Yuling Jiao, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
October 9th 2020
There are a large number of Chinese research institutions that conduct Arabidopsis research. Because of the large size of the country, it is difficult to precisely estimate the exact number of research labs using Arabidopsis, although the number must be over 500. This can in part be reflected by the large number of Arabidopsis related research papers published by Chinese researchers.
According to the 2019 MASC Report, about one-third of all Arabidopsis papers published in 2018 were from China. Not surprisingly, research topics range from developmental and hormone biology to abiotic and biotic stress, and to evolution. Hence, Arabidopsis is the model plant of choice to many groups. However, only a small portion of these labs is solely dedicated to Arabidopsis research or using Arabidopsis as the main model plant, which may be very different from many other countries.
A major reason behind would be the current funding priority. Whereas there are dedicated grants to basic and applied research in maize, rice, wheat, and virtually each minor crop, there are no such funding programs towards Arabidopsis research. As a result, Arabidopsis is often used as an easily manipulated model system to test crop gene functions. Nevertheless, the number of Arabidopsis papers published in 2018 by Chinese researchers ranks only after rice papers, and more than those of maize or wheat.
Most Arabidopsis research occurs in research universities, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) institutes, and Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences institutes. In addition, most provinces have one or more agricultural universities, where you can find at least some Arabidopsis research.
New Resources and Software tools available for Arabidopsis Researchers that have been initiated or funded in 2019.
- AraShare: A community biological resource center
http://www.arashare.cn/
- Plant Transcriptional Regulatory Map (includes updated PlantTFDB and additional resources)
http://plantregmap.cbi.pku.edu.cn/
- AHD2.0: Arabidopsis hormone database 2.0
https://bigd.big.ac.cn/ahd/
- LSD3.0: Arabidopsis leaf senescence database 3.0
https://bigd.big.ac.cn/lsd/
- PlantGSEA: a gene set enrichment analysis toolkit for plant community
http://structuralbiology.cau.edu.cn/PlantGSEA/
- PsRobot: Plant small RNA analysis toolbox
http://omicslab.genetics.ac.cn/psRobot/
- Shoot cell type-specific expression ebrowser
http://jiaolab.genetics.ac.cn/shootapex.html
Conferences, Workshops and Outreach events
Major conferences held in 2019
- 30th International Conference on Arabidopsis Research (ICAR2019), June 16-21, 2019, Wuhan, Hubei
- International Symposium on Plant Receptor Kinases and Cell Signaling, June 21-23, 2019, Beijing
- 21st International Conference on Nitrogen Fixation (ICNF2019), October 10-15, 2019 Wuhan, Hubei
- 2019 National Congress of Plant Biology, October 11-14, 2019 Chengdu, Sichuan (http://www.ncpb.net/2019/)
Selected Publications
Li W, Song T, Wallrad L, Kudla J, Wang X, Zhang W. (2019) Tissue-specific accumulation of pH-sensing phosphatidic acid determines plant stress tolerance. Nat Plants. 2019 Sep;5(9):1012-1021.
Cui Y, Cao W, He Y, Zhao Q, Wakazaki M, Zhuang X, Gao J, Zeng Y, Gao C, Ding Y, Wong HY, Wong WS, Lam HK, Wang P, Ueda T, Rojas-Pierce M, Toyooka K, Kang B-H, Jiang L. (2019) A whole-cell electron tomography model of vacuole biogenesis in Arabidopsis root cells. Nat. Plants 5(1):95-105.
He J, Chen Q, Xin P, Yuan J, Ma Y, Wang X, Xu M, Chu J, Peters RJ, Wang G. (2019) CYP72A enzymes catalyse 13-hydrolyzation of gibberellins. Nat. Plants 5(10): 1057-1065.
Li H, Cai Z, Wang X, Li M, Cui Y, Cui N, Yang F, Zhu M, Zhao J, Du W, He K, Yi J, Tax FE, Hou S, Li J, Gou X. (2019) SERK receptor-like kinases control division patterns of vascular precursors and ground tissue stem cells during embryo development in Arabidopsis. Mol. Plant 12(7): 984-1002.
Qiu Q, Mei H, Deng X, He K, Wu B, Yao Q, Zhang J, Lu F, Ma J, Cao X. (2019) DNA methylation repels targeting of Arabidopsis REF6. Nat. Commun. 10(1): 2063.
Tian C, Wang Y, Yu H, He J, Wang J, Shi B, Du Q, Provart NJ, Meyerowitz EM, Jiao Y. (2019) A gene expression map of shoot domains reveals regulatory mechanisms. Nat. Commun. 10(1): 141.
Wang J, Hu M, Wang J, Qi J, Han Z, Wang G, Qi Y, Wang H-W, Zhou J-M, Chai J. (2019) Reconstitution and structure of a plant NLR resistosome conferring immunity. Science 364(6435): eaav5870.
Wang J, Wang J, Hu M, Wu S, Qi J, Wang G, Han Z, Qi Y, Gao N, Wang H-W, Zhou J-M, Chai J. (2019) Ligand-triggered allosteric ADP release primes a plant NLR complex. Science 364(6435): eaav5868.
Wang X, Ding Y, Li Z, Shi Y, Wang J, Hua J, Gong Z, Zhou JM, Yang S. (2019) PUB25 and PUB26 promote plant freezing tolerance by degrading the cold signaling negative regulator MYB15. Dev. Cell 51(2): 222-235.
You Y, Zhai Q, An C, Li C. (2019) LEUNIG_HOMOLOG mediates MYC2-dependent transcriptional activation in cooperation with the coactivators HAC1 and MED25. Plant Cell 31(9): 2187-2205.
Zhong S, Liu M, Wang Z, Huang Q, Hou S, Xu YC, Ge Z, Song Z, Huang J, Qiu X, Shi Y, Xiao J, Liu P, Guo YL, Dong J, Dresselhaus T, Gu H, Qu L-J. (2019) Cysteine-rich peptides promote interspecific genetic isolation in Arabidopsis. Science 364(6443): eaau9564.
Major Funding Sources
National Natural Science Foundation (NSFC)
http://www.nsfc.gov.cn/publish/portal1
Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST)
http://www.most.gov.cn/eng/programmes1/index.htm