Xuedong Liu: Plant Physiology First Author

Xuedong Liu, first author of “Maize miR167–ARF3/30–PAO1 module-regulated H₂O₂ production confers resistance to maize chlorotic mottle virus”

 

Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher at the college of life sciences and oceanography, Shenzhen University (China).

Education: Ph.D. (2020) from China Agriculture University

Non-scientific Interests: Watching movies, Cooking and Running

Brief bio: I was fortunate enough to join Prof. Tao Zhou’s lab at China Agricultural University to pursue my Ph.D. degree since 2015. Dr. Zhou’s lab mainly works on pathogenic mechanism of maize virus diseases. My main research focused on maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV), one of the pathogens of maize lethal necrosis (MLN) that seriously threatens the safety of maize production. During my Ph.D research career, I optimized a cucumber mosaic virus-based vector for miRNA functional research in maize, and identified that maize miR167 plays a role in resistance to MCMV. My research found that the Zma-miR167–ZmARF3/30–ZmPAO1 module-regulated H₂O₂ production conferred resistance to MCMV. Meanwhile, I found that MCMV ensures its own effective infection by using its p31 protein to enhance the enzyme acitivity of ZmPAO1 via direct interaction. The newly discovered Zma-miR167 signaling module can be used for screening MCMV-resistant maize lines for breeding program. Not only that, this intriguing discovery will help us further our understanding of plant-pathogen interactions and co-evolution.

姓名：刘学东

目前职位：深圳大学生命与海洋科学学院博士后

教育经历：2020年获得中国农业大学博士学位

兴趣爱好：看电影、烹饪和跑步

个人简介：我有幸于2015年加入到中国农业大学植物保护学院周涛老师实验室攻读博士学位。周老师实验室的主要研究方向为玉米病毒病致病机理，我主要研究的是严重威胁玉米生产安全的玉米致死性坏死病（MLN）的病原—玉米褪绿斑驳病毒（maize chlorotic mottle virus, MCMV）。在我作为博士研究生期间，我优化了基于黄瓜花叶病毒的载体用于研究玉米miRNA的功能，鉴定了miR167具有抗MCMV的功能，并发现Zma-miR167–ZmARF3/30–ZmPAO1模块通过调控H₂O₂的水平来抵抗MCMV的侵染。同时，我发现MCMV为保证自身有效侵染，其利用编码的p31蛋白通过与ZmPAO1互作增强其酶活性。新发现的Zma-miR167信号模块可用于抗MCMV玉米品种的选育。不仅如此，这个有趣的发现将有助于我们进一步了解植物—病原物相互作用及协同进化。