Skip to main content

Global Council for Innovation in Rapeseed and Canola

Members' Directory

Member profile page

Sareena SAHAB
Last name : SAHAB
First name : Sareena
Entrance year : 2026
Occupation : Senior Research Scientist, Group Leader, New Breeding Technologies, DEECA, Melbourne, Australia, Senior Research Fellow, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
Company : Agribio
Phone : +61 0403345471
Email : [hidden for users not logged in]
Website : https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/about/research/research-smartfarms/agribio
Birthdate : 1978/03/23
Address : 5 Ring Rd, La Trobe University, 3083 Bundoora, Victoria / Australia
Main fields of interest :
  • Seeds, genetics
  • Plant physiology
  • Economy, value chains
Professional experience : Dr. Sahab is a Senior Research Scientist and Group Leader for the New Breeding Technologies Platform at Agriculture Victoria (DEECA), with over 20 years of experience in plant biotechnology across oilseed crops, forage grasses, cereals, and grain legumes. Dr. Sahab has also led multidisciplinary research programs integrating fundamental cell biology with applied crop improvement in the canola research area. She has played key roles in securing and delivering public–private research funding exceeding AUD 32 million, managed government–industry collaborations (CORTEVA, BASF, GrainCorp, GRDC, etc.), and contributed to peer-reviewed publications and intellectual property generation. She has experienced postdoctoral and visiting scientist positions in the US and Europe, engaged in international research networks, and contributed to the supervision and mentorship of students and visiting scientists. She also currently holds a joint appointee position with School of Applied Systems Biology, La Trobe University. Dr. Sahab also holds the position of National Representative (Australia) for the International Association for Plant Biotechnology (IAPB).
Education : PhD Biotechnology
Selected publications : Patents & Publications: German Spangenberg, Sareena Sahab and John Mason (2014) FLUORESCENCE ACTIVATED CELL SORTING (FACS) ENRICHMENT TO GENERATE PLANTS (U.S. Patent No. 14020694). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Sareena S, Josquin T, John, M, German S and Matthew H. 2024. Fluorescent Activated Protoplast Sorting for Crop Improvement. Trends in Plant Science. DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2023.12.008. Sareena S, Matthew H, German S and John M. 2024. An efficient Fluorescence-Activated Protoplast Sorting (FAPS) and regeneration protocol for Canola (Brassica napus). Current Protocols, 4, e70008. DOI: 10.1002/cpz1.70008 Sareena S., Fatima R., Mahilini P., Elizabeth J, Pippa K, Katerina V, Stephen P., Josquin T., and Matthew H. (2024) Efficient multi-allelic genome editing via CRISPR–Cas9 ribonucleoprotein-based delivery to Brassica napus mesophyll protoplasts. Front. Plant Sci. 15:1397632. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1397632 Cook TM, Isenegger D, Dutta S, Sareena S, Kay P, Aboobucker SI, Biswas E, Heerschap S, Nikolau BJ, Dong L, Lubberstedt T. Overcoming roadblocks for in vitro nurseries in plants: induction of meiosis. Front Plant Sci. 2023 Jun 2; 14:1204813 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1204813. Sareena S, Taylor N. Studies on Pure Mlb® (Multiple Left Border) Technology and Its Impact on Vector Backbone Integration in Transgenic Cassava. Front Plant Sci. 2022 Feb 4;13:816323. DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.816323. Narancio, R., Ding, YL., Lin, YH. Sareena S et al. Application of linked and unlinked co-transformation to generate triple stack, marker-free, transgenic white clover (Trifolium repens L.). Plant Cell Tiss.Organ Cult 142, 635–646 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-020-01891-6. Sareena S, Hayden MJ, Mason J, Spangenberg G. Mesophyll Protoplasts and PEG-Mediated Transfections: Transient Assays and Generation of Stable Transgenic Canola Plants. Methods Mol Biol. 2019;1864:131-152. DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-8778-8_10. Hettirachi IK, Ludlow EJ, Ekanayake PN, Brohier ND, Sareena S, Sawbridge TI, Spangenberg GC, Guthridge KM. Generation of Epichloe Strains Expressing Fluorescent Proteins Suitable for Studying Host-Endophyte Interactions and Characterisation of a T-DNA Integration Event. Microorganisms. 2019 Dec 27;8(1):54. DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms8010054. Rahimi-Ashtiani S, Sareena S, Panter S, Mason J, Spangenberg G (2015) Clovers (Trifolium sp) In Methods in Molecular Biology: Agrobacterium protocols, Third Edition (Ed. K Wang) Vol 1223: pp 223-235. DOI: 10.1007/978- 1-4
Back to list