Furong Liu, Ph D
Crop immunity and disease-resistance molecular design research group
Assistant Professor, School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences,Peking University
tel：
E-mail：liufurong@pku.edu.cn
Focusing on immune recognition, signaling activation, and disease-resistance regulation during plant-pathogen interactions:
1. Investigating plant immune receptors and related disease-resistance genes to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which they mediate pathogen perception, early immune signaling activation, immune-complex assembly, and disease-resistance phenotypes in major crops such as rice and wheat.
2. Exploring the rational engineering and precise utilization of resistance genes and immune signaling pathways to provide mechanistic insights and technical strategies for the design and molecular improvement of disease-resistant crops.
In studies of rice pattern-recognition receptor immunity, focusing on the PRR-type immune receptor XA21 and its ligand RaxX, Dr. Liu contributed to demonstrating that the rice immune receptor XA21 recognizes a sulfated peptide signal derived fromXanthomonas. He further analyzed natural variation in theraxX-raxSTABgene cluster and its impact on XA21-mediated disease resistance, revealing a coevolutionary relationship between pathogen molecular variation and plant immune recognition (Science Advances, 2015; Molecular Plant Pathology, 2019).
In studies of plant NLR immune receptors, Dr. Liu established and optimized aNicotiana benthamiana-based transient expression platform for the isolation and functional analysis of plant immune receptor complexes. Using this system, he discovered that the helper NLR immune receptor NRC4 forms a hexameric resistosome upon activation and triggers plant immune responses through calcium ion influx, revealing key molecular mechanisms underlying helper NLR activation, oligomerization, and signal output (Cell, 2024). Related research has further focused on wheat tandem kinase-NLR immune modules, systematically analyzing their mechanistic features and engineering potential in crop disease resistance, thereby providing new theoretical foundations and technical resources for structural mechanistic studies, functional engineering, and molecular design of disease-resistance genes (Developmental Cell, 2025).
Liu F, Staskawicz BJ. (2025) Wheat tandem kinase-NLR immune modules: Novel insights and engineering opportunities. Dev.Cell, 60: 1398-1399.
Liu F, Yang Z, Wang C, You Z, Martin R, Qiao W, et al. (2024) Activation of the helper NRC4 immune receptor forms a hexameric resistosome. Cell, 187: 4877-4889.
Tamborski J, Seong K, Liu F, Staskawicz BJ, Krasileva KV. (2023) Altering specificity and autoactivity of plant immune receptors Sr33 and Sr50 via a rational engineering approach. Mol. Plant-Microbe Interact.,36: 434-446.
Liu F, Chern M, Jain R, Martin JA, Schackwitz WS, Ronald PC. (2022) Silencing of Dicer-like protein 2a restores the resistance phenotype in the rice mutant sxi4, suppressor of Xa21-mediated immunity 4. Plant J.,110: 646-657.
Martin R, Liu F, Staskawicz B. (2022) Isolation of protein complexes from tobacco leaves by a two-step tandem affinity purification. Curr.Protoc., 2: e572.
