Qian Gong, Ph.D.
Plant antiviral immunity research group
Assistant Professor, School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Peking University
tel：
Postcode：010-62754427
E-mail：gongqian@pku.edu.cn
1. Plant airborne defense and green pest management
2.Mechanisms of broad-spectrum plant antiviral immunity
3. Mechanisms of viral transmission and pathogenesis
Plant viruses are major pathogens that severely threaten global agricultural security, with approximately 80% of plant viruses relying on insect vectors for transmission. Our research focuses on the viral infection cycle and systematically investigates plant anti-pathogen and anti-insect immune mechanisms, as well as viral counter-defense strategies, during viral entry, replication, and transmission. Our major advances include: identifying the plant receptor for the volatile compound methyl salicylate and elucidating the molecular mechanism of methyl salicylate-mediated plant airborne defense against insects and viruses, as well as viral counter-defense strategies against this process (Nature, 2023); dissecting the signaling pathway by which far-red light regulates plant immunity and revealing a new mechanism by which viruses evade host defense by interfering with the nuclear translocation of the far-red light receptor (Science Advances, 2025); and, for the first time, establishing a link between calcium signaling and the RNAi pathway, thereby elucidating the early signaling and regulatory mechanisms by which plants perceive viral invasion and activate the expression of core antiviral RNAi genes, while also revealing the corresponding viral counter-defense mechanism (Cell Host & Microbe, 2021).
Gong Q, He L, Huang F, Wang Y, Xie J, Hong Y, Liu Y. (2025) Far-red light orchestrates antiviral defense in plants. Sci. Adv., 11: eadz7663.
Liu J, Gong Q. (2025) Rewiring nlrs for broad and cross-species plant immunity. Mod. Agric., 3: e70031.
Wang Y, Gong Q, Liu Y. (2025) Multifaceted roles of autophagy in plant–virus–insect interactions. New Phytol., 248: 1166-1170.
Gong Q, Wang Y, Zhang X, Zhao J, Liu Y, Hong Y. (2024) Plant airborne defense against insects, viruses, and beyond. Trends Plant Sci., 29: 283-285.
Wang Y, Gong Q, Liu Y. (2024) Interplant communication: An emerging battlefield in plant-aphid-virus interactions. Sci. China Life Sci., 67: 1069-1071.
Gong Q, Wang Y, He L, Huang F, Zhang D, Wang Y, Wei X, Han M, Deng H, Luo L, Cui F, Hong Y, Liu Y. (2023) Molecular basis of methyl salicylate-mediated plant airborne defence. Nature, 622: 139-148.
Wang Y, Gong Q, Jin Z, Liu Y, Hong Y. (2022) Linking calcium and RNAi signaling in plants. Trends Plant Sci., 27: 328-330.
Gong Q, Wang Y, Jin Z, Hong Y, Liu Y. (2022) Transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of RNAi-related gene expression during plant-virus interactions. Stress Biol., 2(1): 33.
Wang Y, Gong Q, Huang F, He L, Liu Y. (2022) Live imaging and quantitation of insect feeding-induced Ca2+signal using GCaMP3-based system in Nicotiana benthamiana.STAR Protoc., 3: 101040.
Wang Y, Gong Q, Wu Y, Huang F, Ismayil A, Zhang D, Li H, Gu H, Ludman M, Fatyol K, Qi Y, Yoshioka K, Hanley-Bowdoin L, Hong Y, Liu Y. (2021) A calmodulin-binding transcription factor links calcium signaling to antiviral RNAi defense in plants. Cell Host Microbe, 29: 1393-1406.
Jianjian Liu, Yinshuai Xie, Linke Su
