The Research Group of Plant Reproductive Development and Soybean Germplasm Innovation

Introduction

  • Our team of Plant Reproductive Development and Soybean Germplasm Innovation supported by South China Agricultural University and Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture is led by Professor Wang Yingxiang, a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of China. The team brings together a group of outstanding young scientists who have sophisticated scientific trainings from top domestic and international universities and institutions in the field of plant reproduction and development. To explore the frontier of fundamental science and meet the demands of national and local development, the team uses multiple research systems including Arabidopsis, soybean, etc, fully integrates molecular genetics, cell biology, biochemistry, structural biology, and multi-omics to focus on fundamental cutting-edge scientific questions in the field of developmental biology, such as transition from vegetative to reproductive, germ cell fate determination, meiosis, and embryogenesis etc. The team is aimed to solve the “bottleneck” that restrict the high yield and quality soybean production by extreme temperatures and developmental periods in tropical and subtropical regions, and then create widely adaptable local varieties that can be grown year-round through molecular breeding, thereby alleviating the supply and demand contradictions of soybean in China. Currently, our team has six professors (one recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of China and two of the Pearl River Young Talent plan), two associate professors, two young research scholars, two research assistant, and more than 60 others including postdocs, doctoral and master's students.

People

  • Yingxiang Wang, Team leader

    Tier 2 Professor, National Distinguished Young Scholar

    Expertise and Research Interest:

    Cell Biology

    Plant Meiosis

    Soybean Biobreeding

    Email:yxwang@scau.edu.cn

  • Jiyue Huang, Professor

    Postdoc at UNC

    Ph.D. from Fudan Univeristy

    B.S. from CAU

    Expertise and Research Interest:

    Plant Genetics

    Plant Meiotic Recombination and Regulation of Fertility

    Email:jyhuang@scau.edu.cn

  • Changkui Guo, Professor

    Ph.D. from Fudan Univeristy

    B.S. from Shandong University

    Expertise and Research Interest:

    Stress Biology

    Plant Growth, Development and Adaptation to Environment

    Email:guock@scau.edu.cn

  • Chenjiang You, Professor

    Postdoc at UCR

    Ph.D. & B.S. from Fudan Univeristy

    Expertise and Research Interest:

    Bioinformatics

    Non-coding RNAs and Plant Reproductive Development

    Email:cjyou@scau.edu.cn

  • Yalin Liu, Professor

    Postdoc at JIC

    Ph.D. from IGDB, CAS

    B.S. from NWAFU

    Expertise and Research Interest:

    Chromosomal Biology

    Development of Plant Zygote and Embryo

    Email:yalin.liu@scau.edu.cn

  • Cong Wang, Professor

    Postdoc at Fudan University

    Ph.D. from Fudan University

    B.S. from Lanzhou University

    Expertise and Research Interest:

    Epigenetics

    Fate Determination of Microsporocyte and Epigenetic Reprogramming in Plants

    Email:wangc@scau.edu.cn

  • Qian Jia, Associate Professor

    Postdoc at SYSU

    Ph.D. from SYSU

    Expertise and Research Interest:

    Structural Biology

    Structure and Function of Regulatory Proteins in Plant Reproductive Development

    Email:qjia@scau.edu.cn

  • Haifeng Peng, Associate Professor

    Ph.D. from SCAU

    Expertise and Research Interest:

    Megagametophyte Development and Germline Differentiation in Plants

    Plant Morphoanatomy

    Email:phf72@scau.edu.c

Research Interests

Research Goals

Publications

  • • Li Q, Zhou J, Li S, Zhang W, Du Y, Li K, Wang Y, Sun Q. DNA polymerase ε harmonizes topological states and R-loops formation to maintain genome integrity in Arabidopsis. Nat Commun. 2023,14(1):7763

    • Wang Y, Chen C, Copenhaver GP, Wang CR. Editorial: Meiosis in plants: sexual reproduction, genetic variation and crop improvement. Front Plant Sci. 2023, 14:1294591

    • Liu Y, Yi C, Fan C, Liu Q, Liu S, Shen L, Zhang K, Huang Y, Liu C, Wang Y, Tian Z, Han F.Pan-centromere reveals widespread centromere repositioning of soybean genomes.PNAS 2023, 120(42): e2310177120.

    • Peng G, Liu M, Zhu L, Luo W, Wang Q, Wang M, Chen H, Luo Z, Xiao Y, Zhang Y, Hong H, Liu Z, Zhou L, Guo G, Wang Y, Zhuang C, Zhou H. The E3 ubiquitin ligase CSIT1 regulates critical sterility-inducing temperature by ribosome-associated quality control to safeguard two-line hybrid breeding in rice. Mol Plant. 2023, 16(10):1695-1709

    • Hu LQ, Yu SX, Xu WY, Zu SH, Jiang YT, Shi HT, Zhang YJ, Xue HW, Wang YX, Lin WH. Spatiotemporal formation of the large vacuole regulated by the BIN2-VLG module is required for female gametophyte development in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 2023, 35(4):1241-1258.

    • Hang R, Xu Y, Wang X, Hu H, Flynn N, You C*, Chen X*. Arabidopsis HOT3/eIF5B1 constrains rRNA RNAi by facilitating 18S rRNA maturation. PNAS 2023, 120(15):e2301081120.

    • Xu W, Yu Y, Jing J, Wu Z, Zhang X, You C, Ma H, Copenhaver GP, He Y, Wang Y*. SCFRMF mediates degradation of the meiosis-specific recombinase DMC1. Nat Commun. 2023, 14:5044

    • Wang C, Li X, Huang J, Ma H, Wang C R, Wang Y. Isolation of Meiocytes and Cytological Analyses of Male Meiotic Chromosomes in Soybean, Lettuce, and Maize. In: Riechmann, J.L., Ferrándiz, C. (eds) Flower Development. Methods Mol. Biol. 2023 vol 2686. Humana, New York, NY.

    • Li J#, Wang C#, Liang W, Jiang C, Liu Y, Ren Z, Ci D, Chang J, Wang Y*,Qian W*. Functional importance and  divergence of plant apurinic/apyrimidinic endonucleases in somatic and meiotic DNA repair. Plant Cell  2023, koad056.

    • Wang C#, Huang J#, Li Y, Zhang J, He C, Jiang D, Dong A, Ma H*, Copenhaver GP*, Wang YX*. DNA polymerase epsilon binds histone H3.1-H4 and recruits MORC1 to mediate meiotic heterochromatin condensation, PNAS 2022, 119: e2213540119.

    • Wang C, Huang J, Zhang J, Yu Y, Copenhaver GP, You C*, Wang Y*. DNA polymerase epsilon interacts with SUVH2/9 to repress the expression of genes associated with meiotic DSB hotspot in Arabidopsis. PNAS  2022, 119: e2208441119.

    • Guo C, Jiang Y, Shi M, Wu X, Wu G*. ABI5 acts downstream of miR159 to delay vegetative phase change in Arabidopsis. New Phytologist  2021, 231: 339-350.

    • Li X, Zhang J, Huang J, Xu J, Chen Z, Copenhaver GP, Wang Y*. Regulation of interference-sensitive crossover distribution ensures crossover assurance in Arabidopsis. PNAS  2021, 118: e2107543118.

    • Li X, Yu M, Bolaños-Villegas P, Zhang J, Ni D, Ma H, Wang Y*. Fanconi anemia ortholog FANCM regulates meiotic crossover distribution in plants. Plant Physiology  2021, 186: 344-360.

    • Chen H#, He C#, Wang C#, Wang X, Ruan F, Yan J, Yin P, Wang Y*, Yan S*. RAD51 supports DMC1 by inhibiting the SMC5/6 complex during meiosis. Plant Cell  2021, 33:2869-2882.

    • Fang X, Han Y, Liu M, Jiang J, Li X, Lian Q, Xie X, Huang Y, Ma Q, Nian H, Qi J, Yang C*, Wang Y*. Modulation of evening complex activity enables north-to-south adaptation of soybean. Sci China Life Sci  2021, 64: 179-195. (Cover story)

    • Liu Y#, Su H#, Zhang J#, Shi L, Liu Y, Zhang B, Bai H, Liang S, Gao Z, Birchler JA, Han F*. Rapid birth or death of centromeres on fragmented chromosomes in maize. Plant Cell  2020, 32: 3113-3123.

    • Su H#, Liu Y#, Liu C, Shi Q, Huang Y, and Han F*. Centromere satellite repeats have undergone rapid changes in polyploid wheat subgenomes. Plant Cell  2020, 9: 2035-2051.

    • Wang J#, Yu C#, Zhuang S, Ye J, Dai H, Wang H, Huang J, Cao X, Ma J*, Ma H*, Wang Y*. Cell-type-dependent histone demethylase specificity promotes meiotic chromosome condensation in Arabidopsis. Nature Plants 2020, 6: 823-837.

    • Liu, Y#, Su, H#, Zhang, J, Liu, Y, Feng, C, Han, F*. Back-spliced RNA from retrotransposon binds to centromere and regulates centromeric chromatin loops in maize. PLoS Biology  2020, 18: e3000582.

    • Huang J#, Wang C#, Li X, Fang X, Huang N, Wang Y, Ma H, Wang Y*, Copenhaver GP*. Conservation and divergence in the meiocyte sRNAomes of Arabidopsis, soybean, and cucumber. Plant Physiology 2020, 182: 301-317.

    • Huang J#, Wang C#, Wang H, Lu P, Zheng B, Ma H, Copenhaver GP, Wang Y*. Meiocyte-specific and AtSPO11-1-dependent small RNAs and their association with meiotic gene expression and recombination. Plant Cell  2019, 31: 444-464.

    • Wang C#, Huang J#, Zhang J, Wang H, Han Y, Copenhaver GP, Ma H, Wang Y*. The largest subunit of DNA polymerase delta is required for normal formation of meiotic type I crossovers. Plant Physiology  2019, 179: 446-459.

    • You C, He W, Hang R, Zhang C, Cao X, Guo H, Chen X, Cui J*, Mo B*. FIERY1 promotes microRNA accumulation by suppressing rRNA-derived small interfering RNAs in Arabidopsis, Nat Commun.  2019, 10: 4424-15.

    • Xu R#, Xu J#, Wang L#, Niu B, Copenhaver GP, Ma H, Zheng B, Wang Y*. The Arabidopsis anaphase promoting complex/cyclosome subunit 8 is required for male meiosis. New Phytologist  2019, 224:229-24.

    • Jia Q, Xie W*. Alternative conformation induced by substrate binding for Arabidopsis thaliana N6-methyl-AMP deaminase. Nucleic Acids Research  2019, 47:3233-3243.

    • Xue M#, Wang J#, Jiang L, Wolfe S, Pawlowskic W*, Wang Y*, He Y*. The number of meiotic double-strand breaks influences crossover distribution in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell  2018, 30: 2628-263.

    • Wang Y*, Copenhaver GP*. Meiotic recombination: mixing it up in plants. Annual Rev Plant Biol. 2018, 69:577-609.