Recognizing Plant Cell authors: Andan Zhu

Andan Zhu, co-first author of Temporal regulation of metabolome and proteome in photosynthetic and photorespiratory pathways contributes to maize heterosis

Current Position: Professor, Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Education: Ph. D. from Huazhong Agricultural University

Non-scientific Interests: Basketball, travel

Brief bio: I started my academic career at Huazhong Agricultural University (Wuhan), where I earned my Ph. D. degree in pomology and developed my interests in computational biology. After my graduation, I moved to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and worked on evolutionary genomics under the supervision of Dr. Jeff Mower. In late 2015, I was also fortunate enough to join the lab of Dr. Z. Jeffrey Chen at The University of Texas at Austin as a Research Associate. My research in the Chen lab was focused on deciphering the effects of the circadian clock on maize heterosis. This work is data-driven and involves integrated analyses of many big datasets such as transcriptomes, proteomes, and metabolomes. It’s always fascinating to see how plants adapt to environmental stimuli and enhance growth vigor. My great training in Dr. Chen’s lab often reminds me to focus on big and important biological questions.

I returned to China and joined in Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. I am currently investigating the evolution of flower and fruit traits in plants, with a goal of using wild germplasm to develop and improve new cultivars.