It all started when Lim Rui Qi, Audrey, a Year 4 Biological Sciences undergraduate from Nanyang Technological University reached out to Assistant Prof Ma Wei to join his lab because of her passion in plant science since young.

Published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, the research paper “Sunflower WRINKLED1 Plays a Key Role in Transcriptional Regulation of Oil Biosynthesis” was first-authored together with Dr. Kong Que, research fellow and lab manager of Asst. Prof. Ma Wei’s lab.

Proud of his student, Asst. Prof. Ma offered her a PhD scholarship from his research grant to continue researching in his lab after graduation. He shared, “Audrey is a very intelligent and diligent student. She has distinguished herself since she joined my lab. Completely dedicated to her research projects, she is remarkably productive as an undergraduate student researcher. I am extremely fortunate to have her as my student.” Asst. Prof. Ma was awarded the Nanyang Education Award (NEA) – School last year.

Audrey Lim, with pots of sunflowers that she used in her research

“Audrey is a fast learner. She has very strong capability of learning new knowledge and new bench techniques. With good time management skills, Audrey always works in a very efficient way,” added Dr. Kong Que. 

Let’s hear more from Audrey herself on her experience here in NTU SBS, in Asst. Prof. Ma Wei’s lab, as well as her advice to students who would also like to enhance their lab skills.

How did your passion for biology and plant science started?

I have always enjoyed learning biology since secondary school and in particular, plant science, because I like the nature and plants.

Can you briefly share what the recently published research paper on “Sunflower WRINKLED1 Plays a Key Role in Transcriptional Regulation of Oil Biosynthesis” is about?

This paper focuses on WRINKLED1 (WRI1), a transcription factor that is a key regulator in plant oil biosynthesis. Sunflower is one of the main sources of vegetable oil, so this paper focuses on identifying the WRI1 protein in sunflower and uncovering its function through genetics and biochemical assays.

How did you go about joining Asst. Prof. Ma Wei’s lab?

Without much lab experience, I wanted to join a lab to gain some lab skills and experience what it is like to be doing research related to plant science.  However, at that point of time, I had not taken any plant related modules before, so I was unsure of which lab to join. I spoke to my senior who took Prof Ma’s module before and highly recommended me to join his lab and so, I reached out to him. Prof Ma nicely introduced and explained the lab research to me, which helped me understand the lab research better.

How did you cope with your studies while working in Asst. Prof. Ma Wei’s lab?

I was still taking modules while doing this research, so I went to lab on days when I had no classes. Prof Ma and Dr Kong were also very understanding, and I could just let them know if I needed time off to prepare for my tests and exams. I continued this research full-time during the summer holidays and continued my part-time status when the new semester started.

How do you feel about being the co-first author of a paper while still pursuing your Bachelor’s Degree in NTU School of Biological Sciences?

I feel very honoured to be given the opportunity to do this research and more importantly, the precious experience that I have gained throughout this whole process – from planning and doing the experiments with many trials and errors and troubleshooting, to preparing for manuscript including writing response to reviewers, proofreading and being involved in the whole publication process. It was a truly wholesome experience, and I am thankful to have such patient and dedicated mentors guiding me.

Could you share your experience in joining Asst. Prof. Ma Wei’s lab?

Dr Kong supervised me throughout. She explained many concepts to me and taught me many basic techniques from scratch as I did not have much lab experience. For example, in the beginning, she taught me the more basic skills such as PCR, subcloning, plasmid purification, RNA extraction, plant transformation and as I progressed, I was able to learn more techniques from her and do assays such as EMSA, dual luciferase, transactivation assays.

The other members in the lab also taught me some basic techniques like how to prepare growth medium, lipid extraction, yeast transformation. They were always happy to guide me whenever I needed help.

Outside of benchwork, Prof Ma was constantly guiding me throughout the research. For example, he guided me on the designing of new experiments and the various factors to consider, how to interpret and analyse data, educated me on plant molecular biology, plant genetics, lipid biochemistry, mutant characterisation, how do I link the different experiments together to create a good story flow for the manuscript and more. He also helped me improve my presentation skills through lab meetings, Q&A sessions and shared many of his experiences which helped to boost my confidence.

(Left to right) Asst. Prof. Ma Wei, Audrey Lim and Dr. Kong Que

Any advice you might have for others interested in starting early in the research topic of their interest?

If you are unsure of which lab to join, you can always reach out to your seniors and teaching assistants for advice like I did, or look up the SBS website to see if there are any labs that align to your interest. Also, don’t be afraid to approach professors to seek for opportunities no matter which year you are in.

What’s next for you?

I am currently working on my Final Year Project (FYP), which is also supervised by Prof Ma Wei. My FYP also revolves around lipid biosynthesis in plants but more of understanding the molecular mechanism of how the transcription factor WRI1 is regulated.

After my undergraduate studies, I will be pursuing PhD in Prof Ma’s lab where I look forward to doing more plant research. To prepare myself, I am working hard in learning about cutting-edge lab techniques relevant to future work and familiarising myself with thinking critically in the scientific process.

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