Changtian Pan: The Plant Cell First Author

Changtian Pan, first author of PIF4 negatively modulates cold tolerance in tomato anthers via temperature-dependent regulation of tapetal cell death

Current Position: Post-Doctoral Associate, Department of Plant Science & Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland-College Park

Education: Ph.D. in Plant Science, Zhejiang University. B.S. in Horticulture Science, Shandong Agricultural University.

Non-scientific Interests: hiking, movies, video games

Brief bio: I started studying plant sciences at Shandong Agricultural University in PR China in 2009 and completed my B.S. degree in 2013. Same year I joined Prof. Gang Lu at the Zhejiang University as a PhD research assistant where I established an efficient CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) enabling us to start the project aiming at studying the molecular mechanisms underlying anther adaptation to low temperature in tomato. With the help of Prof. Gang Lu and our collaborator Prof. Zhangjun Fei at the Cornell University, we revealed that the Phytochrome-Interacting Factor 4 (PIF4) plays an important role in regulating cold tolerance of tomato anthers. The study expanded our understanding of the temperature-related male sterility, which is paramount to sustain crop production and enhance food security of ever-growing human population and intensifying global climate challenges. During my Ph.D. research, I began to appreciate the CRISPR/Cas systems as a revolutionary technology with tremendous potential for biotechnological applications and wanted to start my scientific career enhancing it. My wish came true when I joined Prof. Yiping Qi’s group at the University of Maryland as a postdoc soon after I finished my Ph.D. degree in late 2018. Currently, I am working on developing the CRISPR/Cas toolkits for multiplexed gene transcriptional regulation and editing in different plant species.

姓名: 潘长田

目前职位: 马里兰大学帕克分校，博士后

教育经历: 浙江大学，博士；山东农业大学，学士

兴趣爱好: 旅行，电影，游戏

个人简介: 2013年从山东农业大学本科毕业之后，我很荣幸的成为浙江大学农业与生物技术学院卢钢教授团队一名成员。在卢老师和康奈尔大学BTI植物研究所费章君老师的悉心指导下我主要以番茄为模式对象研究逆温与生殖发育的关系。一方面我们围绕高温造成番茄柱头外露的机制进行研究：发现茉莉酸（JA）信号途径在调节高温介导的柱头外露形成机制中发挥重要功能，喷施特定浓度的外源JA可以显著缓解高温下柱头外露的现象。另一方面我们集中研究光敏色素转录因子PIF4与逆温下番茄花粉败育的关系：为创造番茄PIF4的突变体，我们在2013年开始尝试在番茄中建立CRISPR/Cas9编辑系统并系统评估该系统编辑效率以及介导的突变遗传稳定性。利用pif4突变体和PIF4过表达转基因材料，我们发现在低温下PIF4通过与番茄绒毡层发育调控网络相互作用来调控花粉活力。上述发现为培育番茄抗逆品种提供了重要理论依据。以上结果以第一作者身份分别发表在Scientific Reports (2016), BMC Genomics (2017), Plant, Cell & Environment (2019) 以及The Plant Cell (2021) 杂志上。2018年从浙大博士毕业后，我以博士后的身份加入了马里兰大学帕克分校Yiping Qi (戚益平) 教授团队。主要从事新型CRISPR转录与编辑系统开发工作，目前部分研究结果以第一或者共一作者身份发表在Nature Plants (2020) 以及Current Opinion in Plant Biology (2021) 上。