Tao HUANG, Ph.D.

Professor

Tel: +86-13696963873

E-mail: huangtao@xmu.edu.cn

Education

1994, B.Sc., Henan Agricultural University

1997, M.Sc., Nanjing Agricultural University

2002, Ph.D., the graduate School of Chinese Academy of Science

Professional Experience

2002-2006: Postdoctoral fellow at The Sweden University of Agricultural Science

2006-Present: Professor, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University

Research Area

After germination, the stem cells in shoot apical meristem will continually propagate and the daughter cells will be differentiated into different aerial organs, including leaves, shoots and flowers. Plants can regulate their growth and development pattern via modifying stem cell differentiation to cope with environmental changes. The stem cell niche which serves as a source of cell for new organ formation during the post-embryonic development of plant, determines the lateral organ number, the transition from vegetative growth to reproductive growth. It is interesting to investigate the mechanism of stem cell maintenance and differentiation. We mainly focus on the mechanism for stem cell maintenance, differentiation of flower meristem and flowering time regulation. We intend to breed new plant species for sustainable development of agriculture in West Coast Economic Zone of Taiwan Straits. We believe that our work will provide more idea and technologies for crop genetic improvement.

Selected Publications

1. Huang Y., Cui Y., Hou X., Huang T. The AtMC4 regulates the stem cell homeostasis in Arabidopsis by catalyzing the cleavage of AtLa1 protein in response to environmental hazards. Plant Science, 2018, 266:64-75. *Corresponding author. (*Corresponding author).

2. Cui Y., Rao S., Chang BB., Wang X., Zhang K., Hou X., Zhu X., Wu H., Tian Z., Zhao Z., Yang C., Huang T.* AtLa1 protein initiates IRES-dependent translation of WUSCHEL mRNA and regulates the stem cell homeostasis of Arabidopsis in response to environmental hazards. Plant Cell & Environment, 2015, 38(10): 2098-2114; (*Corresponding author).

3. Bohlenius H, Huang T, Charbonnel-Campaa L, Brunner AM, Jansson S, Strauss sh, Nilsson O*. CO/FT Regulatory Module Controls Timing of Flowering and Seasonal Growth Cessation in Trees. Science, 2006，312: 1040-1043. (*Corresponding author).

4. Huang T, Bohlenius H, Eriksson S, Parcy F, Nilsson O*. The mRNA of the Arabidopsis gene FT moves from leaf to shoot apex and induces flowering. Science, 2005, 309: 1694-1696. (*Corresponding author).