The State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics was founded in 2003 by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China. The

Laboratory was upgraded from the Key Laboratory of Plant Biotechnology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences founded

in 1990. In the nationwide State Key Laboratory evaluation in 2006 and 2011, the Laboratory was twice evaluated as

outstanding (Rank A).

The Laboratory uses combined approaches of multidisciplinary life sciences to address fundamental questions in plant

growth and development, with an emphasis on the dissection of the molecular mechanisms of complex agronomic traits

of crops. An important mission of the Laboratory is to extend knowledge in basic research to crop improvement for

superior traits. The Laboratory mainly uses rice and Arabidopsis as model systems to unravel the structure and function

of plant genomes, functional genomics of important agronomic traits, phytohormone-regulated plant growth and

development, plant-environment and plant-pathogen interactions, and molecular breeding.

HOME PAGE: http://www.plantgenomics.genetics.cas.cn

DIRECTOR: Jianru Zuo

DEPUTY DIRECTORS: Chengcai Chu, Xiaofeng Cao, Wei Qian

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS : Mingsheng Chen, Shouyi Chen, Zhukuan Cheng, Rongxiang Fang, Huishan Guo, Yuling Jiao, Zhaosheng Kong,

Chuanyou Li, Jiayang Li, Shaoyang Lin, Jun Liu, Dongping Lu, Jinlong Qiu, Guodong Wang, Xiujjie Wang,

Yonghong Wang, Guixian Xia, Qi Xie, Shanguo Yao, Jinsong Zhang, Jianmin Zhou, Yihua Zhou, Lihuang Zhu,

Zhen Zhu

SCIENTIFIC STEERING COMMITTEE

CHAIR: Rongxiang Fang

VICE CHAIRS: Yongbiao Xue, Bin Han

MEMBERS: Xiaofeng Cao, Xiaoya Chen, Kang Chong, Huishan Guo, Jiayang Li, Yaoguang Liu, Hong Ma, Qian Qian, Weihua Wu, Jianmin

Zhou, Yuxian Zhu, Jianru Zuo

SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD: Shouyi Chen, Zhihong Xu, Qifa Zhang, Lihuang Zhu, Zhen Zhu

 

During the past year, scientists in the Laboratory have made important advances in several research fields. In plant

genomics studies, Xiaofeng Cao’s group reported that REF6 uses four zinc fingers to directly recognize a CTCTGYTY motif,

allowing genome-wide, site-specific demethylation of H3K27me3. These results identify a new targeting mechanism of

an H3K27 demethylase to counteract Polycomb-mediated gene silencing (Cui et al., Nat Genet, 2016). The same group

also applied genetics, transcriptomics, proteomics and biochemistry to show that AtPRMT5 modulates constitutive

and alternative pre-mRNA splicing, uncovering a key process through which arginine methylation impacts diverse

developmental processes (Deng et al., PNAS, 2016). Jiayang Li and several other scientists proposed a regulatory

framework for precision breeding with "genome-edited crops" (GECs) so that society can fully benefit from the latest

advances in plant genetics and genomics, which showed pioneering influence in the application of genome-edited

technology (Huang et al., Nat Genet, 2016). Jiayang Li’s group and collaborators successfully carried out efficient intronmediated

site-specific gene replacement through the non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway assisted by the

CRISPR/Cas9 system, and these newly developed technology can be generally applied to molecular breeding and analysis

of plant genes (Li et al., Nat Plants, 2016). Xiujie Wang’s group and collaborators found that AGO3, and likely AOG4,

predominantly bound 24-nt sRNAs to modulate DNA methylation, indicating that AGO3 is a component in the epigenetic

pathway (Zhang et al., Nat Plants, 2016).

In functional genomics studies, Jiayang Li’s group identified a defective soluble starch synthase gene (SSIIIa) responsible

for resistant starch (RS) production. This discovery holds great promise in improving cooking quality of rice especially

 

in the indica varieties which are dominating in southern Asia (Zhou et al., PNAS, 2016). Yonghong Wang and Jiayang Li’s

groups discovered a new molecular mechanism controlling shoot branching. They showed that the MKK7-MPK6 cascade

phosphorylates Ser337 on PIN1, establishing a molecular link between the MAPK cascade and auxin-regulated plant

development (Jia et al., PLoS Biol, 2016). Lihuang Zhu’s group and collaborators conducted integrated genetics and omics

analyses in a model two-line rice hybrid system, Liang-you-pei 9 (LYP9) and its parents to identify multiple quantitative trait

loci (QTLs) involved in yield heterosis, and proposed a common mechanism for yield heterosis in the present commercial

hybrid rice (Li et al., PNAS, 2016). Chengcai Chu’s group analyzed a newly identified a dominant panicle enclosure mutant

regulator of eui1 (ree1-D) to show that HOX12 acts directly through EUI1 to regulate panicle exsertion in rice (Gao et al.,

Plant Cell, 2016). Zhukuan Cheng’s group showed that P31comet is a functional synaptonemal complex (SC) protein and is

essential for double-strand break (DSB) formation and SC installation in rice (Ji et al., PNAS, 2016). The same group and

collaborators demonstrated that MS5 participates in progression of meiosis during early prophase I and that its allelic

variants alter fertility in oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.), which may provide a promising strategy for pollination control

for heterosis breeding (Xin et al., Plant Cell, 2016). Chuanyou Li’s group and collaborators identified DA3 as a negative

regulator of endoreduplication and showed that endoreduplication is linked to cell and organ growth via interaction of

DA3 with key cell-cycle regulators (Xu et al., Plant Cell, 2016). Yuling Jiao’s group reported that the initiation of axillary

meristems requires a meristematic cell population continuously expressing the meristem marker SHOOT MERISTEMLESS

(STM), and proposed a threshold model for axillary meristem initiation (Shi et al., PLoS Genet, 2016).

In studying of plant-environment/pathogen interactions, Jian-Min Zhou’s group reported that the Pseudomonas syringae

effector HopB1 acts as a protease to cleave immune-activated BAK1, leading to enhanced virulence, but not disease

resistance revealing a virulence strategy by which a pathogen effector attacks the plant immune system with minimal

host perturbation (Li et al., Cell Host Microbe, 2016). The same group demonstrated that heterotrimeric G proteins are

directly coupled to the FLS2 receptor complex and regulate immune signaling through both pre-activation and postactivation

mechanisms (Liang et al., eLife, 2016). Huishan Guo’s group made several important progresses in the study of

devastating wilt diseases. Their work reported the pathway in which hyphopodium of Verticillium dahliae redirect fungal

growth toward host cells to penetrate cotton roots and to colonize the host vascular system (Zhao et al., PLoS Pathog,

2016). Further study revealed that in response to infection with Verticillium dahliae, cotton plants increase production

of microRNAs and export them to the fungal hyphae for specific silencing of fungal genes, uncovering cross-kingdom

gene silencing as a novel defence strategy of host plants (Zhang et al., Nat Plants, 2016). Jinlong Qiu’s group found that

MPK4 interacts with and phosphorylates MYB75 to increase the stability of MYB75 and that this modification is essential

for light-induced anthocyanin accumulation. These findings revealed an important role for a MAPK pathway in light

signal transduction (Li et al., Plant Cell, 2016). Qi Xie’s group reported that the two major complexes involved in the ERassociated

protein degradation (ERAD) system closely interact with each other, which is conserved between plants and

mammals (Chen et al., Nat Plants, 2016).

 

Prof. Xiaofeng Cao was elected as an academician of the Third World Academy of Sciences. Prof. Qi Xie was highlighted in

Thomson Reuters China Citation Laureates. Prof. Chuanyou Li and Prof. Xiujie Wang received Leading Talent Awards from

the Scientific and Technological Innovation Program.