Prof. dr. Zhao ZHANG, Principal Investigator

Prof. dr. Zhao ZHANG obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Plant Biotechnology in the Hogeschool Larenstein in Velp in the Netherlands. In the following years, from 2005 to 2007, Zhao continued as an MSc student Plant Biotechnology at Wageningen University. His first MSc thesis was supervised by Prof. dr. Marcel Dicke at the Laboratory of Entomology, where Zhao worked on the information-mediated indirect defense of the host plant (Brassica oleracea) against herbivore (Pieris spp.), involving a parasitoid (Cotesia spp.). The second thesis focused on the signaling cascade in tomato defense against the vascular wilt fungus Verticillium dahliae, in the Laboratory of Phytopathology under supervision of Dr. Bart Thomma. In 2007, Zhao started his PhD research under supervision of Prof. dr. Bart Thomma and Prof. dr. Pierre de Wit in the Laboratory of Phytopathology of the Wageningen University, where he worked on functional analysis of tomato immune receptor Ve1 and its recognition of Verticillium effector Ave1. Now he is appointed as a professor at China Agricultural University, Beijing, China. He and his colleagues take comparative and functional genomic approaches to dissect complex traits in horticultural crops, with a current focus on ornamental plants (flowers). They exploit the natural diversity of these plant genomes to identify genes responsible for disease resistance, floral scents and other (quantitative) traits and then apply it to breeding. By the end of 2021, he published 38 peer-reviewed articles, with over 1900 times of citations and an H-index of 17.

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=QoLjmPoAAAAJ

Email: zhangzhao@cau.edu.cn

 

Xintong LIU, Postdoctoral researcher

Xintong is a postdoc scientist in the Zhang Zhao Lab. Xintong is interested in studying the transcriptome dynamics of rose petals during both the early and late stages of infection by Botrytis cinerea. She dissected the transcriptional network governing the rose response to B. cinerea infection with the aim of exploring the genetic mechanisms underpinning various aspects of this defense response, especially pathogen recognition, hormone signal transduction, and the role of regulatory TFs.

Jie WU, PhD Student.

Jie is a PhD student in the Zhang Zhao Lab; she joined in September, 2017. Jie is working on a rose genome variation map generated through resequencing of a collection of diverse rose accessions. Her studies will outline the genetic basis of rose domestication and evolution, and provides valuable information for facilitating marker-assisted breeding and rose improvement.

Shiya ZHANG, PhD Student.

Shiya is a PhD student in the Zhang Zhao Lab; she joined in September, 2018. Shiya aim to conduct an multi-omics approaches to explore candidate genes regulating flower scent production in rose.

Fangfang JI, PhD Student.

Fangfang is a PhD student in the Zhang Zhao Lab; she joined in September, 2018. Fangfang is working on construction of genetic linkage map in tetraploid roses, which will serve for QTL detection and marker assisted selection towards rose resistance against Botrytis cinerea.

Dandan LI, PhD Student.

Dandan is a PhD student in the Zhang Zhao Lab; she joined in September, 2017. Dandan is working on role of regulatory TFs governing the rose resistance to B. cinerea infection.

 

Yu TIAN, MSc Student.

Yu TIAN is a MSc student in the Zhang Zhao Lab; she joined in September, 2019. Yu exploring the role of cell wall-related genes in rose response towards B. cinerea infection.

Xiaomei LI, MSc Student.

Xiaomei LI is a guest MSc student; she joined in December, 2019. Xiaomei exploring the role of several rose defense-related genes in its response towards B. cinerea infection.

Yuan MA, MSc Student.

Yuan MA is a MSc student; she joined in September, 2020.

Ning JIANG, MSc Student.

Ning JIANG is a MSc student; she joined in September, 2020.

Zicheng WANG, MSc Student.

Zicheng is a MSc student; he joined in September, 2020.

Meng CHEN, MSc Student.

Meng is a MSc student; she joined in 2021.

 

Alumni

Former Graduate Students

Shaochuan SHI, PhD.

Dr. Shi joined as graduate student in 2015, and obtained his PhD in summer of 2018.

Current employment: Scientist at Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan, Shandong province, China

 Xiaoqian CAO, MSc

Xiaoqian joined in 2015, and obtained her MSc in 2017.

 Maira JAHANGIR, MSc

Maira joined in 2015, and obtained her MSc in 2017.

Yajie LI, MSc

Yajie joined in 2016 as a guest MSc student, and obtained her MSc in 2018.

Yujie HAN, MSc

Yujie joined in 2016 as a guest MSc student, and obtained her MSc in 2018.

Na ZHAO, MSc

Na joined in 2016 as a guest MSc student, and obtained her MSc in 2018.

Peihong FANG, MSc

Peihong joined in 2016, and obtained her MSc in 2019.

Current employment: Project manager at Novogene Co., Ltd., Beijing, China

Yaling XU, MSc

Yaling joined in 2017, and obtained her MSc in 2019.

Current employment: Wuhan municipal government, Wuhan, Hubei province, China

Zhiyi YU, MSc

Zhiyi joined in 2017, and obtained her MSc in 2020.

Current employment: PhD candidate at The University of Glasgow, UK.

Yu LIN, MSc

Yu joined in September, 2018, and obtained her MSc in 2020.

Current employment: Hongyue Horticultural Corporation

Zishuo YUAN, MSc

Zishuo joined in September, 2018, and obtained her MSc in 2020.

Current employment: Academy of Agricultural Planning and Engineering, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China 

Lihong PAN, MSc

Lihong joined in September, 2019, and obtained her MSc in 2020

 

Former Undergraduate Student

Xin ZHANG, Undergraduate Student joined in 2015. Current position – PhD student at Utrecht University, the Netherlands.

Zhengyuan LIU, Undergraduate Student joined in 2015. Current position -MSc student at Canada

Shuyao DENG, Undergraduate Student joined in 2015. Current position –

Yanchen TANG, Undergraduate Student joined in 2015. Current position –

Huiyuan HAO, Undergraduate Student joined in 2015. Current position – MSc student at Wageningen University, the Netherlands.

Yuhao ZHANG, Undergraduate Student joined in 2015. Current position – MSc student at Wageningen University, the Netherlands.

Yubing WANG, Undergraduate Student joined in 2016. Current position – MSc student at Wageningen University, the Netherlands.

Heng ZHANG, Undergraduate Student joined in 2016. Current position –

Kuo CHEN, Undergraduate Student joined in 2016. Current position – MSc student at Australia

Shan ZHANG, Undergraduate Student joined in 2016. Current position – MSc student at UK