| The State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics (SKLPG) was founded in 2003, supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China. The Laboratory was initially founded as the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Key Laboratory of Plant Biotechnology in 1990. In a nation-wide performance evaluation of 61 State Key Laboratories in life sciences in 2006, SKLPG was ranked as outstanding along with other 11 laboratories.
Director:
Professor Rongxiang Fang (Academician)
Deputy Directors:
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Professor Jianru Zuo |
Professor Xiaofeng Cao |
Professor Yuxian Zhu |
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Principle Investigators:
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Academician Rongxiang Fang |
Professor Xiujjie Wang |
Professor Jianru Zuo |
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Professor Zhen Zhu |
Professor Lihuang Zhu |
Professor Chaozu He |
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Professor Chuanyou Li |
Academician Jiayang Li |
Professor Mingsheng Chen |
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Professor Shouyi Chen |
Professor Guixian Xia |
Professor Huishan Guo |
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Professor Xiaofeng Cao |
Professor Chengcai Chu |
Professor Zhukuan Cheng |
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Professor Qi Xie |
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Scientific Advisory Committee
Chair:
Academician Jiayang Li
Associate Chairs:
Professor Yongbiao Xue Academician Weihua Wu
Committee Members:
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Professor Shouyi Chen |
Academician Rongxiang Fang |
Professor Bin Han |
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Professor Yaoguang Liu |
Professor Qian Qian |
Academician Zhihong Xu |
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Academician QifaZhang |
Professor Kang Chong |
Professor Jianmin Zhou |
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Professor Lihuang Zhu |
Professor Yuxian Zhu |
Professor Jianru Zuo |
During 2008, scientists in the SKLPG have made important progresses on several research fields. Prof. Jiayang Li's group found that the phenol reaction phenotype of rice is controlled the Phr1 gene, which encodes a polyphenol oxidase. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the defects in Phr1 arose independently three times during evolution. The multiple recent origins and rapid spread of phr1 in japonica suggest the action of positive selection (Yu et al., 2008, Plant Cell). Prof. Chuanyou Li's group characterized a classic rice dwarf mutant narrow leaf1 (nal1). The nal1 mutation affects polar auxin transport as well as vascular patterns indicating that NAL1 plays an important role in the control of lateral leaf growth in rice (Qi et al., 2008, Plant Physiology). Prof. Chengcai Chu's group found that mutations in genes in the carotenoid and ABA biosynthesis pathways lead to preharvest sprouting and photo-oxidation in rice, and the GA/ABA ratio was attributed to a major causal factor of the preharvest sprouting trait (Fang et al., 2008, Plant Journal). In a collaborative effort to understanding on cell-wall biosynthesis in rice, two groups, headed by Prof. Jiayang Li and Prof. Yihua Zhou, have characterized BC10, a DUF266-containing and Golgi-localized type II membrane protein (Zhou et al., 2008, Plant Journal). Owing to his outstanding contributions in related research fields, Academician Jiayang Li was invited to contribute review articles in Annual Reviews of Plant Biology and Nature Genetics.
In their studies related to comparative genomics and bioinformatics, Prof Mingsheng Chen’s group and their collaborators sequenced and compared nine orthologous genomic regions encompassing the Adh1-Adh2 genes (from six diploid genome types) with the rice reference sequence. Their analysis revealed the architectural complexities and dynamic evolution of this region that have occurred over the past～15 million years (Ammiraju et al. Plant Cell, 2008). This group also analyzed the fate of duplicated genes following the ancient whole genome duplication (WGD) in rice. This study revealed that the asymmetric gene loss might result from transcriptome dominance of the ancestral allotetraploid genome, and that the new starch biosynthesis pathway reflects one aspect of the impact of WGD on grass evolution (Wu, et al., 2008, Mol. Biol. Evol.).
Prof Xiujie Wang’s group developed GOEAST, an easy-to-use web-based toolkit that identifies statistically over-represented GO terms within given gene sets (Zheng and Wang, 2008, Nucleic Acids Res.).
Prof. Cao's group reported that a subset of siRNAs show distinctive levels in the Arabidopsis Ler and Col-0 accessions, which is correlated to the specific methylation patterns in these two accessions, suggestive of a role of small RNA in regulating epigenetic differences between these two ecotypes (Zhai et al., 2008, PLoS Genetics). They also found that two closely related genes AtPRMT4a and AtPRMT4b function redundantly and are involved in the regulation of flowering time in an FLC-dependent manner (Niu et al., 2008, Plant Physiology).
In the study of plant–pathogen interaction, Prof Qi Xie'group found that RKP is a functional ubiquitin E3 ligase and is able to interact with cell-cycle inhibitor ICK/KRP proteins in vitro. Moreover, RKP is induced by BSCTV C4 and may affect BSCTV infection by regulating the host cell cycle (Lai et al., 2008, Plant Journal). Prof Huishan Guo's group used a strategy to dissect how the endogenous silencing machinery acts on the 3’UTR of the Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) genome. Their work suggests that the experimental approach is credible for studying the course of RISC target recognition to engineer effective gene silencing and virus resistance in plants by amiRNAs (Duan et al., 2008, Journal of Virology).
In 2008, scientists in the Laboratory published 81 papers, of which 61 papers were published in SCI journals with current staff members of the Laboratory as major contributors, including Annual Reviews of Plant Biology, Nature Genetics, Plant Cell, PLoS Genetic, Plant Journal, Plant Physiology and Journal of Virology.
Personnel Changes
Professor Bin Wang retired in 2008 after his hard working for 41 years in the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology. Professor Wang has worked on the identification and utilization of economically important traits and genes, and comparative genomic, and has made important contributions to the related fields. Professor Wang was the Deputy Director of the Institute of Genetics (1987-1991).
Prof Xiaofeng Cao was appointed as the Deputy Director of the Key Laboratory.
Dr. Yinhong Zhang was hired as the secretary of the Key Laboratory. Mr. Bin Xu was hired as technical assistant by the Key Laboratory.
Prof. Chengcai Chu received a grant for the Outstanding Young Investigator Award from National Natural Science Foundation of China.
Departed postdoctoral fellows:
Dr. Qinyun Bu (Chuanyou Li's group), Dr. Changbao Li (Chuanyou Li's group)
Graduated students:
Ph. D. degree (thesis advisors):
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Khizar Hayat Hatti (Chaozu He) |
Dongmei Yu (Chaozu He) |
Fang Wang (Guixian Xia) |
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Xingchun Wang (Jianru Zuo) |
Weiwei Deng (Xiaofeng Cao) |
Lirong Wei (Lihuang Zhu) |
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Qiang Gan (Lihuang Zhu) |
Bing Liu (Xiaofeng Cao) |
Peng Liu (Shouyi Chen, Jinsong Zhang) |
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Tieyan Liu (Mingsheng Chen) |
Wankui Gong (Zhen Zhu) |
Jing Qi (Chuanyou Li) |
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Yufeng Wu (Mingsheng Chen) |
Shuying Zhang (Lihuang Zhu) |
Xudong Wu (Xiujie Wang, Hon gqing Ling) |
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Gang Li (Qi Xie) |
Chao Li (Jianru Zuo) |
Dayong Li (Lihuang Zhu) |
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Baohua Li (Jiayang Li) |
Shengben li (Jiayang Li) |
Guihua Li (Chaozu He) |
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Quansheng Du (Huishan Guo) |
Lei Su (Rongxiang Fang) |
Tao Chen (Shouyi Chen) |
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Ruiqiang Chen (Jianru Zuo) |
Zhuangzhi Zhou (Chaozu He) |
Wenguang Zheng (Chuanyou L i) |
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Chengguo Duan (Huishan Guo) |
Yunfeng Gen (Rongxiang Fang) |
Shouqiang Ouyang (Shouyi Chen, Jinsong Zhang) |
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Zejun Huang (Zhukuang Cheng) |
Hongli Zhai (Zhen Zhu) |
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Master degree: |
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Peijuan Chi (Zhukuang Cheng) |
Yuejun Chen (Zhen Zhu) |
Zhiqiang Zhao (Xiaoying Chen) |
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Jixian Zhai (Xiaofeng Cao) |
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