Principal Investigator

Dr. Lihua Zhao

Contact Address: No. 699 Binhu Road, Fangzi District, Weifang, Shandong, China

Email:Lihua.zhao@pku-iaas.edu.cn

Education

2015-2018, PhD in Cell Biology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, China

2003-2007, MS in Botany, Lanzhou University, China

2007-2010, BS in Biotechnology, Linyi Normal University, China

Working Experience

Jan. 2024 – now, Junior PI, Peking University Institute of Advanced AgriculturalScience, China

Jan. 2020 – Dec. 2023, Postdoctoral research,Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden

June. 2014– Dec. 2019, Research Assistant, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, China

June. 2010– May 2014, Research Assistant, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, China

Selected Publications

Articles

1.    Zhao L^#, Fonseca A^#, Meschichi A, Sicard A^*, Rosa S^*. 2023. Whole-mount smFISH allows combining RNA and protein quantification at cellular and subcellular resolution. Nat Plants, 9(7):1094-1102.

2.    Zhao L^#, Liu L^#, Liu Y^#, Dou X, Cai H, Aslam M, Hou Z, Jin X, Li Y, Wang L, Zhao H, Wang X, Sicard A, Qin Y^*. 2021. Characterization of germline development and identification of genes associated with germline specification in pineapple. Hortic Res, 8(1):239.

3.    Zhao L^#, Cai H^#, Su Z^#, Wang L, Huang X, Zhang M, Chen P, Dai X, Zhao H, Palanivelu R, Chen X^*, Qin Y^*. 2018. KLU suppresses megasporocyte cell fate through SWR1-mediated activation of WRKY28 expression in Arabidopsis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 115(3):E526-E535.

4.    Cai H^#, Zhao L^#, Wang L, Zhang M, Su Z, Cheng Y, Zhao H, Qin Y^*. 2017. ERECTA signaling controls Arabidopsis inflorescence architecture through chromatin-mediated activation of PRE1 expression. New Phytol, 214(4):1579-1596.

5.    Su Z^#, Zhao L^#, Zhao Y, Li S, Won S, Cai H, Wang L, Li Z, Chen P, Qin Y^*, Chen X^*. 2017. The THO Complex Non-Cell-Autonomously Represses Female Germline Specification through the TAS3-ARF3 Module. Curr Biol, 27(11):1597-1609 e1592.

6.    Dai X^#, Bai Y^#, Zhao L^#, Dou X^#, Liu Y, Wang L, Li Y, Li W, Hui Y, Huang X, Wang Z, Qin Y^*. 2017. H2A.Z Represses Gene Expression by Modulating Promoter Nucleosome Structure and Enhancer Histone Modifications in Arabidopsis. Mol Plant, 10(10):1274-1292.

7.    Zhao L^#, He J, Cai H, Lin H, Li Y, Liu R, Yang Z, Qin Y^*. 2014. Comparative expression profiling reveals gene functions in female meiosis and gametophyte development in Arabidopsis. Plant J, 80(4):615-628.

8.    Meschichi A, Zhao L, Reeck S, White C, Da Ines O, Sicard A, Pontvianne F, Rosa S^*. 2022. The plant-specific DDR factor SOG1 increases chromatin mobility in response to DNA damage. EMBO Rep, 23(12):e54736.

9.    Antoniou-Kourounioti R L, Meschichi A, Reeck S, Berry S, Menon G, Zhao Y, Fozard J, Holmes T, Zhao L, Wang H, Hartley M, Dean C, Rosa S^*, Howard M^*. 2023. Integrating analog and digital modes of gene expression at Arabidopsis FLC. Elife, 12.

10.  Hou Z, Liu Y, Zhang M, Zhao L, Jin X, Liu L, Su Z, Cai H, Qin Y^*. 2021. High-throughput single-cell transcriptomics reveals the female germline differentiation trajectory in Arabidopsis thaliana. Commun Biol, 4(1):1149.

11.  Zhang X, Wang G, Zhang S, Chen S, Wang Y, Wen P, Ma X, Shi Y, Qi R, Yang Y, Liao Z, Lin J, Lin J, Xu X, Chen X, Xu X, Deng F, Zhao L, Lee Y L, Wang R, Chen X Y, Lin Y R, Zhang J, Tang H, Chen J, Ming R^*. 2020. Genomes of the Banyan Tree and Pollinator Wasp Provide Insights into Fig-Wasp Coevolution. Cell, 183(4):875-889 e817.

12.  Liu L, Zhao L, Chen P, Cai H, Hou Z, Jin X, Aslam M, Chai M, Lai L, He Q, Liu Y, Huang X, Chen H, Chen Y, Qin Y^*. 2020. ATP binding cassette transporters ABCG1 and ABCG16 affect reproductive development via auxin signalling in Arabidopsis. Plant J, 102(6):1172-1186.

13.  Wang L, Li Y, Jin X, Liu L, Dai X, Liu Y, Zhao L, Zheng P, Wang X, Liu Y, Lin D, Qin Y^*. 2020. Floral transcriptomes reveal gene networks in pineapple floral growth and fruit development. Commun Biol, 3(1):500.

14.  Cai H, Zhang M, Chai M, He Q, Huang X, Zhao L, Qin Y^*. 2019. Epigenetic regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis by an antagonistic interaction between H2A.Z and H3K4me3. New Phytol, 221(1):295-308.

15.  Cao L, Wang S, Venglat P, Zhao L, Cheng Y, Ye S, Qin Y, Datla R, Zhou Y, Wang H^*. 2018. Arabidopsis ICK/KRP cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors function to ensure the formation of one megaspore mother cell and one functional megaspore per ovule. PLoS Genet, 14(3):e1007230.

Honorables and Awards

2024. TaiShan Scholar of Shandong Province

2021. Marie Curie Scholar

2019. Fujian Province Outstanding Doctoral Thesis

2018. Outstanding Young Female Scientist

Research Projects

1: The Swedish Research Council, Starting Grant, Project, No.:2023-04409, Project Name:Unravelling the mechanism underlying temperature-induced germline determination failure in plants, 1/5/2024-30/4/2028.

2: EuropeanResearchCouncil, MarieSklodowska-CurieIndividualFellowships, Project, No.:MSCA-IF 101032710, Project Name: Evolution of organ size scaling in plants, 1/1/2022-30/12/2023.

3: Fujian Provincial Natural Science Foundation Project, No.: 2017J01601, Project Name: Pineapple gamete development and transcriptome analysis, 1/4/2017-1/4/2020.

4: National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.: 31600249, Project Name: KLU regulates the downstream transcription factor WRKY23 to affect the establishment of the Arabidopsis embryonic base axis model, 1/2/2017-30/12/2019.