Xiayan Liu: The Plant Cell First Author

Xiayan Liu, co-first author of “MOR1/MAP215 acts synergistically with katanin to control cell division and anisotropic cell elongation in Arabidopsis”

Current Position: Professor, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China

Education: B.S. from Fudan University in China; Ph.D. from Iowa State University in USA

Non-scientific Interests: Reading, Gourmet Food

Brief Bio: After graduating with a Ph.D. degree in 2010 from Iowa State University, I returned to China and joined College of Life Sciences at Northwest A&F University. In activation-tagging screens, I found an Arabidopsis mutant with an elongated cotyledon phenotype. The study of this mutant has brought me to a whole new world of plant cytoskeleton research. Prior to this, my work focused primarily on the mechanism of chloroplast development, and cytoskeleton was a completely unknown field to me. Changing the direction of research has never been an easy task, but when I first saw the fluorescent microtubules in living plant cells under the microscope, the magic and beauty of them captured my heart and made me feel that all the effort was worth it. The dynamic behavior of microtubules is regulated by various types of microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) and is key to the functions of microtubules, and plant growth and development. At present, the functional interaction networks of plant MAPs is still not fully understood. The MAP215 family MT polymerase/nucleation factor and the MT severing enzyme katanin are two widely conserved MAPs. Our work discovered genetic, molecular, and functional interactions between MOR1, the Arabidopsis MAP215 homolog, and KTN1, the catalytic subunit of katanin, in regulating MT dynamics, cell morphogenesis, and cell division in Arabidopsis, providing a glimpse into the functional interaction networks of plant MAPs.

论文：MOR1/MAP215 acts synergistically with katanin to control cell division and anisotropic cell elongation in Arabidopsis

姓名：刘夏燕

目前职位：西北农林科技大学 生命科学学院 教授

教育背景：爱荷华州立大学，遗传学，博士；复旦大学，生物科学，学士；

兴趣爱好：阅读，美食

个人简介：2010年在美国爱荷华州立大学获得博士学位后，我回国在西北农林科技大学生命科学学院工作。在激活标签突变体库筛选中，我偶然发现了一株具有子叶细长表型的拟南芥突变体。这个突变体的研究将我带入了细胞骨架研究的大门。在此之前，我的工作主要关注叶绿体发育的调控机理，对于当时的我来说，细胞骨架是一个完全陌生的领域。改变研究方向是件非常困难的事，但当我第一次在显微镜下看到植物活细胞中的微管时，微管的神奇和美丽抓住了我的心，让我觉得一切的努力都是值得的。微管的动态特征受到多种类型的微管结合蛋白的调控，是微管发挥功能的关键。而目前对于植物微管结合蛋白的互作和调控关系还不完全明确。MAP215家族微管聚合酶/成核因子和微管切割蛋白复合体katanin是两类保守的微管结合蛋白。拟南芥中，必需基因MOR1编码MAP215同源蛋白，而KTN1基因编码katanin复合体的p60催化亚基。出乎意料地，我们的研究发现了MOR1和KTN1之间的遗传互作、蛋白互作和功能互作关系，这些发现使我们得以初步窥见微管结合蛋白之间功能互作的复杂性。