Weijie Huang

Personal Profile

Work Experience

2022-Present: Principal Investigator, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences,Shanghai, China

2017-2022: Postdoctoral researcher, John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK

2015-2017: Postdoctoral researcher, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

 

Education

2008-2015: Ph.D. in genetics, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, CAS

2004-2008: B.S. in biological sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai

Research Work

Our research is centered around studying the tripartite interactions among plants, microbes, and insects. We aim to understand the ecology, transmission, and pathogenesis of bacterial vector-borne plant diseases, such as phytoplasmas diseases and Huanglongbing. These diseases cause severe crop losses globally, and conventional control measures relying on pesticides are often ineffective and unsustainable.

 

Phloem-inhabiting bacteria, in particular, occupy a unique ecological role, interacting with insects that feed on the nutrient-rich phloem of plants. Unlike most extracellular pathogens, they are obligate intracellular pathogens. This distinction poses challenges in understanding phloem-based immunity, which lags behind our understanding of mesophyll-based immunity. For instance, we lack clarity on how pathogen recognition occurs in the phloem and how the phloem tissue eliminates invading bacteria. Additionally, we know little about the strategies employed by these bacteria to promote colonization and transmission. Adding to the complexity, these bacteria also invade the insect vectors, a process that remains largely unexplored. To address these fundamental questions, we focus on phytoplasma diseases as model systems. Our goal is to investigate sophisticated plant-microbe-insect interactions and phloem-based immunity, uncover novel mechanisms governing intracellular pathogenesis and vector-borne transmission, and develop innovative and sustainable methods for controlling vector-borne plant diseases.

Main Achievements

1. Elucidating the genetic basis and molecular process behind the development of witches' broom symptom in phytoplasma diseases (Huang et al.,2021,Cell).

2. Dissecting the structural basis for SAP05-mediated ubiquitin-independent protein degradation (Liu et al., 2023,PNAS)

Publications

1. Liu, Q.^#, Maqbool, A., Mirkin, F. G., Singh, Y., Stevenson, C. E. M., Lawson, D. M., Kamoun, S., Huang, W.^*, & Hogenhout, S. A.^* (2023). Bimodular architecture of bacterial effector SAP05 that drives ubiquitin-independent targeted protein degradation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120(49), e2310664120.

 

2. Li, Y.^#, Yan, X. H.^#, Liu, Y., Pei, S. C., Kuo, C. H.^*, & Huang, W.^* (2023). Complete Genome Sequence of "Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia" TB2022, a Plant Pathogen Associated with Sweet Potato Little Leaf Disease in China. Microbiology resource announcements, 12(7), e0030823.

 

3. Yan, X. H.^#, Lin, J.^#, Liu, Y.^#, Huang, P., Liu, J., Hu, Q., Li, Y., Pei, S. C., Huang, W.^*, & Kuo, C. H.^* (2023). Complete Genome Sequence of "Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris" QS2022, a Plant Pathogen Associated with Lettuce Chlorotic Leaf Rot Disease in China. Microbiology resource announcements, 12(6), e0030623.

 

4. Correa Marrero, M.^#, Capdevielle, S., Huang, W., Al-Subhi, A. M., Busscher, M., Busscher-Lange, J., van der Wal, F., de Ridder, D., van Dijk, A. D. J., Hogenhout, S. A.^*, & Immink, R. G. H.^* (2023). Protein interaction mapping reveals widespread targeting of development-related host transcription factors by phytoplasma effectors. The Plant journal, https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.16546

 

5. Huang, W.^#, MacLean, A. M., Sugio, A., Maqbool, A., Busscher, M., Cho, S. T., Kamoun, S., Kuo, C. H., Immink, R. G. H., & Hogenhout, S. A.^* (2021). Parasitic modulation of host development by ubiquitin-independent protein degradation. Cell, 184(20), 5201–5214.e12.

 

6. Lee, M.^#, Dominguez-Ferreras, A., Kaliyadasa, E., Huang, W. J., Antony, E., Stevenson, T., Lehmann, S., Sch？fer, P., Knight, M. R., Ntoukakis, V., & Knight, H.^* (2021). Mediator Subunits MED16, MED14, and MED2 Are Required for Activation of ABRE-Dependent Transcription in Arabidopsis. Frontiers in plant science, 12, 649720.

 

7. Clements, J.^#, Bradford, B. Z., Garcia, M., Piper, S., Huang, W., Zwolinska, A., Lamour, K., Hogenhout, S., & Groves, R. L.^* (2021). 'Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris' subgroups display distinct disease progression dynamics during the carrot growing season. PloS one, 16(2), e0239956.

 

8. Huang, W.^#, Reyes-Caldas, P.^#, Mann, M.^#, Seifbarghi, S., Kahn, A.^#, Almeida, R. P. P., Béven, L., Heck, M., Hogenhout, S. A., & Coaker, G^*. (2020). Bacterial Vector-Borne Plant Diseases: Unanswered Questions and Future Directions. Molecular plant, 13(10), 1379–1393.

 

9. Liu, H. K.^#, Li, Y. J.^#, Wang, S. J., Yuan, T. L., Huang, W. J., Dong, X., Pei, J. Q., Zhang, D., McCormick, S., & Tang, W. H.^* (2020). Kinase Partner Protein Plays a Key Role in Controlling the Speed and Shape of Pollen Tube Growth in Tomato. Plant physiology, 184(4), 1853–1869.

 

10. Cho, S. T.^#, Zwolińska, A., Huang, W., Wouters, R. H. M., Mugford, S. T., Hogenhout, S. A., & Kuo, C. H.^* (2020). Complete Genome Sequence of "Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris" RP166, a Plant Pathogen Associated with Rapeseed Phyllody Disease in Poland. Microbiology resource announcements, 9(35), e00760-20.

 

11. Cho, S. T.^#, Kung, H. J., Huang, W., Hogenhout, S. A., & Kuo, C. H.^* (2020). Species Boundaries and Molecular Markers for the Classification of 16SrI Phytoplasmas Inferred by Genome Analysis. Frontiers in microbiology, 11, 1531.

 

12. Lehmann, S.^#*, Dominguez-Ferreras, A., Huang, W. J., Denby, K., Ntoukakis, V.^*, & Sch？fer, P.^* (2020). Novel markers for high-throughput protoplast-based analyses of phytohormone signaling. PloS one, 15(6), e0234154.