Laboratory of Plant Developmental Biology， SJTU
RESEARCH INTERESTS
1）Mechanism of the Development of Inflorescence and Spikelet in Rice
Rice (Oryza sativa), the model grass plant, has specialized morphology of inflorescence and spikelet, which determines the ultimate yield of rice. We are using various approaches such as forward and reverse genetics, biochemistry, cell biology etc to investigate the molecular mechanisms such as MADS box genes and the regulatory network involved in the morphogenesis and development of inflorescence and spikelet in rice.
2）Molecular Aspects of Rice Male Reproduction
The life cycle of flowering plants alternates between diploid sporophyte and haploid gametophyte generations. Male gametophytes develop in the anther compartment of the stamen within the flower and require cooperative functional interactions between gametophytic and sporophytic tissues.During the male reproductive development, there are numerous biological events including cell division, differentiation and degeneration of somatic tissues consisting of four concentric cell layers surrounding and supporting reproductive cells as they form mature pollen grains through meiosis and mitosis. To understand the mechanism of plant male reproduction, we are combining systematic biology (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabonomics) with other approaches such as genetics, cell biology, biochemistry, and structure biology to elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying each biological process of male reproduction, such as cell-to-cell communications, programmed cell death, and fatty acids metabolism.
3）Molecular Characterization of Transgenic Organisms
As more and more transgenic crops such as transgenic maize and soybean have been approved and consumed as foods and feeds, concerns about the safety of transgenic organisms among consumers and public increase Molecular characterization of transgenic organisms is the base for the safety assessment of transgenic organisms. We are developing detection methods to identify the changes occurred at genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolic levels, and to compare those changes between transgenic line and non-transgenic control line and between transgenic line and conventional cultivated lines, laying a foundation for safety assessment.
