Wang Lab

Lab Tabs

Our Research

Research Interests

Research in my lab strives to achieve a deep understanding of the cellular signaling mechanisms that control plant growth and responses to the environment, with a long-term goal of engineering plants with improved productivity and resilience to environmental stresses. Plant growth is highly modulated by environmental signals (e.g. light, temperature, pathogen), endogenous hormones (e.g. brassinosteroid, auxin, gibberellic acid, and abscisic acid (ABA), and sugar (the product of photosynthesis). We use a combination of proteomic and genomic approaches to dissect the molecular networks that integrate these environmental and endogenous signals with gene transcription, protein translation and modification, and cellular membrane organization, which underly cell division, cell expansion, immunity, and stress responses. Current research projects focus on the functions of BSU family phosphatase and the GSK3 kinase in receptor kinase signaling pathways, nutrient/sugar sensing via protein O-glycosylation (O-GlcNAc and O-fucose), and signal crosstalk between hormone-induced protein phosphorylation and nutrient-dependent protein glycosylation. We study the model organisms of Arabidopsis and Chlamydomonas as well as maize.

1. The brassinosteroid (BR) signaling pathway - the best-studied receptor kinase pathway in plants.

BR is a growth-promoting hormone that has major effects on plant size and biomass accumulation. BR regulates a wide range of developmental and physiological processes, including seed germination, cell elongation, growth, flowering, light responses, photosynthesis, and stress tolerance. Research on BR has great potential of increasing crop yield.
The BR signaling pathway is the best characterized receptor kinase pathway in plants. BR is perceived by the cell-surface receptor kinase BRI1 (Figure 1), which contains an extracellular leucine-rich repeat domain and a cytoplasmic serine/threonine kinase domain. BR binding to the extracellular domain of BRI1 activates its kinase and initiates a signaling cascade leading to regulation of gene expression in the nucleus. This signaling cascade includes the BR-signaling kinases (BSKs), the PP1-like phosphatase BSU1, the GSK3-like kinase BIN2, and protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), the phosphopeptide-binding 14-3-3 proteins, and the homologous transcription factors BZR1 and BZR2 (also named BES1). When BR level is high, BRI1 phosphorylates BSKs/CDG1 kinases which in turn phosphorylate BSU1. BSU1 dephosphorylates BIN2 to inhibit its kinase activity and to increase its ubiquitination mediated by the KIB1 E3 ubiquitin ligase. As such, BR induces rapid dephosphorylation BZR1 and BZR2/BES1 by PP2A and accumulation in the nucleus. BZR1 and BZR2 directly regulate the expression of thousands of target genes. Our works have established the BR signaling pathway as the best-understood receptor-kinase signaling pathway in plants.

We have identified hundreds of substrates of the BIN2 kinase and dozens of interactors of BSL1 and BSL2, using TurboID proximity labeling and phosphoproteomics. We are studying the functions of these protein interactions using genetic and synthetic biology approaches. We currently focus on the following questions:

1. How does GSK3 kinase BIN2 regulate its substrates involved in RNA splicing, translation, vesicle trafficking, and cell wall integrity?

2. How do the BSU family phosphatases regulate cell division, vesicle trafficking, and mediate signal transduction from other receptor kinases such as immune receptors?

3. How do receptor kinases maintain cell wall integrity?

Figure 1)

2. Signal crosstalk and Integration of multiple pathways into networks

We have further gained insight into the molecular mechanisms that integrate BR with other major growth-regulation signals, including gibberellin (GA), auxin, light, temperature, pathogen signals, and nutrient signals. Using modern genomic approaches of RNA-Seq and ChIP-Seq, we have identified thousands of genes directly regulated by BZR1, the light-regulated transcription factor PIF4, and the auxin response factor 6 (ARF6). These genome-wide targets not only identify diverse cellular and developmental functions controlled by these signaling pathways, but also revealed extensive overlaps among the target genes these distinct transcription factors. We further discovered that these TFs directly interact with each other and also interact with the gibberellin (GA) signaling DELLA proteins. Our research has thus revealed a central growth-regulation (CGR) network that integrates multiple hormonal, environmental, and nutritional signals for regulation of shoot growth in plants (Figure 2). Our studies of root growth regulation uncovered a gradient of BR signal along the developmental gradient of stem cell differentiation and an antagonistic relationship between BR and auxin in regulating gene expression and cell elongation (Figure 3).

Figure 2)

3. Proteomic studies of signaling networks controlling growth and acclimation.

An emerging focus of the lab is proteomic studies of sugar signaling mechanisms and sugar-hormone crosstalk. Sugar signaling through protein modification by O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc), catalyzed by O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) is an essential cellular regulatory mechanism in all eukaryotes. Arabidopsis has two OGT homologs: SPINDLY (SPY) and SECRET AGENT (SEC). Double spy sec mutants are embryo lethal, indicating their essential functions. Recent studies have shown that SPY is an O-fucosyl transferase, whereas SEC is an OGT. We are the first lab in the world that has reported proteomic profiling of O-GlcNAc modifications in plants and we have identified 262 O-GlcNAcylated proteins in Arabidopsis. These are mostly nuclear proteins with regulatory functions including key components of hormonal pathways, and many of them are also phosphorylated in response to BR. We have also identified hundreds of O-fucosylated proteins. These studies are expanding the posttranslational modification networks through which sugar and hormones regulate plant growth and development.

Currently, we are working on the following questions:

(1) How do O-GlcNAc and O-fucose modifications regulate proteins involved in transcription, alternative RNA splicing, translation?

(2) How do sugar and steroid signals co-regulate plant growth through crosstalk between O-glycosylation and phosphorylation?

(3) How do sugar and steroid signals co-regulate RNA splicing, protein translation, stress responses, and primary metabolism through phosphorylation and glycosylation of common target proteins?

Figure 3)

Review papers

Chaiwanon J, Wang W, Zhu JY, Oh E, Wang ZY. (2016) Information Integration and Communication in Plant Growth Regulation. Cell 164(6):1257-68.
Wang W, Bai MY, Wang ZY. (2014). The brassinosteroid signaling network – a paradigm of signal integration. Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. 21:147–153 .
Wang W and Wang ZY. (2014). At the intersection of plant growth and immunity. Cell Host Microbe 15, 400–402.
Zhu JY, Sae-Seaw J, Wang ZY. (2013). Brassinosteroid signalling. Development. 140, 1615-1620.
Wang ZY, Bai MY, Oh E, Zhu JY (2012). Brassinosteroid signaling network and regulation of photomorphogenesis. Annu. Rev. Genet. 46:701-724.
Kim TW and Wang ZY. (2010) Brassinosteroid signal transduction from receptor kinases to transcription factors. Annu. Rev. Plant Biol.61, 681-704.

News

Feb

2021

A plant’s nutrient-sensing abilities can modulate its response to environmental stress

By Carnegie HQ

Palo Alto, CA— Understanding how plants respond to stressful environmental conditions is crucial to developing effective strategies for protecting important agricultural crops from a changing climate. New research led by Carnegie’s Zhiyong Wang, ...

Jul

2008

Plant Steroids Offer New Paradigm for How Hormones Work

By Carnegie HQ

Stanford, CA —Steroids bulk up plants just as they do human athletes, but the playbook of molecular signals that tell the genes to boost growth and development in plant cells is far more complicated than in human and animal cells. A new study by ...

Jan

2005

New puzzle-piece shows how growth hormones work in plants

By Carnegie HQ

Contact Zhi-Yong Wang at Carnegie's Department of Plant Biology, 650-325-1521 ext. 205, or via e-mail at zywang24@stanford.edu Copies of the embargoed paper may be obtained from the AAAS at 202-326-6440, or scipak@aaas.org Stanford, CA – Both plant ...

Lab PI

Zhiyong Wang

Acting Director & Senior Staff Scientist

Plant Biology

Carnegie Institution for Science

zwang@carnegiescience.edu
650-739-4205
Office:
260 Panama Street
Stanford, CA 94305, US

Profile

Bio

I am interested in how hormones regulate plant growth according to endogenous nutrient and energy status and environmental conditions. We use broad research approaches to dissect the molecular mechanisms by which plants perceive, transduce, and integrate internal and external signals into cellular decisions to divide, expand, differentiate, defend, or acclimate. Our goal is to understand the signaling and regulatory networks and to generate knowledge that enables engineering plants with enhanced yield and resilience.

Affiliation

Affiliation:

DPB Faculty

DPB Employees

Operational Division:

DPB Administration

Labs:

Wang Lab

Teaching

Websites

Lab Members

Yang Bi (Postdoctoral Fellow)
Ajeet Chaudhary (Postdoctoral Fellow)
Efren Gonzalez (Environmental Health & Safety Manager)
Qufei Gu (Postdoctoral Research Scientist)
I am from Suzhou (Soochow), China. I received the B.S. degree in Physics from Sichuan University, Chengdu, China, in 2011, the M.S. degree in Physics from University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, United States, in 2014, the Ph.D. degree in Biological Engineering & Small-Scale Technologies from University of California, Merced, United States in 2019. I am interested in the development of single-molecule tool in exploring DNA-protein interactions. In my spare time, I play basketball, soccer and crabbings.
Shenheng Guan (Senior Investigator)
Sumudu Karunadasa (Postdoctoral Fellow)
I received my B.Sc. degree in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from University of Peradeniya, Kandy, Sri Lanka. I graduated from University of Kentucky, USA in Plant Molecular Biology. I am interested in discovering plant molecular mechanisms.
Kevin Li (Research Assistant)
Daniel Ramirez (Postdoctoral Fellow)
I was born in Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico and grew up in El Paso, TX. I received my B.S. in Cellular & Molecular Biochemistry from The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and worked with Dr. German Rosas-Acosta on posttranslational modifications of Influenza proteins. Then, I did two summer research internships (2014, 2015) focused on the structural biology of nucleoporins with Dr. Günter Blobel at The Rockefeller University. I then did my PhD in Biological & Biomedical Sciences at Harvard with Dr. Christina Woo, where I focused on protein engineering to control O-GlcNAc signaling.

I am broadly interested in method and tool development using principles from protein engineering, synthetic biology, chemical biology, proteomics, and glycobiology to address fundamental questions in plant biology dealing with glycans like O-GlcNAc and O-fucose.
Evan Saldivar (Graduate Student)
I graduated from UC San Diego in 2019 with a major in Molecular Biology and a minor in Mathematics. My previous research focused on small-molecule specialized metabolism in maize (Zea mays) roots, with a specific focus on terpenoid biochemistry. I am broadly interested in plant biochemistry, as well as the application and development of new techniques, both experimental and computational. I am starting a PhD in Stanford's Biology Department in Fall 2020, and am excited to engage with the broader scientific community, at both Stanford and the Carnegie Institute!
Frej Tulin (Postdoctoral Fellow)
I am interested in how plants coordinate cell growth and division. Brassinosteroid (BR) hormones are known for their growth-promoting activity, but also help regulate cell division in certain tissues. I am exploring mechanistic links between BR signaling and cell division, using Arabidopsis and the alga Chlamydomonas as models.

I received a M.S. from KTH in Stockholm, Sweden, and a Ph.D. from the Rockefeller University. I like running and ping pong.
Jay Yung (Lab Technician)
Zhenzhen Zhang (Postdoctoral Fellow)
I am interested in mechanisms of plant growth regulated by sugar and brassinosteroid signaling.

Former Lab Members and Current Affiliation

Postdoc/Graduate Students:

Joshua Gendron, Assistant Professor, Yale University, USA
Ying Sun, Professor, Hebei Normal University, China
Soo-Hwan Kim, Professor, Yonsei University, Korea
Junxian He, Assistant Professor, the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Srinivas Gampala, Dow Agrosciences, USA
Wenqiang Tang, Professor, Hebei Normal University, China
Yu Sun, Professor, Hebei Normal University, China
Zhiping Deng, Group leader, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China
Tae-Wuk Kim, Associate Professor, Hanyang U. Korea
Wenhui Lin, Research Professor, Shanghai Jiaotong University, China
Eunkyoo Oh, Korea University, Korea
Shouling Xu, Director of Proteomics at the Carnegie Institution for Science
Wenfei Wang, Professor, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
Xuelian Yang, Associate Professor, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
Sunita Patil, Lab Manager, Stanford University
Juthamas Chaiwanon, Assistant Professor, Chulalongkorn U., Thailand
Mingyi Bai, Professor, Shandong University, China
Min Fan, Assistant Professor, Shandong University, China
Chih-Wei Chien, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Taiwan
Thomas Hartwig, Group Leader, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany
Gisele Passaia, Scientist, University of British Columbia, Canada
Shouling Xu, Director of Proteomics Facility, Carnegie Institution for Science, USA
Chan Ho Park, Chief Scientific Officer, Soilcea, Florida
Veder Garcia, Seer, Inc, California
Kanako Bessho-Uehara, Assistant Professor, Tohoku University, Japan
Chuan-Chih Hsu, Research Specialist, Institute of Plant and Microbile Biology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan

Visiting Scholars/Students:

Ulrich Kutschera, Chair and Professor, University of Kassel, Germany (2007-)
Ruiju Wang, Postdoc, Hebei Normal U. China (2007-2009)
Yaqi Hao, Research Associate, Shannxi Normal U. China (2008-2011)
Jianxiu Shang, Research Associate, Hebei Normal U. China (2009-2011)
Hongjuan Yang, Graduate program director, Institute of Botany, CAS (2009-2010)
Rafael Augusto, Federal Univers. Rio Grande do Sul. Brazil (2010-2011)
Hak-Soo Lee, Student, Yonsei U. Korea
Yang Bai, Student, Northeast U. China
Shuolei Bu, Graduate Student. China
Jiangshu Liu, Postdoc, U. Toronto, Canada
Min Yuan, Assistant Professor, Hebei Sci Tech U. China
Tian Li, Lecturer, Lanzhou U. China
Peng Xu, Postdoc, UCSF
Hui Yang, Professor and Director, Lanzhou Institute of Biology, China
Zhiguang Zhao, Professor, Lanzhou University, China
Tonglin Mao, Professor, China Agriculture U.
Shengwei Zhu, Group Leader, Institute of Botany, CAS, China
Yunyuan Xu, Professor and Group Leader, Institute of Botany, CAS, China
Chuangqi Wei, Hebei Normal University, China
Lauro Bücker Neto, Federal Univers. Rio Grande do Sul. Brazil
Shumin Wang, University of British Columbia, Canada
Shengwei Zhang, Visiting scholar, Hebei Normal University, China
Man Ao, The Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, China
Nathaphan Aursuwanna, Chulalongkorn Unversity., Thailand
Yingying Cao, Danforth Center
Benjamin Al, Technical University of Munich
Erika Frydrych, Visiting Graduate Student, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Ning Li, Professor, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology
Tae-Wuk, Kim, Professor, Hanyang University, Korea
Marcia Margis-Pinheiro, Professor, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Undergraduate or high school students (send Zhiyong your contact if your name is missing):

Nathan Gendron
Chad Tang, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Timothy Chang, Department of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine
Allen Tang
Asif Haque, Associate Director, Quality Assurance at Denali Therapeutics
Catherine Qing Sun, UCSF Medical School;
Jasmine Chen, UC Berkeley School of Optometry
Joyce Xue, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Jemma Taylor, University of Warwick, UK
Nathan Hsu, Cooper & Dunham LLP
Emily Luise Hulme, University of Melbourne
Andrew Ma, Cal Tech;
Daniel Li, Fellow, Stanford Medical School.
Dasha Savage, Stanford Medical School
Tina Wang, USC
Nicole Xu, UC Berkeley
Matthew Webb
Maia Granoski
Sola Takahashi, UC San Diego

Publications

Selected Publications

(see full publication list at: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=DSbbGNIAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao)

Major Reviews:

Chaiwanon J, Wang W, Zhu JY, Oh E, Wang ZY. (2016) Information Integration and Communication in Plant Growth Regulation. Cell 164(6):1257-68.

Wang W, Bai MY, Wang ZY.(2014). The brassinosteroid signaling network – a paradigm of signal integration. Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. 21:147–153.

Zhu JY, Sae-Seaw J, Wang ZY (2013). Brassinosteroid signalling. Development 140, 1615-1620.

Wang ZY, Bai MY, Oh E, Zhu JY (2012). Brassinosteroid signaling network and regulation of photomorphogenesis. Annu. Rev. Genet. 46:701-724.

Kim TW and Wang ZY. (2010) Brassinosteroid signal transduction from receptor kinases to transcription factors. Annu. Rev. Plant Biol. 61, 681-704.

Research articles

Chan Ho Park, Yang Bi, Ji-Hyun Youn, So-Hee Kim, Jung-Gun Kim, Nicole Y. Xu, Ruben Shrestha, Alma L Burlingame, Shou-Ling Xu, Mary Beth Mudgett, Seong-Ki Kim, Tae-Wuk Kim & Zhi-Yong Wang (2022). Deconvoluting signals downstream of growth and immune receptor kinases by phosphocodes of the BSU1 family phosphatases. Nat Plant. Accepted.

Zhi-Liang Yue, Ning Liu, Zhi-Ping Deng, Yu Zhang, Zhi-Ming Wu, Ji-Long Zhao, Ying Sun, Zhi-Yong Wang, Sheng-Wei Zhang (2022). The receptor kinase OsWAK11 monitors cell wall pectin changes to fine-tune brassinosteroid signaling and regulate cell elongation in rice. Curr Biol 2022 Apr 30;S0960-9822(22)00597-8. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.04.028.

Yang Bi, Zhiping Deng, Weimin Ni, Zhenzhen Zhang, Dasha Savage, Thomas Hartwig, Sunita Patil, Juan A. Oses-Prieto, Kathy H. Li, Peter H Quail, Alma L Burlingame, Shou-Ling Xu, and Zhi-Yong Wang (2021). Arabidopsis ACINUS is O-glycosylated and regulates transcription and alternative splicing of regulators of reproductive transitions. Nature Communication.

Garcia VJ, Xu SL, Ravikumar R, Wang W, Elliott L, Fesenko M, Altmann M, Falter-Braun P, Moore I, Assaad F, Wang ZY. (2020) TRIPP Is a Plant-specific Component of the Arabidopsis TRAPPII Membrane Trafficking Complex with Important Roles in Plant Development. Plant Cell. May 5:tpc.00044.2020. doi: 10.1105/tpc.20.00044. PMID: 32371545

Park CH, Youn JH, Xu SL, Kim JG, Bi Y, Xu N, Mudgett MB, Kim SK, Kim TW, & Wang ZY. (2019) BSU1 family phosphatases mediate Flagellin-FLS2 signaling through a specific phosphocode. BioRxiv doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/685610.

Kim TW, Park CH, Hsu CC, Zhu JY, Hsiao Y, Branon T, Xu SL, Ting AY, and Wang ZY. (2019) Application of TurboID-mediated proximity labeling for mapping a GSK3 kinase signaling network in Arabidopsis. BioRxiv, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/636324.

Sun L, Feraru E, Feraru MI, Waidmann S, Wang W, Passaia G, Wang ZY, Wabnik K, Kleine-Vehn J. (2020). PIN-LIKES Coordinate Brassinosteroid Signaling with Nuclear Auxin Input in Arabidopsis thaliana. Curr Biol. 30(9):1579-1588.e6. PMID: 32169207

Guo Z, Zhang Z, Yang X, Yin K, Chen Y, Zhang Z, Shin K, Zhu Q, Wang ZY, Wang W. (2020). PSBR1, encoding a mitochondrial protein, is regulated by brassinosteroid in moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis). Plant Mol Biol. 103(1-2):63-74. PMID: 32040757

Zhang X, Wu J, Yu Q, Liu R, Wang ZY, Sun Y. (2020). AtOFPs Regulate Cell Elongation by Modulating Microtubule Orientation via Direct Interaction with TONNEAU2. Plant Sci. 292:110405. PMID: 32005401

Zhao JL, Zhang LQ, Liu N, Xu SL, Yue ZL, Zhang LL, Deng ZP, Burlingame AL, Sun DY, Wang ZY, Sun Y, Zhang SW (2019). Mutual Regulation of Receptor-Like Kinase SIT1 and B'κ-PP2A Shapes the Early Response of Rice to Salt Stress. Plant Cell. 31(9):2131-2151. doi: 10.1105/tpc.18.00706. PMID: 31221736

Kim EJ, Lee SH, Park CH, Kim SH, Hsu CC, Xu S, Wang ZY, Kim SK, Kim TW. (2019). Plant U-Box40 Mediates Degradation of the Brassinosteroid-Responsive Transcription Factor BZR1 in Arabidopsis Roots. Plant Cell 31(4):791-808. doi: 10.1105/tpc.18.00941

Song L, Chen W, Wang B, Yao QM, Valliyodan B, Bai MY, Zhao MZ, Ye H, Wang ZY, Nguyen HT. (2019) GmBZL3 acts as a major BR signaling regulator through crosstalk with multiple pathways in Glycine max. BMC Plant Biol 19:86. doi: 10.1186/s12870-019-1677-2.

Tian Y, Fan M, Qin Z, Lv H, Wang M, Zhang Z, Zhou W, Zhao N, Li X, Han C, Ding Z, Wang W, Wang ZY, Bai MY. (2018). Hydrogen peroxide positively regulates brassinosteroid signaling through oxidation of the BRASSINAZOLE-RESISTANT1 transcription factor. Nat Communication14;9(1):1063.

Zhu J-Y, Li Y, Cao D, Yang H, Oh E, Bi Y, Zhu S, Wang Z-Y (2017) The F-box protein KIB1 mediates brassinosteroid-induced inactivation and degradation of GSK3-like kinases in Arabidopsis. Mol Cell 66(5):648-657.

Ni W, Xu SL, González-Grandío E, Chalkley RJ, Huhmer AFR, Burlingame AL, Wang ZY, Quail PH. (2017) PPKs mediate direct signal transfer from phytochrome photoreceptors to transcription factor PIF3. Nat Communication8:15236.

Xu SL, Chalkley RJ, Maynard JC, Wang W, Ni W, Jiang X, Shin K, Cheng L, Savage D, Hühmer AFR, Burlingame AL, Wang Z-Y. (2017) Proteomic Analysis Reveals O-GlcNAc Modification on Proteins with Key Regulatory Functions in Arabidopsis. PNAS 114(8):E1536-E1543.

Bu SL, Liu C, Liu N, Zhao JL, Ai LF, Chi H, Li KL, Chien CW, Burlingame AL, Zhang SW, Wang ZY (2017)Immunopurification and Mass Spectrometry Identifies Protein Phosphatase 2A (PP2A) and BIN2/GSK3 as Regulators of AKS Transcription Factors in Arabidopsis. Mol Plant. 10(2):345-348.

Zhu JY, Oh E, Wang T, Wang ZY. (2016) TOC1-PIF4 interaction mediates the circadian gating of thermoresponsive growth in Arabidopsis. Nat Communication 7:13692.

Zhang Z, Zhu JY, Roh J, Marchive C, Kim SK, Meyer C, Sun Y, Wang W, Wang ZY. (2016). TOR Signaling Promotes Accumulation of BZR1 to Balance Growth with Carbon Availability in Arabidopsis. Curr Biol. 26:1854-60.

Li C, Gu L, Gao L, Chen C, Wei CQ, Qiu Q, Chien CW, Wang S, Jiang L, Ai LF, Chen CY, Yang S, Nguyen V, Qi Y, Snyder MP, Burlingame AL, Kohalmi SE, Huang S, Cao X, Wang ZY, Wu K, Chen X, Cui Y. (2016) Concerted genomic targeting of H3K27 demethylase REF6 and chromatin-remodeling ATPase BRM in Arabidopsis. Nat Genet. 2016 Jun;48(6):687-93.

Chaiwanon J and Wang ZY. (2015) Spatiotemporal brassinosteroid signaling and antagonism with auxin pattern stem cell dynamics in Arabidopsis roots. Current Biology 25(8):1031-42.

Ni WM, Xu SL, Tepperman JM, Stanley DJ, Maltby DA, Gross JD, Burlingame AL, Wang ZY and Quail PH(2014). A mutually assured destruction mechanism attenuates light signaling in Arabidopsis. Science 344, 1160-1164.

Oh E, Zhu JY, Bai MY, and Wang ZY. (2014). A central transcription module regulates cell elongation and development by integrating major environmental and hormonal signals in Arabidopsis. eLife:e03031.

Oh E, Zhu JY, Ryu H, Hwang I, Wang ZY. (2014). TOPLESS mediates brassinosteroid-induced transcriptional repression through interaction with BZR1. Nature Communications18;5:4140.

Fan M, Bai MY, Kim JG, Wang T, Oh E, Chen L, Park CH, Son SH, Kim SK, Mudgett MB, Wang ZY. (2014). The bHLH transcription factor HBI1 mediates the trade-off between growth and pathogen-associated molecular pattern-triggered immunity in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 26, 828-841.

Gendron JM, Liu JS, Fan M, Bai MY, Wenkel S, Springer PS, Barton MK, Wang ZY (2012). Brassinosteroids regulate organ boundary formation in the shoot apical meristem of Arabidopsis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 109, 21152-21157.

Bai MY, Fan M, Oh E, Wang ZY(2012) A triple-HLH/bHLH Cascade Controls Cell Elongation Downstream of Multiple Hormonal and Environmental Signaling Pathways in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 24:4917-4929

Oh E, Zhu JY, Wang ZY. (2012). Interaction between BZR1 and PIF4 integrates brassinosteroid and environmental responses. Nature Cell Biol.14, 802-809.

Bai MY, Shang JX, Oh E, Fan M, Bai Y, Zentella R, Sun TP, Wang ZY. (2012). Brassinosteroid, gibberellin, and phytochrome impinge on a common transcription module in Arabidopsis. Nature Cell Biol.14, 810-819.

Kim TW, Michniewicz M, Bergmann DC, Wang ZY. (2012). Brassinosteroid regulates stomatal development by GSK3-mediated inhibition of a MAPK pathway. Nature 482, 419-422.

Hao Y, Oh E, Choi G, Liang Z, Wang ZY. (2012). Interactions between HLH and bHLH Factors Modulate Light-Regulated Plant Development. Mol. Plant 5, 688-697.

Kim TW, Guan S, Burlingame AL, Wang ZY. (2011). The CDG1 Kinase Mediates Brassinosteroid Signal Transduction from BRI1 Receptor Kinase to BSU1 Phosphatase and GSK3-like Kinase BIN2. Mol. Cell 43, 561-571.PMCID: PMC3206214

Tang W, Yuan M, Wang R, Yang Y, Wang C, Oses-Prieto JA, Kim TW, Zhou HW, Deng Z, Gampala SS, Gendron JM, Jonassen EM, Lillo C, DeLong A, Burlingame AL, Sun Y, Wang ZY. (2011). PP2A activates brassinosteroid-responsive gene expression and plant growth by dephosphorylating BZR1. Nature Cell Biol.13:124-131. PMCID: PMC3077550

Sun Y, Fan XY, Cao DM, Tang W, He K, Zhu JY, He JX, Bai MY, Zhu S, Oh E, Patil S, Kim TW, Ji H, Wong WH, Rhee SY, Wang ZY. (2010). Integration of brassinosteroid signal transduction with the transcription network for plant growth regulation in Arabidopsis. Dev. Cell 19, 756-777. PMCID: PMC3018842.

Luo XM, Lin WH, Zhu S, Zhu JY, Sun Y, Fan XY, Cheng M, Hao Y, Oh E, Tian M, Liu L, Zhang M, Xie Q, Chong K, Wang ZY. (2010). Integration of light- and brassinosteroid-signaling pathways by a GATA transcription factor in Arabidopsis. Dev Cell 19: 872-883.

Kim TW, Guan S, Sun Y, Deng Z, Tang W, Shang JX, Sun Y, Burlingame AL, Wang ZY. (2009) Brassinosteroid signal transduction from cell-surface receptor kinases to nuclear transcription factors. Nature Cell Biol. 11, 1254-1262.

Tang W, Kim TW, Oses-PrietoJA,Sun Y, Deng Z, Zhu S, Wang R, Burlingame AL, Wang ZY (2008). BSKs mediate signal transduction from the receptor kinase BRI1 in Arabidopsis. Science 321, 557-560.

Gampala SS, Kim TW, He JX, Tang W, Deng Z, Bai MY, Guan S, Lalonde S, Sun Y, Gendron JM, Chen H, Shibagaki N, Ferl RJ, Ehrhardt D, Chong K, Burlingame AL, Wang ZY. (2007). An essential role for 14-3-3 proteins in brassinosteroid signal transduction in Arabidopsis.Dev. Cell 13, 177-189.

Bai MY, Zhang LY, Gampala SS, Zhu SW, Song WY, Chong K, Wang ZY. (2007). Functions of OsBZR1 and 14-3-3 proteins in brassinosteroid signaling in rice. Proc.Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104, 13939-13844.

He JX, Gendron JM, Sun Y, Gampala SS, Gendron N, Sun CQ, Wang ZY (2005). BZR1 is a transcriptional repressor with dual roles in brassinosteroid homeostasis and growth responses. Science 307(5715): 1634-1638.

Wang ZY, Nakano T, Gendron J, He J, Chen M, Vafeados D, Yang Y, Fujioka S, Yoshida S, Asami T, Chory J(2002). Nuclear-localized BZR1 mediates brassinosteroid-induced growth and feedback suppression of brassinosteroid biosynthesis. Dev. Cell 2(4): 505-513.

Wang ZY, Seto H, Fujioka S, Yoshida S, Chory J. (2001) BRI1 is a critical component of a plasma membrane receptor for plant steroids. Nature 410(6826): 380-382.

He Z, Wang ZY, Li J, Zhu Q, Lamb C, Ronald P, Chory J. (2000) Perception of brassinosteroids by the extracellular domain of the receptor kinase BRI1. Science 288(5475): 2360-2363.

Weigel D, Ahn JH, Blázquez MA, Borevitz JO, Christensen SK, Fankhauser C, Ferrándiz C, Kardailsky I, Malancharuvil EJ, Neff MM, Nguyen JT, Sato S, Wang ZY, Xia Y, Dixon RA, Harrison MJ, Lamb CJ, Yanofsky MF, Chory J. (2000). Activation tagging in Arabidopsis. Plant Physiology 122(4): 1003-1013.

Wang ZY, Tobin EM (1998) Constitutive expression of the CIRCADIAN CLOCK ASSOCIATED 1(CCA1) gene disrupts circadian rhythms and suppresses its own expression. Cell 93(7): 1207-1217.

Websites

Join Us

If you are interested in joining us, please send email to zywang24@stanford.edu.

Potential research projects:

1. Proteomic and functional study of O-GlcNAc and O-fucose modififications.

2. Signaling and regulation of vesicle trafficking.

3. Signaling and regulation of cytokinesis.

4. Signaling and regulation of protein translaiton.

5. Modeling and engineering of signaling neworks - logics of information integration and decision making.

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Lab Tabs

Acting Director & Senior Staff Scientist

Profile

Former Lab Members and Current Affiliation

Selected Publications