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Cell Biologist Joins UC Davis Faculty

Ben Montpetit's research focus is yeast cell biology and interaction with wine

 

Lab manager Rachel Montpetit and UC Davis assistant professor in viticulture and enology Dr. Ben Montpetit outfitted the microbiology lab at the Robert Mondavi Institute, where they will research yeast cell biology and cell behavior.

Davis, Calif.—Dr. Ben Montpetit is the newest faculty member at the University of California, Davis, Department of Viticulture and Enology, joining the department as an assistant professor specializing in microbiology, cell biology and genetics.

A native of British Columbia, Canada, who grew up on Vancouver Island, Montpetit was previously an assistant professor in the Department of Cell Biology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton (Canada) from 2012 to 2016. Montpetit earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, in 2007. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in biology from Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C. He performed postdoctoral work at the University of British Columbia and at UC Berkeley.

Research focus on yeast cell responses to stress
Since he started working on his Ph.D. in 2002, Montpetit’s research has focused on yeast cell biology, studying Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the mechanisms of yeast cell responses to stress and environmental challenges. This work has direct implications for enology, for better understanding yeast behavior and viability during wine fermentation and potentially for identifying different yeast strains and characteristics for more efficient fermentations and to prevent stuck fermentations. As part of this research, Montpetit will be studying how Saccharomyces responds to stresses from ethanol, heat and nutritional deficiencies that can occur during fermentation.

“A yeast cell is challenged by ethanol during fermentation, and it either adapts to this stress or it dies,” Montpetit observed.

In addition, knowledge of this fundamental biological process at the cellular level may also be important for understanding how other organisms respond to stress, and the use of budding yeasts is an extremely useful model system for this area of study. To explain a bigger picture objective of this research, Montpetit posed a question: “If we know how a yeast cell works, can we extract that knowledge and apply it to understanding other organisms on a biological level, including humans?”

In more detailed terms
Montpetit provided more details about his research and explained some basics of what is currently known about cell biology and function. The instructions that govern what a cell does is encoded in its DNA, including how it behaves and interacts in its environment, but all that information is not used all at once. As the cell grows and lives, different information is required at different times. This information is stored in the cell nucleus. Like a rare book library, this basic information must remain in the nucleus (library), but the cell has a mechanism that is similar to making a photocopy, where pieces of information can be copied into a ribonucleic acid (RNA) template. This copy is known as messenger RNA (mRNA), and this small bit of information in mRNA can be transported from the nucleus and into the cell cytoplasm, where it is needed and is used to produce proteins. This process, called mRNA export, is essential and can be used by the cell to regulate cell behavior in response to environmental changes and stress.

Proteins are the workhorses of the cell and serve a variety of purposes, such as facilitating chemical reactions and metabolism, regulating functions, providing defense mechanisms, etc. Montpetit explained: “A yeast cell sitting on a grape in a vineyard needs a certain set of proteins to survive. If the cell is washed off in a rainstorm into a puddle on the ground, it needs a different set of proteins to survive. We’re studying the mechanism of the cell’s stress response, and how it switches to another set of proteins in order to survive.”

Insights from this research may also be relevant to humans and health care, where disruptions in mRNA are associated with human diseases and viral infections.

Lab facility at RMI
Montpetit is currently setting up lab space at the Robert Mondavi Institute. He brings with him several graduate students from the University of Alberta who will continue their research work in the new lab at UC Davis. The school also hired his wife, Rachel Montpetit, as the lab manager. The Montpetits have ordered new lab equipment and supplies to prepare for the fall quarter, including state-of-the art microscope technology capable of photographing 500 images per second to study and record yeast responses to induced stresses.

The Montpetit lab is sharing space within the lab of professor Dr. Linda Bisson, the department’s microbiologist and genetics specialist who joined the faculty in 1985 and served as department chair from 1990 to 1995. A goal of current department chair, Dr. David Block, is to hire newer faculty members prior to the retirements of senior faculty members so they can learn from experienced faculty in their respective areas of expertise, enabling a smooth transition in department personnel and academic resources.

Montpetit observed, “I think part of the success of this department is having a critical mass of people representing different sciences and disciplines all here in one place.” He added, “When you mix all of these disciplines, some of the most exciting research can come about, and this is a great environment for that.”

Montpetit will begin teaching the department’s wine microbiology course VEN 128, which focuses on the interactions of microbes with grape juice and wine, and the affiliated lab course VEN 128L, in which students learn about and identify grape and wine microbes using a microscope. He will also be supervising and teaching students in the VEN graduate program and will participate in the department’s extension and industry outreach and education activities.

He summarized, “I’m excited and looking forward to working with people in the industry—and with people in the department—and continuing to work with yeast,   my favorite research organism.’’

Other faculty transitions—Adams and Matthews Retire
At the same time Montpetit joined the faculty, the department saw the retirement of two long-time professors who transitioned to emeritus status July 1. Dr. Doug Adams, a specialist in biochemistry and plant physiology, joined the faculty in 1986. His research focus was on the biochemistry of grape ripening and tannins in grapes and wine. He led the development of the Adams-Harbertson Tannin Assay, now used by wineries and commercial labs to analyze tannin levels in grapes and wine.  Adams recently was honored by the American Society for Enology and Viticulture (ASEV) with the ASEV Merit Award for 2016 and delivered the Merit Award lecture at the recent ASEV national conference in Monterey.

Dr. Mark Matthews, a plant physiologist, joined the faculty in 1983. His research specialties included plant-water relations, photosynthesis, grape nutrition, grape development, berry shrivel and wine grape quality. He authored the book Terroir and Other Myths of Winegrowing, released in March 2016.