Education

2007, B.Sc., Biotechnology, Beijing Normal University;

2012, Ph.D., Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Joint Program by National Institute of Biological Sciences and Beijing Normal University.

Professional Experience

2009-2011, Visiting Scholar, Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University;

2012-2014, Postdoctoral Fellow, Peking-Yale Joint Center for Plant Molecular Genetics and Agro-Biotechnology;

2014-2015, Principal Investigator, Associate Professor, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University;

2015-present, Principal Investigator, Professor, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University.

Research Area

Light is the most important environmental cue for plant growth and development. To cope with the changing light environments, plants have evolved the capacity to optimize their growth. Since 1970s, an increase in UV-B irradiation has occurred due to ozone depletion. From the historical point of view, UV-B light is regarded as a damaging stimulus to plants. Yet, currently advanced scientific investigation has revealed that plants benefit from UV-B irradiation in terms of photomorphogenic development, secondary metabolism, photoprotection, antioxidative response and resistance to pest anddisease attack. Beyond the area of plant researches, UV-B photobiology has advanced the tool development that allows the optical control of spatiotemporal signaling events in mammalian cells. These facts raise the possibilities that UV-B-mediated responses can be exploited to facilitate sustainable crop production, environmental conservation, and protein engineering in medical applications. Our lab aims to elucidate the molecular and biochemical mechanisms of the UV-B light-mediated plant development. Combinatory approaches of biochemistry, molecular genetics, cell biology and computer science will be applied to investigate molecular framework of UV-B signaling cascade and crosstalk between UV-B light signal and other environmental signal pathways.

Selected Publications

1. Huang, X., Ouyang, X., Deng, X. W. (2014) Beyond repression of photomorphogenesis: role switching of COP/DET/FUS in light signaling. CurrOpin Plant Bio l21, 96-103.

2. Huang, X., Yang, P., Ouyang, X., Chen, L., Deng, X. W. (2014) Photoactivated UVR8-COP1 module determines photomorphogenic UV-B signaling output in Arabidopsis. PLoS Genet 10, dio: 10.1371.

3. Ouyang, X.*, Huang, X.*, Jin, X., Chen, Z., Yang, P., Ge, H., Li, S and Deng, X. W. (2014).Coordinated photomorphogenic UV-B signaling network captured by mathematical modeling. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 111, 11539-11544. (*equal contribution)

4. Huang, X., Ouyang, X., Yang, P., Lau, O. S., Chen, L., Wei, N., Deng, X. W. (2013) Conversion from CUL4-based COP1-SPA E3 apparatus to UVR8-COP1-SPA complexes underlies a distinct biochemical function of COP1 under UV-B. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 110, 16669-16674.

5. Huang, X., Ouyang, X., Yang, P., Lau, O. S., Li, G., Li, J., Chen, H., Deng, X. W. (2012) Arabidopsis FHY3 and HY5 positively mediate induction of COP1 transcription induction in response to photomorphogenic UV-B light. Plant Cell 24, 4590-4606.

6. Huang, X.#, Deng, X. W. (2013) Organization of protein complexes under photomorphogenic UV-B in Arabidopsis. Plant Signal Behav 8, e27206. (#corresponding author)

7. Chen, H.*, Huang, X.*,Gusmaroli, G., Terzaghi, W., Lau, O. S., Yanagawa, Y., Zhang, Y., Li, J., Lee, J.H., Zhu, D., Deng, X.W. (2010) Arabidopsis CULLIN4-damaged DNA binding protein 1 interacts with CONSTITUTIVELY PHOTOMORPHOGENIC1-SUPPRESSOR OF PHYA complexes to regulate photomorphogenesis and flowering time. Plant Cell 22, 108-123. (*equal contribution)

8. Zhao, J.*, Huang, X.*,Ouyang, X.*, Chen, W., Du, A., Zhu, L., Wang, S., Deng, X. W., Li, S. (2012) OsELF3-1, an ortholog of Arabidopsis EARLY FLOWERING 3 regulates rice circadian rhythm and photoperiodic flowering. PLoS One 7, e43705. (*equal contribution)

9. Kim, S.H., Kim, H., Seo, K.I., Kim, S.H., Chung, S., Huang, X., Yang, P., Deng, X.W., Lee, J.H. (2014) DWD HYPERSENSITIVE TO UV-B 1 is negatively involved in UV-B mediated cellular responses in Arabidopsis. Plant MolBiol 6, 571-583.

10. Xu, D., Lin, F., Jiang, Y., Huang, X., Li, J., Ling, J., Hettiarachchi, C., Tellgren-Roth, C., Holm, M., Deng, X. W. (2014) The RING-Finger E3 Ubiquitin Ligase COP1 SUPPRESSOR1 Negatively Regulates COP1 Abundance in Maintaining COP1 Homeostasis in Dark-Grown Arabidopsis Seedlings. Plant Cell 26, 1981-1991.

11. Xu, X., Paik, I., Zhu, L., Bu, Q., Huang, X., Deng, X. W., Huq, E. (2014) PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTOR1 Enhances the E3 Ligase Activity of CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC1 to Synergistically Repress Photomorphogenesis in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 26, 1992-2006.

12. Wu, D., Hu, Q., Yan, Z., Chen, W., Yan, C., Huang, X., Zhang, J., Yang, P., Deng, H., Wang, J., Deng, X. W., Shi, Y. (2012) Structural basis of ultraviolet-B perception by UVR8. Nature 484, 214-219.

13. Lau, O.S., Huang, X., Charron, J.B., Lee, J. H., Li, G., Deng, X. W. (2011) Interaction of Arabidopsis DET1 with CCA1 and LHY in mediating transcriptional repression in the plant circadian clock. Mol Cell 43, 703-712.

14. Ouyang, X., Li, J., Li, G., Li, B., Chen, B., Shen, H., Huang, X., Mo, X., Wan, X., Lin, R., Li, S., Wang, H., Deng, X. W. (2011) Genome-wide binding site analysis of FAR-RED ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL3 reveals its novel function in Arabidopsis development. Plant Cell 23, 2514-2535.

15. Li, J., Li, G., Gao, S., Martinez, C., He, G., Zhou, Z., Huang, X., Lee, J. H., Zhang, H., Shen, Y., Wang, H., Deng, X. W. (2010) Arabidopsis transcription factor ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL5 plays a role in the feedback regulation of phytochrome A signaling. Plant Cell 22, 3634-3649.

16. Wang, F., Zhu, D., Huang, X., Li, S., Gong, Y., Yao, Q., Fu, X., Fan, L. M., Deng, X. W. (2009) Biochemical insights on degradation of Arabidopsis DELLA proteins gained from a cell-free assay system. Plant Cell 21, 2378-2390.

17. Xiang, Y., Huang, X.,Wang, T., Zhang, Y., Liu, Q., Hussey, P. J., Ren, H. (2007) ACTIN BINDING PROTEIN 29 from Lilium pollen plays an important role in dynamic actin remodeling. Plant Cell 19, 1930-1946.