Kun Li: The Plant Cell First Author

Kun Li, first author of “Interactions between SQUAMOSA and SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE MADS-box proteins regulate meristem transitions during wheat spike development”

Current Position:  Postdoctoral Research Associate in Dr. Jorge Dubcovsky lab, Howard Hughes Medical Institute / University of California, Davis.

Education: Joint PhD in Crop Genetics and Breeding supported by joint doctoral program between UC Davis and Shandong Agricultural University, China. Master in Crop Genetics and Breeding, Shandong Agricultural University, China.

Non-scientific Interests:  Playing badminton, hiking, and running.

Brief Bio:  I grew up in the southwest of Shandong province, which is an important agricultural region in the north of China. In 2009 I joined the laboratory of Dr. Daolin Fu and in 2012 I started my PhD thesis focused on fine mapping the barley locus Rps6 that confers resistance to wheat stripe rust. This project was done in collaboration with Dr. Jorge Dubcovsky, and in 2013 I moved to Davis USA, where I completed it in 2016. After that I started a postdoc project focused on understanding wheat genes that regulate spike development. Together with Juan M Debernardi, we described the genetic interactions between SQUAMOSA and SVP genes and dissected their roles in the reproductive development. Our work shows that it is possible to rationally manipulate the activity of these MADS genes to optimize wheat spike architecture. We are excited with the results and planning to test the novel alleles in field experiments soon.

 

姓名：李坤

目前职位：加州大学戴维斯分校，博士后

教育背景：山东农业大学 硕士；加州大学戴维斯分校和山东农业大学联合培养博士

兴趣爱好：打羽毛球，跑步

个人简介：

我是在山东农业大学农学院付道林教授实验室攻读的硕士和博士学位，在博士二年级到加州大学戴维斯分校Jorge Dubcovsky实验室学习。博士期间的研究方向主要是小麦抗条锈病基因的鉴定，定位和克隆。博士毕业后继续留在该实验室从事博士后研究，在此期间跟实验室Juan M Debernardi共同完成解析小麦SQUAMOSA和 SVP两类基因在小麦穗部发育的中的重要作用，对利用该类基因以优化小麦穗结构，提高作物产量提供重要的理论依据。