Tianxia Yang: The Plant Cell First Author
Tianxia Yang, co-first author of “Tomato MED25 Regulates Fruit Ripening by Interacting with EIN3-like Transcription Factors”
Current Position: Postdoc. Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Education: Huazhong Agricultural University. Doctor of Science in Agriculture (Ph.D)
Non-scientific Interests: Seal cutting
Brief bio: I joined Prof. Zhibiao Ye’s group at the Huazhong Agricultural University as a graduate student since 2013. In 2015, I started my dissertation research in my co-mentor Prof. Chuanyou Li’s lab at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. After graduation, I stayed there to start my postdoctoral training. My research focuses on transcriptional regulation mechanism of fruit ripening and plant defense, as well as application of molecular breeding technology.
Ethylene mediates the ripening of climacteric fruits, and activates the expression of downstream ripening-related genes through the master regulator EIN3-like (EIL) transcription factor. Although the regulation of ethylene signal has been deeply studied for many years, it is still unclear how EIL transmits the signal to RNA polymerase II (Pol II). We found that MED25, a subunit of the Mediator transcriptional coactivator complex, participates in the regulation of fruit ripening. We show that MED25 physically interacts with EIL proteins, thereby orchestrating an ethylene-dependent transcriptional program for the regulation of ripening-related genes expression. We demonstrated that the EIL–MED25 module directly or indirectly activates ripening-related genes to promote quality formation. We also proved that EIL–MED25 forms both positive and negative feedback loops with its downstream regulators to maintain ethylene homeostasis. In the future, we will further study the transcriptional regulation mechanism of plant resistance during fruit ripening, and to improve fruit resistance against necrotrophic pathogens without affecting fruit quality.
姓名：杨天霞
目前职位：博士后，中国科学院遗传与发育生物学研究所
教育背景：华中农业大学，农学博士
兴趣爱好：篆刻
个人简历：我从2013年秋进入华中农业大学园艺林学学院，师从叶志彪教授，2015年于中国科学院遗传与发育生物学研究所李传友研究员团队联合培养，毕业后留站做博士后。我的研究方向主要集中在新型分子育种技术应用、果实成熟与植物抗性的转录调控机制方面。
乙烯介导呼吸跃变型果实成熟，通过核心转录因子EIL激活下游成熟相关基因表达，进而促进品质形成。尽管多年来乙烯信号如何调控成熟已被深入研究，目前仍不清楚EIL如何将信号传递给转录机器（Pol II），激活下游基因的转录。我们发现转录中介体亚基MED25参与调控了果实成熟过程，并解析了MED25与EIL如何直接互作，将信号传递给转录机器。又通过组学分析和大量实验，证明EIL转录因子直接或间接激活成熟相关基因，促进品质形成，同时解析了EIL调控下游转录因子实现乙烯信号正负反馈，维持激素稳态的机制。未来，我们将进一步解析果实成熟的植物抗性转录调控机制，利用新型分子育种技术在兼顾品质的基础上提高抗性，减少采后损失。
