Xinhang Zheng: The Plant Cell First Author

Xinhang Zheng, first author of “Ustilaginoidea virens secretes a family of phosphatases that stabilize the negative immune regulator OsMPK6 and suppress plant immunity”

Current Position: Ph.D. candidate at China Agricultural University

Education: Bachelor’s degree in China Agricultural University

Non-scientific Interests: Watching movies, Reading

Brief bio: During my undergraduate study at China Agricultural University, I developed a strong interest in plant pathogenic fungi. After my undergraduate in 2016, I was very honored to enter the laboratory of Prof. Wenxian Sun at China Agricultural University to pursue my doctorate. I performed research on the pathogenic mechanism of the Ustilaginoidea virens virulence effectors with the careful guidance of Prof. Wenxian Sun. In this study, we reported that U. virens secretes a new type of tyrosine phosphatase SCRE6 into host cells to suppress rice immunity at the initial stage of infection. SCRE6 could dephosphorylate and inhibit the degradation of the negative immune regulator mitogen-activated protein kinase 6 (OsMPK6) to promote U. virens infection. We hoped our study could provide a theoretical basis for rice disease resistance breeding and green prevention and control of rice diseases.

姓名：郑馨航

目前职位：中国农业大学，在读博士生

教育背景：中国农业大学，学士学位

兴趣爱好：看电影，阅读

个人简介：在中国农业大学本科学习期间，经过对植物病理学的学习与了解，我逐渐对植物病原真菌的研究产生了浓厚的兴趣。2016年本科毕业后，我非常荣幸的进入中国农业大学孙文献教授实验室攻读博士学位。在孙文献教授的精心指导下进行了稻曲病菌效应蛋白致病机理的研究。我们的研究发现稻曲菌在侵染初期分泌新型酪氨酸蛋白磷酸酶效应蛋白SCRE6至水稻细胞内。SCRE6通过去磷酸化的方式抑制免疫负调控因子OsMPK6的降解，从而促进稻曲菌对水稻的侵染能力。我们的研究工作有望为水稻的抗病育种以及水稻病害的绿色防控提供理论基础。