Research Areas

New Technology for Plant Important Agronomic Traits Design

Our goal is to develop and utilize new molecular technologies such as genome editing, gene transfer and synthetic biology to modify traditional plant traits, and to provide key technical support for modern agricultural industry.

Primary Scientific Discoveries

Plant terpenoid biosynthesis and insect resistance —— The First Prize of Shanghai Natural Science Award (2017)
Principal Achievers: Xiaoya Chen, Yingbo Mao, Gaojie Hong, Zongxia Yu, Lingjian Wang
- The team isolated and characterized three enzymes from cotton which catalyze early steps in the gossypol pathway, and developed an ex planta phytoremediation method by engineering plants to secrete enzymes for soil remediation (Nat Biotechnol, 2004);
- The team identified cotton WRKY1, the first characterized transcription factor in plant terpenoid metabolism regulation, and we analyzed the function of Arabidopsis MYC2 in connecting plant hormonal signals to terpenoid biosynthesis (Plant Cell, 2012);
- During dissection of the role of plant secondary metabolites in plant-insect interactions, the team developed a new strategy for agricultural pest control: plant-mediated insect RNAi (Nat Biotechnol, 2007), which has been followed by many laboratories worldwide.

ERECTA defines a major QTL for disease resistance and thermotolerance through cell death control
RLKs play important roles in plant growth and development and responses to environmental stimuli such as pathogens and high temperature. The research group led by Dr. Zuhua He identified QTL loci conferring quantitative resistance to P. syringae in two Arabidopsis ecotypes, Col-0 and Ler. One QTL, qHat2-1, also confers high tolerance to prolonged heat stress (40℃) in Col-0. Fine mapping revealed that qHat2-1 encodes the receptor-like kinase (RLK) ERECTA. They found that the loss-of-function er mutants exhibit hypersensitivity to heat, whereas ER overexpression confers high thermotolerance in the model plant Arabidopsis. They further recognized that ER could prevent heat-induced cell damage likely through activating a cell protection pathway. Field tests at multiple locations and seasons clearly proved that ER overexpression could enhance heat tolerance of transgenic tomato and rice during the summer. Moreover, they found that loss-of-function mutation of a rice ER homolog or low-expressed tomato ER alleles decreased thermotolerance whereas highly-expressed tomato ER alleles increased thermotolerance. Interestingly, ER-overexpressing transgenic plants display increased biomass, enhanced water use efficiency and drought tolerance, favoring agronomy. This study thud reveals a promising tool for breeding crops with high thermotolerance without sacrificing growth.
This work entitled "Overexpression of receptor-like kinase ERECTA improves thermotolerance in rice and tomato" was published in Nat Biotechnol (Shen et al., 2015, 33: 996-1003).

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