Recognizing Plant Cell first authors: Yonghui He
Yonghui He, first author of Maize Dek15 Encodes the Cohesin-loading Complex Subunit SCC4 and is Essential for Chromosome Segregation and Kernel Development
Current Position: PhD candidate. State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, National Maize Improvement Center, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, China
Education: M.S., College of Plant Science & Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, China; B.S., College of Agriculture, Henan University of Science and Technology, China.
Non-scientific Interests: Running, watching movies, and reading
Brief bio: I have always been interested in plant science, especially crop science. In the last two years of undergraduate study, I took charge of an extracurricular research project (the remediation of Pb polluted soil using arbuscular mycorrhizal) of Student Research Training Program (SRTP) and fell in love with plant research. During my master’s study, I began to use the method of reverse genetics to study the function of a gene encoding Annexin in cotton fiber development. Since 2016, I was very lucky to start working on a PhD project in Rentao Song’s lab at China Agricultural University. My research focused on the function of genes related to maize kernel development using the method of forward genetics. I am interested in a classic maize kernel mutant dek15 (defective kernel 15), containing reduced endosperm and lethal embryo. The results of the positional cloning showed that it encoded a cohesin loader subunit SCC4 (SISTER CHROMATID COHESION PROTEIN 4), which is responsible for the localization of cohesin complex onto chromatin. The deficient cohesion of dek15 was likely the main cause of its mitotic defects. In this process, many researchers gave me great help in experimental technology and ideas, especially Dr. Song. In the future, I hope to continue my research in plant science and apply the research results to agricultural implication.
何永辉，第一作者Maize Dek15 Encodes the Cohesin-loading Complex Subunit SCC4 and is Essential for Chromosome Segregation and Kernel Development
目前职位：植物生理学与生物化学国家重点实验室，国家玉米改良中心，中国农业大学，博士研究生
教育背景：2016-至今 中国农业大学，博士生；华中农业大学，农学硕士；河南科技大学 农学学士
兴趣爱好：跑步，看电影，阅读
自我介绍：
我一直对植物科学，特别是作物科学，非常感兴趣。在本科的后两年，我负责了一个SRTP（Student Research Training Program）研究项目（丛枝菌根真菌对铅污染土壤的修复作用），并从此喜欢上了植物研究。在硕士研究生阶段，我主要利用反向遗传学策略研究一个编码膜联蛋白（Annexin）的基因对棉花纤维发育的影响。在这期间，我积累了一些常用的实验技术。在2016年，我有幸进入宋任涛教授实验室开始博士阶段的学习。我们通过正向遗传学的方法对一个经典的玉米籽粒突变体dek15（defective kernel 15）进行研究。首先，通过定位克隆、转基因功能互补和等位测验，确定dek15是由于编码SCC4 (SISTER CHROMATID COHESION PROTEIN 4)的基因第一个外显子上的单碱基突变导致蛋白翻译提前终止造成。Scc4基因突变后籽粒变小且多变，胚乳内含物大量减少且胚致死。SCC4功能缺失造成严重的有丝分裂缺陷，包括姐妹染色单体的提前分离和多种染色体分离错误，以及大量非整倍体的出现。SCC4功能缺失造成的cohesin功能缺陷可能是造成这些细胞分裂缺陷和籽粒发育异常的主要原因。在这个过程中，我得到了许多老师和同学的帮助，特别是我的导师宋任涛教授。未来，我希望能继续从事植物科学研究，并争取将研究成果应用于农业生产。
