Youping Li: The Plant Cell First Author

Youping Li, first author of “The CRY2-COP1-HY5-BBX7/8 module regulates blue light-dependent cold acclimation in Arabidopsis”

Current Position: Postdoc in Beijing Vegetable Research Center (BVRC), Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Science (BAAFS)

Education:

Ph.D. Botany from China Agricultural University, B.S. Horticulture from Sichuan Agricultural University

Non-scientific Interests:

Pop music lovers, painting lovers, foodie

Brief bio:

During my doctoral study in China Agricultural University (advisor: Prof. Shuhua Yang), I focused on the interaction between light signal and low temperature signal. We found that the cryptochrome2 (CRY2)-COP1-HY5-BBX7/8 module regulates blue light-dependent cold acclimation. We show that phosphorylated forms of CRY2 induced by blue light are stabilized by cold stress and that cold-stabilized CRY2 competes with HY5 to attenuate the HY5–COP1 interaction, thereby allowing HY5 to accumulate at cold temperatures. Furthermore, our data demonstrate that BBX7 and BBX8 function as direct HY5 targets to positively regulate plant freezing tolerance through modulating a set of COR genes mainly independent of CBF pathways. Our study uncovers a mechanistic framework by which CRY2-mediated blue-light signaling enhances plant freezing tolerance, shedding light on the molecular mechanisms underlying the crosstalk between cold and light signaling pathways in plants.

姓名：李幽平

职位：北京市农林科学院蔬菜研究中心博士后

学历：中国农业大学理学博士；四川农业大学农学学士

兴趣爱好：看电影，旅行

个人简介：流行音乐，绘画，美食

我在中国农业大学的博士研究生学习期间(导师：杨淑华教授)，主要研究光信号与冷信号的相互作用。我们的研究发现隐花色素2 (CRY2)-COP1-HY5-BBX7/8模块参与调节蓝光依赖的植物冷驯化。蓝光诱导的磷酸化形式的CRY2在低温胁迫下更加稳定，低温稳定的CRY2通过与转录因子HY5竞争结合E3泛素连接酶COP1，使HY5与COP1的相互作用减弱，从而在低温下积累大量的HY5蛋白。我们的研究还表明，两个编码BBX转录因子的基因BBX7和BBX8作为HY5的直接靶基因，主要通过不依赖于CBF的低温信号通路调控着一部分冷响应COR基因的表达，从而正向调节植物的抗冻性。该研究揭示了CRY2介导的蓝光信号增强植物抗冻性的分子机制，为全面阐明光温互作调控植物环境适应机制提供了重要的线索。