Recognizing Plant Physiology first authors: Niankui Li
Niankui Li, co-first author of A sequence-indexed Mutator insertional library for maize functional genomics study
Current Position: Ph.D. Student. Molecular & Environmental Plant Sciences, Texas A&M University, USA
Education: Master of Agronomy, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, 2016-2018; Bachelor of Agronomy, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, 2012-2016
Non-scientific Interests: football, computer games, and music
Brief bio: During my undergraduate study, a mysterious and wonderful genetics class made me deeply in love with molecular genetics. In the summer of 2016, I was fortunate to join Dr. Rentao Song’s lab for maize molecular genetics research. Typically, cloning a maize gene requires a large F2 population because of the huge size of maize genome. In order to solve this problem, I tried to optimize the Mutator(Mu)-Illumina sequencing technology. After eight months of trial and error, I successfully found the optimal conditions and parameters. For one thing, we used this technique to clone a large number of maize defective kernel mutants in a short time. For another thing, we attempted to construct a genome-wide maize Mutator insertional database using optimized Mu-Illumina sequencing technology. Finally, 2,581 maize libraries were sequenced and analyzed, and a high quality and coverage Mutator insertional library, named ChinaMu was successfully constructed. I am very honored to undertake such an important project in the first year of my graduate study. I also sincerely appreciate Dr. Song for his unreserved guidance and help. My current research interest is using forward genetics to identify new gene(s) involved in Arabidopsis miRNA pathway. Hopefully, I can identify and clone new miRNA target gene(s) relevant to maize development in the future.
第一作者：李念櫆
当前职位：博士研究生，美国德州农工大学，分子与植物环境专业
教育经历：农学硕士，中国农业大学，农学与生物技术学院，2016年至2018年；
农学学士，中国农业大学，农学与生物技术学院，2012年至2016年
兴趣爱好：足球，电脑游戏和音乐
个人简介：本科期间，神秘而又精彩的遗传学课程让我对分子遗传学十分着迷。2016年的夏天，我有幸加入了宋任涛教授的课题组从事玉米分子遗传学的研究。由于玉米基因组庞大，通常上，克隆一个玉米基因需要大量的F2代分离群体。为了解决这个问题，我尝试优化Mutator（Mu）-Illumina测序技术。经过八个月不断的尝试和摸索，我成功找到了该技术的最优条件。一方面，我们利用该技术短时间内便克隆了大量玉米籽粒缺陷突变体基因。另一方面，我们尝试利用优化后的Mu-Illumina测序技术构建全基因组范围内的玉米Mutator转座子插入数据库。最终，我们测序并分析了2581个玉米文库，成功构建了基因覆盖度高的玉米Mutator转座子插入数据库—ChinaMu。我十分荣幸能在研究生一年级就承担这么重要的课题，同时也由衷感谢宋老师大力的指导和帮助。我目前研究的方向是利用正向遗传学的方法去筛选那些可能影响拟南芥miRNA通路的新基因。我希望将来我可以尝试在玉米中，鉴定并克隆那些影响玉米发育并且与miRNA相关的新基因。
