Dr. Jingyi Zhang
Title：Associate Professor
Address: Room 202, College of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou
Email: jingyi.zhang@scau.edu.cn
RESEARCH INTEREST
Epigenetic Regulatory Mechanisms of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Utilization Efficiency in Rice
Modern agricultural production heavily relies on the extensive application of chemical fertilizers such as nitrogen and phosphorus. However, excessive fertilizer use not only affects rice grain quality but also leads to water and atmospheric pollution. Therefore, the overuse of chemical fertilizers has become a critical issue that urgently needs to be addressed in agricultural production.
Our research will primarily employ epigenetic techniques, integrating molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, cell biology, and bioinformatics, to investigate how the plant epigenome responds to nutrient signals and how nutrient signaling pathways are regulated by epigenetic mechanisms. The epigenetic mechanisms we focus on include DNA methylation, histone modifications, histone variants, and higher-order chromatin structure.
EDUCATION
2005.09-2009.06 Bachelor Degree, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
2009.09-2015.06 Ph.D Degree, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
2015.06-2021.06 Postdoctoral Scientist, John Innes Centre, UK
2021.09-now Associate Professor, South China Agricultural University, China
PUBLICATIONS
† Equal contributions, * Corresponding author(s)
[1] Xiaojun Ma†, Wei Wang†, Jingyi Zhang†, Zhimin Jiang†, Chengyuan Xu†, Wenjun Zhu, Bihai Shi, Wanling Yang, Haiwei Su, Xiaohan Wang, Da Chen, Yanfei Wang, Juntao Wang, Jingchi Wang, Xiujie Liu, Xiaotian Wang, Xiahe Huang, Wenjun Xie, Yanting Cai, Ke Xu, Peiyong Xin, Linchuan Liu, Peitao Lü, Yingchun Wang, Jinfang Chu, Xin Gong*, Chengcai Chu*, and Bin Hu*. 2025. NRT1.1B acts as an abscisic acid receptor in integrating compound environmental cues for plants. Cell 188 (19):5231-5248.
[2] James Walker†, Jingyi Zhang†, Yalin Liu†, Shujuan Xu†, Yiming Yu, Martin Vickers, Weizhi Ouyang, Judit T ́alas, Liam Dolan, Keiji Nakajima, and Xiaoqi Feng*. 2025. Extensive N4 cytosine methylation is essential for Marchantia sperm function. Cell 188 (11): 2890-2906.
[3] Zijun Lu, Lianjun Zhu, Guobin Liang, Xiaoxia Li, Qihang Li, Yajing Li, Shengbo He, Jinwen Wu, Xiangdong Liu*, Jingyi Zhang*. 2024. MORE FLORET1 controls anther development by negatively regulating key tapetal genes in both diploid and tetraploid rice.Plant Physiology195 (3): 1981-1994.
[4] Shengbo He†, Yiming Yu†, Liang Wang†, Jingyi Zhang, Zhengyong Bai, Guohong Li, Pilong Li, Xiaoqi Feng*. 2024. Linker histone H1 drives heterochromatin condensation via phase separation in Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell 36 (5): 1829-1843.
[5] Jingyi Zhang and Shengbo He*. 2021. Tobacco System for Studying Protein Colocalization and Interactions. Methods in Molecular Biology 2297: 167-174.
[6] Jingyi Zhang and Shengbo He*. 2021. Co-immunoprecipitation Assay for Blue Light-Dependent Protein Interactions in Plants. Methods in Molecular Biology 2297: 141-146.
[7] Zhilei Mao, Xuxu Wei, Ling Li, Peng Xu,Jingyi Zhang, Wenxiu Wang, Tongtong Guo, Shuang Kou, Wanting Wang, Langxi Miao, Xiaoli Cao, Jiachen Zhao, Guangqiong Yang, Shilong Zhang, Hongli Lian, Hong-Quan Yang*. 2021. Arabidopsis cryptochrome 1 controls photomorphogenesis through regulation of H2A.Z deposition. The Plant Cell 33 (6): 1961-1979.
[8] Shengbo He, Martin Vickers, Jingyi Zhang, and Xiaoqi Feng*. 2019. Natural Depletion of H1 in Sex Cells Causes DNA Demethylation, Heterochromatin Decondensation and Transposon Activation. eLife 8: e42530.
[9] James Walker†, Hongbo Gao†, Jingyi Zhang, Billy Aldridge, Martin Vickers, James D. Higgins, Xiaoqi Feng*. 2018. Sexual-lineage-specific DNA methylation regulates meiosis in Arabidopsis. Nature Genetics 50 (1): 130–137.
[10] Feng Xu†, Shengbo He†, Jingyi Zhang, Zhilei Mao, Wenxiu Wang, Ting Li, Jie Hua, Shasha Du, Pengbo Xu, Ling Li, Hongli Lian, and Hong-Quan Yang*. 2018. Photoactivated CRY1 and phyB Interact Directly with AUX/IAA Proteins to Inhibit Auxin Signaling in Arabidopsis. Molecular Plant 11 (4): 523-541.
[11] Sheng-Bo He, Wen-Xiu Wang, Jing-Yi Zhang, Feng Xu, Hong-Li Lian, Ling Li and Hong-Quan Yang*. 2015. The CNT1 Domain of Arabidopsis CRY1 Alone Is Sufficient to Mediate Blue-Light Inhibition of Hypocotyl Elongation. Molecular Plant 8 (5): 822-825.
[12] Jing-Yi Zhang, Sheng-Bo He, Ling Li, and Hong-Quan Yang*. 2014. Auxin Inhibits Stomatal Development through MONOPTEROS Repression of A Mobile Peptide Gene STOMAGEN in Mesophyll. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 111 (29): E3015-E3023.
[13] Hong-Li Lian, Sheng-Bo He, Yan-Chun Zhang, Dan-Meng Zhu, Jing-Yi Zhang, Kun-Peng Jia, Shu-Xia Sun, Ling Li, and Hong-Quan Yang*. 2011. Blue-Light-Dependent Interaction of Cryptochrome 1 with SPA1 Defines A Dynamic Signaling Mechanism. Genes & Development 25 (10): 1023-1028.