PhD, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, 2010-2017
BS, Wuhan University, China, 2006-2010
Hi there, my name is Xin, I’m a postdoc in Dr. Li’s lab. Currently, I’m mainly working on two projects:
My major project focuses on improving Pennycress and Camelina as seed oil biofuel crops using gene editing and other molecular biological methods via manipulating the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway. In this project, we are collaborating with Dr. David Marks (University of Minnesota) and Dr. Heike Sederoff (NCSU) to develop transgenic pennycress and camelina lines with tissue-specific modification of lignin production and accumulation. We are one of only a few labs in the world that can efficiently transform pennycress.
Publication:
Li, X., Yell, V. & Li, X. Two Arabidopsis promoters drive seed-coat specific gene expression in pennycress and camelina. Plant Methods 19, 140 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13007-023-01114-x. [Link]
Another part of my research effort goes to characterizing lignin modified mutants (in Arabidopsis mainly) and explore the mechanism using genetic, genomic and epigenetic methods. Sirius and previous lab members generated over a dozen LMID (Lignin modification induced dwarfism) suppressor mutant lines that show partially recovered plant growth phenotype. We have reported the GIR1 and MYB4 genes and their roles in LMID in the Plant Journal in 2020, and I am working on a few more more suppressor lines, including a collaboration with Victoria Yell on her thesis project about the GIR2 gene.
Publication:
Panda C, Li X, Wager A, Chen HY, Li X. An importin-beta-like protein mediates lignin-modification-induced dwarfism in Arabidopsis. The Plant Journal. 2020. doi: 10.1111/tpj.14701. [Link]
Chen HY, Li X, Chapple C, Dilkes B, Li X. UGT76F1 glycosylates an isomer of the C7‐necic acid component of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in Arabidopsis thaliana. The Plant Journal. 2023. doi: 10.1111/tpj.16211. [Link]
Lu Y, Li X, Young S, Li X, Linder E, Suchoff D. Hyperspectral imaging with chemometrics for non-destructive determination of cannabinoids in floral and leaf materials of industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.). Computers and Electronics in Agriculture. 2022. doi:10.1016/j.compag.2022.107387. [Link]
During 2019-2020, I was working with Dr. Yangnan Gu at University of California, Berkeley, on understanding the roles of NTR (nuclear transport receptors) and NPC (nuclear pore complex) in regulating the traffic of signaling cargos across plant nuclear envelop under various environmental conditions and its significance in determining immune responses in plant cells.
Publication:
Li X, Gu Y. Structural and functional insight into the nuclear pore complex and nuclear transport receptors in plant stress signaling. Curr Opin Plant Biol. 2020. doi: 10.1016/j.pbi.2020.10.006. [Link]
Xu F, Jia M, Li X, Tang Y, Jiang K, Bao J, Gu Y. Exportin-4 coordinates nuclear shuttling of TOPLESS family transcription corepressors to regulate plant immunity. Plant Cell. 2021. doi: 10.1093/plcell/koaa047. [Link]
I spent almost seven years at University of Minnesota, studying with Dr. Gary Muehlbauer for my PhD in Plant Biology. My thesis work mainly focused on type II resistance of Fusarium Head Blight, one of the most serious disease in wheat and barley, and the causal fungal pathogen (Fusarium spp.) also has impact on corn and rice growth. My thesis work led to the discovery and multi-season field test confirmation that by overexpressing a glucosyltransferase gene identified in barley, we could reduce FHB disease spread by over 90%.
Publication:
Gerit Bethke, Yadong Huang, Goetz Hensel, Shane Heinen, Chaochih Liu, Skylar R Wyant, Xin Li, Maureen B Quin, Susan McCormick, Peter L Morrell, Yanhong Dong, Jochen Kumlehn, Silvio Salvi, Franz Berthiller, Gary J Muehlbauer, UDP-glucosyltransferase HvUGT13248 confers type II resistance to Fusarium graminearum in barley, Plant Physiology, Volume 193, Issue 4, December 2023, Pages 2691–2710, https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiad467. [Link]
Li X, Shin S, Heinen S, Dill-Macky R, Berthiller F, Nersesian N, Clemente T, McCormick S, Muehlbauer GJ. Transgenic Wheat Expressing a Barley UDP-Glucosyltransferase Detoxifies Deoxynivalenol and Provides High Levels of Resistance to Fusarium graminearum. Mol Plant Microbe Interact. 2015. doi: 10.1094/MPMI-03-15-0062-R. [Link]
Li X, Michlmayr H, Schweiger W, Malachova A, Shin S, Huang Y, Dong Y, Wiesenberger G, McCormick S, Lemmens M, Fruhmann P, Hametner C, Berthiller F, Adam G, Muehlbauer GJ. A barley UDP-glucosyltransferase inactivates nivalenol and provides Fusarium Head Blight resistance in transgenic wheat. J Exp Bot. 2017. doi: 10.1093/jxb/erx109. [Link]
Lei L, Poets AM, Liu C, Wyant SR, Hoffman PJ, Carter CK, Shaw BG, Li X, Muehlbauer GJ, Katagiri F, Morrell PL. Environmental Association Identifies Candidates for Tolerance to Low Temperature and Drought. G3 (Bethesda). 2019. doi: 10.1534/g3.119.400401. [Link]
Chen C, Xiao YG, Li X, Ni M. Light-regulated stomatal aperture in Arabidopsis. Mol Plant. 2012. doi: 10.1093/mp/sss039. [Link]
Li X. A Barley UDP-Glucosyltransferase Provides High Levels of Resistance to Trichothecenes and Fusarium Head Blight in Cereals. Thesis submitted to University of Minnesota [Link]