Attila Molnar
Contact details
- Tel: 0131 650 5335
- Email: Attila.Molnar@ed.ac.uk
- Web: Molnar lab website
Address
- Street
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Rm. 1.07A, Rutherford Building
- City
- Post code
Background
2020 - Present Senior Lecturer, University of Edinburgh
2013 - 2020 Chancellor's Fellow, University of Edinburgh
2007 - 2013 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Senior Research Associate, University of Cambridge
2003 - 2007 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The Sainsbury Laboratory, John Innes Centre, Norwich
2003 Ph.D., Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest, Hungary
Responsibilities & affiliations
2017 - present: Graduate School Committee member, University of Edinburgh, UK
2015 - present: postgraduate advisor, University of Edinburgh, UK
Undergraduate teaching
Molecular and Synthetic Plant Biology 3 (Course Organiser)
The Microbial World 2
Open to PhD supervision enquiries?
Yes
Current PhD students supervised
2022 - present Cristina Ponce Lilly
2020 - present Charlotte Von Koppenfels
2019 - present Yen Peng Chew, Darwin Trust PhD student
Past PhD students supervised
2019 - 2020 Adela Ruzickova, Erasmus+ from Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
2017 - 2021 Aron Ferenczi, EASTBIO-DTP student
2016 - 2020 Muriel Monteiro, Darwin Trust PhD student
2014 - 2018 Fei Yue, China Scholarship Council student
2013 - 2017 Douglas Pyott, EASTBIO-DTP student
Current research interests
Small non-coding RNA (sRNAs) molecules are key components in many biological processes, including development, stress-response and disease control against molecular parasites such as viruses and transposons. They mediate post-transcriptional gene silencing that involves mRNA cleavage/destabilization or translational inhibition as well as RNA-dependent DNA methylation and histone modifications that can lead to transcriptional gene silencing. My laboratory studies the synthesis and action of sRNAs with particular emphasis on epigenetic modifications driven by sRNA molecules using a combination of biological systems including plants and viruses and the latest high throughput sequencing technologies. We also develop novel genome editing tools and strategies for functional genomics.Knowledge exchange
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=cRxl4KkAAAAJ&hl=en
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Plant chemical variation mediates soil bacterial community composition
(7 pages)
In:
Scientific Reports, vol. 13
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-32935-4
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Developing a robust in vivo hairy root system for assessing transgene expression and genome editing efficiency in papaya
(7 pages)
In:
Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-022-02421-2
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
DNA methylation can alter CRISPR/Cas9 editing frequency and DNA repair outcome in a target-specific manner
(15 pages)
In:
New Phytologist, vol. 235, pp. 2285-2299
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.18212
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Simultaneously induced mutations in eIF4E genes by CRISPR/Cas9 enhance PVY resistance in tobacco
(11 pages)
In:
Scientific Reports, vol. 12
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-18923-0
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Mechanistic and genetic basis of single-strand templated repair at Cas12a-induced DNA breaks in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
(12 pages)
In:
Nature Communications
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27004-1
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Temperature modulates virus-induced transcriptional gene silencing via secondary small RNAs
(16 pages)
In:
New Phytologist
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17586
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Cutin: Cutin-acid endo-transacylase (CCT), a cuticle-remodelling enzyme activity in the plant epidermis
(21 pages)
In:
Biochemical Journal, vol. 478, pp. 777-798
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1042/BCJ20200835
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Non-perfectly matching small RNAs can induce stable and heritable epigenetic modifications and can be used as molecular markers to trace the origin and fate of silencing RNAs
(14 pages)
In:
Nucleic Acids Research
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkab023
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Rapid, high efficiency virus-mediated mutant complementation and gene silencing in antirrhinum
In:
Plant Methods, vol. 16
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13007-020-00683-5
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Homology-directed transgene-free gene editing in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0616-2_15
Research output: › Chapter (peer-reviewed) (E-pub ahead of print) -
Potential for gene editing in antiviral resistance
In:
Current Opinion in Virology, pp. 47-52
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coviro.2020.04.005
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Book/Film/Article review (E-pub ahead of print) -
Shared mutations in a novel glutaredoxin repressor of multicellular trichome fate underlie parallel evolution of Antirrhinum species
(10 pages)
In:
Current Biology, vol. 30, pp. 1357-1366.E4
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.01.060
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Virus-induced gene silencing in Streptocarpus rexii (Gesneriaceae)
In:
Molecular Biotechnology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12033-020-00248-w
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Light triggers the miRNA-biogenetic inconsistency for de-etiolated seedling survivability in Arabidopsis thaliana
(15 pages)
In:
Molecular Plant, vol. 13, pp. 431-445
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molp.2019.10.011
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Distinct roles of Argonaute in the green alga Chlamydomonas reveal evolutionary conserved mode of miRNA-mediated gene expression
In:
Scientific Reports, vol. 9
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-47415-x
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Gene Editing of Microalgae: Scientific Progress and Regulatory Challenges in Europe
(13 pages)
In:
Biology, vol. 7
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/biology7010021
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Review article (Published) -
Efficient targeted DNA editing and replacement in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii using Cpf1 ribonucleoproteins and single-stranded DNA
(6 pages)
In:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), vol. 114, pp. 13567-13572
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1710597114
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Improved denaturation of small RNA duplexes and it's application for northern blotting
(6 pages)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6866-4_1
Research output: › Chapter (E-pub ahead of print) -
Reply Escaping a low-security prison
(1 page)
In:
Plant Cell, vol. 29, pp. 431
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00128
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Letter (Published) -
Lost in transit: Long-distance trafficking and phloem unloading of protein signals in arabidopsis homografts
(10 pages)
In:
Plant Cell, vol. 28, pp. 2016-2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.16.00249
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)