (Msc), Botany/Plant Biology

Bachelor Of Science (B.Sc.), Molecular Genetics (Honours)