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Peter McCourt

mccourt.jpg
Full Professor
NSERC IRC, CRC in Plant Molecular Biology
Education: 
Ph.D., Michigan State, 1986
Department: 
Cell & Systems Biology
Research Areas: 
Molecular Biology & Biotechnology, Cell & Developmental Biology, Functional Genomics & Genetics, Plant Biology
Graduate Programs: 
Cell & Systems Biology, Developmental Biology
Office phone: 
416-978-0523
Lab phone: 
416-978-0837
Fax: 
416-978-5878
URL: 
http://labs.csb.utoronto.ca/mccourt
Office: 
ESC 4059
Lab: 
ESC 4055

peter [dot] mccourt (at)utoronto [dot] ca

Address: 

Department of Cell & Systems Biology
University of Toronto
25 Willcocks Street
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M5S 3B2

Research: 

In plants, hormones influence many diverse developmental processes ranging from seed germination to root, shoot and flower formation. I have chosen to study the plant hormones abscisic acid (ABA) and gibberellin (GA) in Arabidopsis thaliana as a model genetic system to understanding hormone signaling in plants. The program involves the identification of mutants with altered hormonal responses and the cloning of the subsequent genes that have been identified through these genetic screens.

  • Selected publications:
2009
Park, S.-Y., Fung, P., Nishimura, N., Jensen, D., Fujii, H., Zhao, Y., Lumba, S., Santiago, J., Rodrigues, A., Chow, T., Alfred, S., Bonetta, D., Finkelstein, R., Provart, N., Desveaux, D., Rodriguez, P., McCourt, P., Zhu, J.-K., Schroeder, J.I., Volkman, B., Cutler, S. (2009).  Abscisic Acid Inhibits Type 2C Protein Phosphatases via the PYR/PYL Family of START Proteins. Science. 324, 1068-1071. Abstract
2004
Provart, N., McCourt, P. (2004).  Systems approaches to understanding cell signaling and gene regulation. Curr Opin Plant Biol. 7(5), 605-9. Abstract
Gazzarrini, S., Tsuchiya, Y., Lumba, S., Okamoto, M., McCourt, P. (2004).  The Transcription Factor FUSCA3 Controls Developmental Timing in Arabidopsis through the Hormones Gibberellin and Abscisic Acid. Developmental Cell. 7, 373-385. Abstract
2000
Bonetta, D., Bayliss, P., Sun, S., Sage, T.L., McCourt, P. (2000).  Farnesylation is involved in meristem organization in Arabidopsis.. Planta. 211, 182-190.
1998
Pei, Z-M., Ghassemian, M., Kwak, C.M., McCourt, P., Schroder, J. I (1998).  Role of Farnesyltransferase in ABA regulation of guard cell anion channels and plant water loss.. Science. 282, 287-290.
Bonetta, D., McCourt, P. (1998).  Genetic analysis of ABA signal transduction.. Trends in Plant Science. 6, 231-235.
Steber, C., Cooney, S.E., McCourt, P. (1998).  Isolation of GA-response mutants of Arabidopsis as suppressors of ABI1 and ABA insensitive mutation.. Genetics. 149, 509-521.
1996
Cutler, S., Ghassimian, M., Bonetta, D., Cooney, S., McCourt, P. (1996).  A protein farnesyl transferase involved in ABA transduction in Arabidopsis.. Science. 273, 1239-1241.