Dr. Parastoo Majidian completed her Ph.D. in Plant Breeding-Genetic Engineering and Molecular Genetics from the Department of Plant Breeding at Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Iran, from 2012 to 2016. Her Ph.D. program comprised 2 years of a taught program, followed by a comprehensive examination and 2 years of research work. She achieved a GPA of 17.56 out of 20, ranking third among five students. Her thesis, titled “Evaluation of artificial regulation system in Bacillus subtilis in order to transcriptional control,” earned a score of 19.70 out of 20 under the supervision of Prof. Dr. H. Najafi Zarini and Prof. Dr. K.I. Yoshida. Earlier, she obtained her M.Sc. in Agricultural Engineering-Plant Biotechnology from the same university, following a similar program structure from 2009 to 2011. She secured a GPA of 17.46 out of 20 and her thesis on “Evaluation of genetic diversity of some apricot cultivars and genotypes using SSR and AFLP markers” received a score of 19.90 out of 20. Prof. Dr. H. Najafi Zarini and Prof. Dr. M. Zeinalabedini supervised her during this period. Dr. Majidian began her academic journey with a B.Sc. in Plant Pathology from the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran, from 2003 to 2007, achieving a GPA of 16.38 out of 20.

Skills:

Dr. Parastoo Majidian is proficient in a range of molecular biology techniques, including PCR and primer designing, qRT-PCR, cDNA synthesis, and agarose gel electrophoresis. She is also experienced in statistical genomics software such as Gcluto, NTSYS, Splitstree, xlstat, genalex, power marker, Oligo7, structure, tassel, and microsatellite toolkit. Her expertise extends to genetic engineering techniques, including the isolation and purification of nucleic acids, isolation of chromosomes, nucleic acid blotting techniques, DNA sequencing, alternative methods of DNA sequencing, chemical synthesis of DNA, bacterial culture, and genetic transformation. In the field of proteomics, Dr. Majidian is skilled in high-quality protein extraction and purification, Bradford assay, SDS-PAGE, and spectrophotometric enzyme assay. She is also well-versed in various plant breeding techniques such as backcrossing or introgression breeding, inbreeding, hybrid breeding, measurement of quantitative and qualitative traits, selection with molecular markers in plant breeding, quantitative trait loci localization, genetic engineering, and applying abiotic stress at field or greenhouse conditions. Additionally, she is knowledgeable in plant physiology techniques including enzyme assays such as antioxidants enzyme activity and metabolite content measurement assay.

Teaching Experience: