Research Description:

1. Methylation of phytohormones and its biological function during Arabidopsis development
2. Molecular mechanisms involved in leaf development, branching, and gametogenesis in Arabidopsis
3. Molecular Biology of Rice Resistance Against Fungal Blast Disease.

We have three major lines of research: methylation of phytohormones, molecular mechanisms of leaf flatness, branching and gametogenesis, and genetic analysis of rice resistance against rice blast fungal disease.
Plant hormones are essential for many aspects during development. The homeostasis of phytohormones are regulated by many interacting pathways including de novo biosynthesis, degradation and disactivation by forming conjugates. We intend to study, at both the molecular and cellular level, the role of a newly found modification, methylation, of the phytohormones in plant development, so that new layers of understanding would be added to the complexity of regulation of the phytohormone activities. Meanwhile, we are also interested in dissecting the molecular mechanisms behind specific developmental processes, including leaf flatness, branching and gametogenesis in Arabidopsis by analyzing loss-of-function mutants. In addition to Arabidopsis, we also pay attention to the molecular mechanisms involved in the emergence, maintenance and evolution of the resistance of rice plants, a monocot model plant, to the fungal blast disease.

1. Li L., Hou X., Tsuge T., Ding M., Aoyama T., Oka A., Gu H., Zhao Y., Qu L.-J. 2008. The possible action mechanisms of indole-3-acetic acid methyl ester in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell Reports (in press online) DOI 10.1007/s00299-007-0458-9.

2. Li X., Qin G., Chen Z.L., Gu H., Qu L.-J. 2008. A gain-of-function mutation of transcriptional factor PTL results in curly leaves, dwarfism and male sterility by affecting auxin homeostasis. Plant Molecular Biology 66: 315-327.

3. Wang Z., Cao G., Wang X., Miao J., Liu X., Chen Z.L., Qu L.-J., Gu H. 2008. Identification and characterization of COI1-dependent transcription factor genes involved in JA-mediated response to wounding in Arabidopsis plants. Plant Cell Reports 27: 125-135.

4. Lin Z, Yin K, Zhu D, Chen Z, Gu H and Qu L-J, 2007. AtCDC5 regulates G2 to M transition of cell cycle and is critical for the function of Arabidopsis shoot apical meristems. Cell Research, 17(9): 815-828.

5. Zhang X, Chen Y, Wang Z-Y, Chen Z, Gu H and Qu L-J, 2007. Constitutive expression of CIR1 (RVE2) affects several circadian-regulated process and seed germination in Arabidopsis. The Plant Journal, 51: 512-525.

6. Qin G, Gu H, Ma L, Peng Y, Deng X, Chen Z, Qu L-J, 2007. Disruption of phytoene desaturase gene results in albino and dwarf phenotypes in Arabidopsis by impairing chlorophyll, carotenoid, and gibberellin biosynthesis. Cell Research, 17(5): 471-482.

7. Chen Y, Yang X, He K, Liu M, Li J, Gao Z, Lin Z, Zhang Y, Wang X, Qiu X, Shen Y, Zhang L, Deng X, Luo J, Deng X, Chen Z, Gu H, and Qu L-J, 2006. The MYB transcription factor superfamily of Arabidopsis: Expression analysis and phylogenetic comparison with the rice MYB Family. Plant Molecular Biology, 60: 107-124.

8. Qin G, Gu H, Zhao Y, Ma Z, Shi G, Yang Y, Pichersky E, Chen H, Liu M, Chen Z, and Qu L-J, 2005. An Indole-3-Acetic Acid Carboxyl Methyltransferase Regulates Arabidopsis Leaf Development. Plant Cell, 17: 2693-2704.

9. Jiao Y, Yang H, Ma L, Sun N, Yu H, Liu T, Gao Y, Gu H, Chen Z, Wada M, Gerstein M, Zhao H, Qu L-J, and Deng X, 2003. A genome wide analysis of blue light regulation of Arabidopsis transcription factor gene expression during seedling development. Plant Physiology, 133(4): 1480-1493.

10. Qu L-J, Chen J, Liu M, Pan N, Okamoto H, Lin Z, Li C, Li D, Wang J, Zhu G, Zhao X, Chen X, Gu H, Chen Z, 2003. Molecular cloning and functional analysis of a novel type of Bowman-Birk inhibitor gene family in rice. Plant Physiology, 133(2): 560-570.

11. Qin G, Kang D, Dong Y, Shen Y, Zhang L, Deng X, Zhang Y, Li S, Chen N, Niu W, Chen C, Liu P, Chen H, Li J, Ren Y, Gu H, Qu L-J, Chen Z, 2003. Obtaining and analysis of flanking sequences from T-DNA transformants of Arabidopsis. Plant Science, 165(5): 941-949.

12. Qu L-J，Foote T N, Roberts M A et al. 1998, A simple PCR-based method for scoring the ph1b deletion in wheat. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 96: 371-375

13. Qu L-J, Zhang Y, et al., 1997. A chalcone synthase-like DNA from rice anther. Sex Plant Reprod, 10: 181-183.