Yuling Jiao, Ph.D.
Plant organ formation
Professor, College of Life Sciences, Peking University
tel：
E-mail：yuling.jiao@pku.edu.cn
We combine multidisciplinary approaches to study plant development, in particular shoot lateral appendage formation and patterning. In combination with mathematical simulation, they study the 3D form acquisition of leaves, the primary aerial organ. In addition, they study how a stem cell lineage is maintained in the leaf axil to enable shoot branching. More recently, the lab has spearheaded plant synthetic genomics research, and aims at establishing the first synthetic plant chromosome.
The group focuses on two related questions: (1) How do new shoot meristems initiate to enable shoot branching? (2) How does the stem cell-harboring shoot apical meristem (SAM) interplays with lateral organs derived from the SAM? Their studies involve a combination of transcriptome analysis, live-imaging, molecular genetics, large-scale functional approaches, and computational modeling. In parallel, the lab develops new methods for cell type-specific transcriptome analysis.
Axillary Meristem Initiation. In higher plants, shoot branching depends on the initiation of axillary meristems (AMs). AMs develop from stem cells in the adaxial side of the subtending leaf axil and give rise to branches. Understanding AM initiation may help in the elucidation of stem cell maintenance and differentiation, a long lasting question in biology. In addition, AM activity has long been a target of breeding selection because it significantly affects crop yield by influencing both tiller and spike number and spike branching complexity. The lab also utilizes knowledge gained from model plants to understand wheat spike branching.
Leaf flattening. The flattening of leaves to form broad blades is an important adaptation that maximizes photosynthesis. Flattening promotes leaf blade outgrowth, and depends on adaxial-abaxial patterning (also known as dorsoventral, or up-down polarity). However, the molecular mechanism underlying this process remains unclear. The lab has found that spatial auxin signaling transforms adaxial-abaxial polarity into leaf flattening, which is partially mediated by cell wall biomechanics.
More recently, the lab has been involved in synthetic plant chromosome research.
Chen LG, Lan TL, Zhang S, Zhao MK, Luo GY, Gao Y, Zhang YL, Du QW, Lu HZ, Li BM, Jiao BK, Hu ZL, Ma YX, Zhao Q, Wang Y, Qian WF, Dai JB, Jiao YL. (2024) A designer synthetic chromosome fragment functions in moss. Nat. Plants, 10: 228-239.
Du F, Dai JB, Jiao YL. (2024) Insights into a functional synthetic plant genome. New Phytol., 244: 46-50.
Li MJ, Jiao YL. (2024) Cereal genetics: novel modulators of spikelet number and flowering time. Curr. Biol., 34: R528-R530.
Chen CL, Hu YX, Ikeuchi M, Jiao YL, Prasad K, Su YH, Xiao J, Xu L, Yang WB, Zhao Z, Zhou WK, Zhou Y, Gao J, Wang JW. (2024) Plant regeneration in the new era: from molecular mechanisms to biotechnology applications. Sci. China-Life Sci., 67: 1338-1367.
Wei B, Jiao YL. (2024) Grain size control in wheat: toward a molecular understanding. Seed Biol., 3: e007.
Cao XW, Du QW, Guo YH, Wang Y, Jiao YL. (2023) Condensation of STM is critical for shoot meristem maintenance and salt tolerance in Arabidopsis. Mol. Plant., 16: 1445-1459.
Wang Y, Jiao YL. (2023) Cell signaling in the shoot apical meristem. Plant Physiol., 193: 70-82.
Gao ZX, Bian JX, Lu F, Jiao YL, He H. (2023) Triticeae crop genome biology: an endless frontier. Front. Plant Sci., 14: 1222681.
Peng ZY, Jiao YL, Wang Y. (2023) Morphogenesis of leaves: from initiation to the production of perse shapes. Biochem. Soc. Trans., 51: 513-525.
Yang TT, Jiao YL, Wang Y. (2023) Stem cell basis of shoot branching. Plant Cell Physiol., 64: 291-296.
Xin X, Du F, Jiao YL. (2023) Plant nuclei isolation for single-nucleus RNA sequencing. Methods Mol. Biol., 2686: 307-311.
Peng ZY, Jiao YL, Wang Y. (2023) Live imaging of Arabidopsis shoot primordia via a confocal laser scanning microscope. STAR Protoc., 4: 102217.
Jiao YL, Wang Y. (2023) Towards plant synthetic genomics. BioDes. Res., 5: 0020.
Wang QQ, Marconi M, Guan CM, Wabnik K, Jiao YL. (2022) Polar auxin transport modulates early leaf flattening. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 119: e2215569119.
Guan CM, Jiao YL. (2022) Spatiotemporal imaging clarifies leaf primordium patterning. Trends Plant Sci., 27: 1196-1198.
Yang TT, Jiao YL, Wang Y. (2022) Stem cell basis of shoot branching. Plant Cell Physiol., 23: pcac165.
Peng ZY, Alique D, Xiong YY, Hu JR, Cao XW, Lü SQ, Long M, Wang Y, Wabnik K, Jiao YL. (2022) Differential growth dynamics control aerial organ geometry. Curr. Biol., 32: 4854-4868.
Ge YH, Gao Y, Jiao YL, Wang Y. (2022) A conserved module in the formation of moss midribs and seed plant axillary meristems. Sci Adv., 8: eadd7275.
Wang YG, Du F, Wang J, Wang K, Tian CH, Qi XQ, Lu F, Liu XG, Ye XG, Jiao YL. (2022) Improving bread wheat yield through modulating an unselected AP2/ERF gene. Nat. Plants, 8: 930-939.
Hou XR, Wang DP, Cheng ZK, Wang Y, Jiao YL. (2022) A near-complete assembly of an Arabidopsis thaliana genome. Mol. Plant., 15: 1247-1250.
Guan CM, Qiao LX, Xiong YY, Zhang L, Jiao YL. (2022) Coactivation of antagonistic genes stabilizes polarity patterning during shoot organogenesis. Sci. Adv., 8: eabn0368.
Mo YJ, Jiao YL. (2022) Advances and applications of single-cell omics technologies in plant research. Plant J., 110: 1551-1563.
Zheng YF, Wang DH, Ye SD, Chen WQ, Li GL, Xu ZH, Bai SN, Zhao F. (2021) Auxin guides germ-cell specification in Arabidopsis anthers. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 118: e2101492118.
Fu R, Li J, Yu HT, Zhang Y, Xu ZH, Martin C. (2021) The Yin and Yang of traditional Chinese and Western medicine. Med. Res. Rev., 41: 3182-3200.
Lin YN, Jiang CK, Cheng ZK, Wang DH, Shen LP, Xu C, Xu ZH, Bai SN (2021) Rice Cell Division Cycle 20s are required for faithful chromosome segregation and cytokinesis during meiosis. Plant Physiol., 188: 1111-1128.
Xu ZH. (2020) A bridge to the world. Annu. Rev. Plant Biol., 71: 1-38.
Yang ZR, Huang Y, Yang JL, Yao SZ, Zhao K, Wang DH, Qin QQ, Bian Z, Li Y, Lan Y, Zhou T, Wang H, Liu C, Wang WM, Qi YJ, Xu ZH, Li Y. (2020) Jasmonate signaling enhances RNA silencing and antiviral defense in rice. Cell Host Microbe., 28: 89-103.
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