CURRENT PROFESSIONAL POSITION
Assistant Professor of Quantitative Genetics (tenure accruing, 70% research and 30% teaching appointment), School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.

 

CURRENT RESEARCH INTERESTS

 

PREVIOUS PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS
2004                 Research Associate       Cornell University, Institute for Genomic Diversity, Ithaca, NY
2000-2003         Graduate Research Assistant     North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

 

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
2003     Ph.D. in Genetics and Functional Genomics        North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
1999     M.Sc. in Genetics and Improvement                   Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa, Brazil
1996     B.S. in Forestry Engineering                               Federal University of S. Maria, S. Maria, Brazil

 

REFEREED PUBLICATIONS

Grattapaglia, D. and M. Kirst. Eucalyptus applied genomics: from gene sequences to breeding tools. New Phytologist (in press).
Maron, L.G., M. Kirst, C. Mao, M. Menossi and L.V. Kochian. Transcriptional profiling of Al toxicity and tolerance responses in maize roots. New Phytologist (in press).
Ma, C.-X., Q. Yu, A. Berg, D. Drost†, E. Novaes†, G. Fu, J.S. Yap, A. Tang, M. Kirst, Y. Cui and R. Wu. (2008) A pleiotropic model for mapping phenotypic plasticity of a count trait. Genetics 179: 627-636.
Gore, M., P. Bradbury, R. Hogers, M. Kirst, E. Verstege, J. van Oeveren, J. Peleman, E. Buckler and M. van Eijk. (2007) Evaluation of target preparation methods for single feature polymorphism detection in large complex plant genomes. Crop Science 47: S135-S148.
Kirst, M., R. Caldo, P. Casati, G. Tanimoto, V. Walbot, R.P. Wise and E.S. Buckler. (2006) Genetic diversity contribution to errors in short-oligonucleotide microarray analysis. Plant Biotechnology Journal 4: 489-498.
Tuskan, G.A., S.P. DiFazio, U. Hellsten, S. Jansson, S. Rombauts, N. Putnam, L. Sterck, J. Bohlmann, J. Schein, R.R. Bhalerao, R.P. Bhalerao, D. Blaudez, W. Boerjan, A. Brun, A. Brunner, V. Busov, M. Campbell, J. Carlson, M. Chalot, J. Chapman, G. Chen, D. Cooper, P.M. Coutinho, J. Couturier, S.F. Covert, R. Cunningham, J. Davis, S. Degroeve, C. dePamphilis, J. Detter, B. Dirks, I. Dubchak, S. Duplessis, J. Ehlting, B. Ellis, K. Gendler, D. Goodstein, M. Gribskov, I. Grigoriev, A. Groover, L. Gunter, B. Hamberger, B. Heinze, Y. Helariutta, B. Henrissat, D. Holligan, N. Islam-Faridi, M. Jones-Rhoades, R. Jorgensen, C. Joshi, J. Kangasjärvi, J. Karlsson, C. Kelleher, R. Kirkpatrick, M. Kirst, A. Kohler, U. Kalluri, F. Larimer, J. Leebens-Mack, J.C. Leplé, A. Déjardin, G. Pilate, P. Locascio, S. Lucas, F. Martin, B. Montanini, C. Napoli, D.R. Nelson, C.D. Nelson, K.M. Nieminen, O. Nilsson, G. Peter, R. Philippe, A. Poliakov, S. Ralph, P. Richardson, C. Rinaldi, K. Ritland, P. Rouzé, D. Ryaboy, A. Salamov, J. Schrader, B. Segerman, F. Sterky, C. Souza, C. Tsai, P. Unneberg, K. Wall, S. Wessler, G. Yang, T. Yin, C. Douglas, G. Sandberg, Y. van de Peer and D. Rokhsar (2006) The genome of western black cottonwood, Populus trichocarpa (Torr. & Gray ex Brayshaw). Science 313:1596-1604.
Tieman, D.M., M. Zeigler, E.A. Schmelz, M.G. Taylor, P. Bliss, M. Kirst and H.J. Klee. (2006) Identification of loci affecting flavour volatile emissions in tomato fruits. Journal of Experimental Botany 57:887-896.
Kirst, M., C.J. Basten, A. Myburg, Z.-B. Zeng and R. Sederoff. (2005) Genetic architecture of transcript level variation in differentiating xylemof Eucalyptus hybrids. Genetics 169: 2295-2303.
Kirst, M., C.M. Cordeiro, G.D.S.P. Rezende and D. Grattapaglia. (2005).. Power of microsatellite markers for fingerprinting and parentage analysis in Eucalyptus grandis breeding populations. Journal of Heredity 96:161-166.

Egertsdotter, U., L.M. van Zyl, J. MacKay, G. Peter, M. Kirst, C. Clark, R. Whetten and R. Sederoff. (2004) Gene expression during formation of earlywood and latewood in loblolly pine: expression profiles of 350 genes. Plant Biology 6:654-663.

Kirst, M., A. Myburg, M.E. Kirst, J. Scott and R. Sederoff. (2004) Quantitative analysis of transcript variation on microarrays reveals coordinated downregulation of lignin gene transcripts associated with two quantitative trait loci for growth in a Eucalyptus hybrid backcross. Plant Physiology 135:2368-2378.
Kirst, M., A.F. Johnson, C. Baucom, E. Ulrich, K. Hubbard, R. Staggs, C. Paule, E. Retzel, R. Whetten and R. Sederoff. (2003) Apparent homology of expressed genes from wood-forming tissues of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) with Arabidopsis thaliana. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A 100:7383-7388.
Brondani, R.P.V., Gaiotto, F.A., Missiaggia, A.A., Kirst, M., Gribel, R. & Grattapaglia, D. (2003) Microsatellite markers for Ceiba pentandra (Bombacaceae), and endangered tree species of the Amazon forest. Molecular Ecology Notes 3:177-179.

 

 

CONTRIBUTOR OF CHAPTERS

Kirst, M. and Q. Yu. 2007. Genetical genomics: successes and prospects in plants. In Genomics-Assisted Crop Improvement (v. 1), R.K. Varshney and R. Tuberosa (Eds.) Springer. pp. 245-266.
Kirst, M. 2007. Genômica florestal: Novas abordagens, perspectivas e desafios (in Portuguese). In Biotecnologia Florestal, A. Borem (Ed.) Editora da Universidade Federal de Viçosa. pp. 231-252.
Myburg, A.A., B.M. Potts, C.M.P. Marques, M. Kirst, J.-M. Gion, D. Grattapaglia and J. Grima-Pettenati. 2006. Genome mapping and molecular breeding in Eucalyptus: Molecular domestication of a major fiber crop. In Genome Mapping and Molecular Breeding in Plants (v. 6: Forest Trees), C. Kole (Ed.) Springer. pp. 115-160.
Kirst, M., A. Myburg and R. Sederoff. 2004. Genetic mapping in forest trees: markers, linkage analysis and genomics. In Genetic Engineering, Principles and Methods (v. 26), J.K Setlow (Ed.) Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. pp. 105-142.

 

COURSES TAUGHT

 

GRADUATE COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES

 

INVITED LECTURES AT PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCES / MEETINGS
Kirst, M. 2008. Plant gene expression regulatory networks. 20th South African Genetics Society Congress, March 27-29, Pretoria, South Africa.
Kirst, M. 2007. Massively-parallel pyrosequencing and genotyping for a new paradigm in genome and complex trait analysis. IUFRO Tree Biotechnology Conference, June 3-8, Ponta Delgada, Portugal.
Kirst, M. 2006. Genetical genomic regulation of wood physical and chemical properties. Plant Vascular Development Conference, June 9-11, Vancouver, Canada.
Kirst, M. 2006. Genetical genomics: Dissecting the genetic control of gene expression, networks and traits. Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society Ph.D. Conference, June 15-18, Lycksele, Sweden.
Kirst, M. 2005. SNP genotyping and association genetic analysis in Eucalyptus. Genolyptus Consortium Meeting, April 12-16, Porto Seguro, Brazil.
Kirst, M. 2005. Strategies for identification of genes that control quantitative variation for forestry traits. Genolyptus Consortium Meeting, April 12-16, Porto Seguro, Brazil.
Kirst, M. 2005. SNP effects in expression analysis of diverse species, including experiments using the GeneChipR Maize Genome Array. Affymetrix Workshop. Plant & Animal Genomes XIII Conference, January 15-19, San Diego, USA.
Kirst, M. 2003. Analysis of microarray gene expression data as a quantitative trait. Biotechnology Seminar Series, Universidade Católica de Brasília, May 9, Brasília, Brazil.
Kirst, M. 2002. Tree genomics: Eucalyptus gene discovery and expression project. Universidade de São Paulo, February 7, Piracicaba, Brazil.

 

CONTRACTS AND GRANTS
Gallo, M. and 17 co-PIs (M. Kirst, co-PI). The Agricultural Genomics, Education and Metabolomics (GEM) Graduate Fellows Program. US Department of Agriculture / National Needs Graduate Fellowship. 2008 – 2011, $229,500 (all UF)
Tuskan, G., J. Davis, S. DiFazio, L. Gunter, M. Kirst, U. Kalluri, M. Hinchee, D. Kaczmarek, A. Morse, T. Tschaplinski and T. Yin (M. Kirst, co-PI). Genome-enabled discovery of carbon allocation genes in Populus: Molecular control of root proliferation and production of recalcitrant compounds. Department of Energy - Office of Science / Biological and Environmental Research Program. 2006 – 2008, $2,500,000 (UF portion ~ $ 1,000,000)
Peter, G., and M. Kirst (M. Kirst, co-PI). Genes for more efficient land use and conversion of forest trees into wood products. The Consortium for Plant Biotechnology Research 2006 Competitions: Bioenergy and Environment. 2006 – 2008, $236,978 (all UF)
Kirst, M., G. Peter, and T. Martin (M. Kirst, PI). Genomic mechanisms of carbon allocation and partitioning in poplar. Department of Energy / Poplar Genome Based Research for Carbon Sequestration. 2005 – 2008, $1,029,658 (all UF)
Sederoff, R., M. Kirst (M. Kirst, co-PI). Genomic regulation of growth and lignin in Eucalyptus. Consortium for Plant Biotechnology Research. 2005-2007, $236,000 (UF Portion $ 84,050).
Neale, D., C. Langley, C. Loopstra, G. Peter, J. Davis, B. Goldfard, G. Casella, M. Kirst, N. Wheeler (M. Kirst, co-PI). Association genetics of natural genetic diversity and complex traits in pine. National Science Foundation / Plant Genome Program. 2005 – 2009, $5,902,886 (UF Portion $1,199,871)