Yang Li: The Plant Cell First Author

Yang Li, first author of “The RNA helicase UAP56 and the E3 ubiquitin ligase COP1 coordinately regulate alternative splicing to repress photomorphogenesis in Arabidopsis”

Current Position: Ph.D. (job hunting), Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Education: Ph.D. from Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Non-scientific Interests: Reading, Swimming

Brief bio:

I have pursued my Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. Rongcheng Lin at the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. My Ph.D. thesis investigated the underlying mechanisms of light precisely regulate seed dormancy and photomorphogenesis in Arabidopsis. My research identified RNA helicase UAP56 as a negative regulator of photomorphogenesis in Arabidopsis. UAP56 interacts with E3 ligase COP1 in vitro and in plant cells. RNA sequencing analyses revealed that UAP56 and COP1 coordinately regulate the expression levels of many genes as well as the splicing of many common pre-mRNAs. RNA immunoprecipitation assays demonstrated that UAP56 and COP1 bind to common snRNAs and target mRNAs. This study identifies a new role of UAP56 in regulating light-mediated seedling growth as well as a new mechanism for UAP56 and COP1 in modulating pre-mRNA alternative splicing in plants, enriching the regulatory network of light signals.

姓名：李洋

目前职位：中国科学院植物研究所博士毕业（求职中）

教育经历：中国科学院植物研究所获博士学位

兴趣爱好：阅读，游泳

个人简介：我于2016年加入中国科学院植物研究所林荣呈研究员课题组，攻读发育生物学博士学位。博士期间，我围绕光照如何精细的调控拟南芥种子休眠和幼苗形态建成开展研究。研究中发现了新的光形态建成抑制因子RNA解旋酶UAP56，发现其与E3泛素连接酶COP1相互作用，二者共同调控部分前体mRNA的可变剪接，从而调控光形态建成。这一研究明确了UAP56调控光介导的幼苗生长发育这一生物学功能，揭示了UAP56与COP1通过调节下游基因可变剪接来调控光形态建成的分子机制，丰富了光信号的调控网络。