Xiaojing Dong: The Plant Cell First Author

Xiaojing Dong, first author of “14-3-3 proteins facilitate the activation of MAP kinase cascades by upstream immunity-related kinases”

Current Position: Research Assistant, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology

Education: Ph.D., China Agricultural University, China

Non-scientific Interests: Music, Movie, Swimming

Brief biography: I joined the lab of Prof. Dingming Kang and Prof. Jigang Li at China Agricultural University in 2014 to pursue my Ph.D. studies and  receiving a Ph.D. degree in 2020. Inspired by a series of studies on immune kinases, I decided to join Prof. Jian-Min Zhou’s lab in the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology to study signal transduction in plant immunity. By examining candidate interactors of immunity-associated receptor-like cytoplasmic kinases (RLCKs), I discovered a key role of 14-3-3 proteins GRF6 and GRF8 in pattern-triggered immunity, which positively contribute to resistance to both anti-bacterial and anti-fungal immunity in Arabidopsis. My study suggests that these 14-3-3 proteins directly interact with MAPKKK5 to enable their activation by upstream RLCKs. I am excited to share the findings with colleagues in the Plant Cell.

 

姓名：董晓静

现在职位：助理研究员，中国科学院遗传与发育生物学研究所

教育经历：中国农业大学农学博士

兴趣爱好：音乐，电影，游泳

个人简介：我于2014年进入中国农业大学硕博连读，师从康定名教授和李继刚教授。毕业后，我十分荣幸进入中国科学院遗传与发育生物学研究所周俭民研究员实验室从事博士后研究工作。我的研究方向是植物免疫信号转导机制研究。我们的研究发现14-3-3家族的两个亚基GRF6和GRF8，作为抗病基因在植物PTI免疫中发挥关键作用。此外，我们发现GRF6和GRF8能够直接与多个RLCKs和MAPKKKs相互作用，并且对激活MAPK级联反应至关重要。有意思的是，我们的结果显示GRF6可以直接与MAPKKK5的C端发生互作进而增强PBL19和MAPKKK5的相互作用，揭示了14-3-3蛋白在植物免疫信号转导中调节RLCK-MAPK模块的一种前所未知的机制。我非常荣幸能够在Plant Cell杂志与各位同行分享我的研究结果。