Recognizing Plant Physiology first authors: Xingguo Zheng
Xingguo Zheng, first author of Antiviral ARGONAUTEs Against Turnip Crinkle Virus Revealed by Image-based Trait Analysis
Current Position: Research Scientist, Carrington laboratory, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
Education: Ph.D., Washington University in St Louis, St. Louis, MO, U.S.A.; M.S., Tsinghua University, Beijing, China; B.S., Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Non-scientific interests: science fiction books and movies, travelling, soccer, hiking, and fishing
Brief bio: During my undergraduate and master studies, my research was focused on understanding the molecular mechanism underlying learning and memory formation in Drosophila melanogaster. The strong interests in neuroscience motivated me to continue my Ph.D. study with Dr. Yehuda Ben-Shahar in Washington University in St. Louis. During my graduate study, I discovered a novel mechanism for fast regulation of gene expression in Drosophila. We have identified the mRNA of an ion channel plays important regulatory roles in silencing the expression of another ion channel, besides its protein-encoding function. To have a better understanding of the RNA silencing machinery, I joined Dr. James Carrington laboratory in the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center after graduation. I am currently working on investigating plant virus and host interactions during infection. We have developed an image-based phenotyping protocol to measure virus infection-caused disease severity. By using this high-throughput phenotyping protocol, I have identified key effector genes in the RNAi machinery involved in fighting against invading viruses. Furthermore, by combining other molecular tools, I am trying to investigate and elucidate how these key effector proteins interact with viruses molecularly during infection.
姓名：郑兴国
当前位置：Donald Danforth植物科学中心, Carrington实验室, 博士后研究员
教育背景：美国, 圣路易斯华盛顿大学, Ph.D.; 中国, 清华大学, 理学硕士; 中国, 清华大学, 理学学士。
非科学兴趣：历史, 科幻小说和电影, 旅游, 足球, 徒步旅行和钓鱼。
个人简介：在清华本科和硕士期间，我主要利用模式动物果蝇来研究学习和记忆形成的分子机制。对神经科学的浓厚兴趣促使我加入圣路易斯华盛顿大学的Yehuda Ben-Shahar博士实验室继续攻读博士学位。在博士研究生期间，我发现了一种在果蝇神经系统中快速调节基因表达的新机制。我们研究发现一种钠离子通道的mRNA除了其蛋白质编码功能外，还可以参与RNA silencing通路去调节另一种钾离子通道的表达，进而影响神经元兴奋性。博士毕业后，为了更一步研究RNA silencing 机制，我加入了Donald Danforth植物科学中心的James Carrington博士实验室进行博士后训练。我目前的研究主要是植物病毒感染期间的病毒和宿主的免疫机制之间的相互作用以及抗病毒品性植物的开发。目前我们开发了一种基于图像的表型分析方案来准确测量病毒感染引起的植物宿主疾病严重程度。通过使用这种高通量表型分析方案，我们进而筛选确定几个参与抗击入侵病毒的RNAi机制中的关键效应基因。此外，通过结合其他分子工具，我们正在试图研究和阐明这些关键效应蛋白在感染过程中如何与分子病毒相互作用。我们还将利用在模式植物的抗病毒机理的理解，通过基因编辑技术进一步开发高效抗病毒的农作物。
