Principal Investigator, Academician of CAS
Researcher
Email:zhhe@sibs.ac.cn
Personal Web: http://sippe.ac.cn/zuhuahe

National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics

Education 

1992-1996, Ph.Dgraduate fellow, Plant Pathology and Plant Molecular Genetics, Biotechnology Institute, Zhejiang Agricultural University (Current Zhejiang University), China. 

1983-1986, M.Sc, Plant Genetics and Breeding, minor in Plant Pathology and Plant Molecular Biology, Zhejiang Agricultural University (Current Zhejiang University) 

1979-1983, B.S, Agronomy major, Zhejiang Agricultural University(Current Zhejiang University) 

Employment 

2000, 12-present, Professor, the National Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, SIPPE, CAS, and socially serve as Secretary General of Chinese Society of Plant Physiology, deputy president of Shanghai Society of Plant Physiology. 

1999-2000, Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Plant Pathology, UC Davis. 

1997-1998, Postdoctoral Associate, Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Lab, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies. 

1993-1996, Associate Professor, Biotechnology Institute, Zhejiang University (former Zhejiang Agricultural University), China. 

1986-1992, Lecturer and Research Associate, Laboratory of Crop genetics and Breeding, Department of Agronomy, Zhejiang Agricultural University, China 

Genetic dissection and underlying mechanisms of plant immunity, and cross-talks between immunity and development are major aspects of plant biology. In particular, disease resistance has been a major target of breeding to ensure crop production and low input of fungicides in an environmentally friendly agriculture. Our research interests include functional genomics, mechanisms and application of plant disease resistance in particular broad-spectrum disease resistance to fungal pathogens in rice, cross-talks between defense and development (yield). The overall goals of our lab are to identify genes and signaling in disease resistance, genes and physiological processes of important yield-related traits, and cross-talk between immunity and development. The knowledge, genes and technology obtained from our research will facilitate crop molecular breeding for broad-spectrum disease resistance with high yield potential. 

1. A new class of transcription factors regulates NLR-mediated immunity in riceNLR receptors control plant immunity. However, the mechanisms underlying NLR-triggered transcriptional activation of immune responses remain obscure. We recently discovered Pigm locus in rice, which encodes a cluster of NLRs, including PigmR, which confers broad-spectrum resistance to the fungus Magnaportheoryzae. We now identify PIP1 (PigmR-INTERACTING PROTEIN 1), a novel protein that directly interacts with PigmR and other broad-spectrum NLRs but not those with limited race-specific resistance to trigger blast resistance in rice. PigmR promotes nuclear accumulation of PIP1, which is necessary and sufficient for blast resistance. We find that PIP1 and its paralog bind DNA and function as unconventional transcription factors at the promoters of the defense genes, OsWAK14 and OsPAL1, and activate their expression. Knockout of PIP1 and its paralog greatly attenuated disease resistance. Collectively, our study discovers a new transcription factor class that directly interacts with NLRs to activate plant defense, establishing a direct link between transcriptional activation of immune responses with NLR-mediated pathogen perception (Zhai et al., Mol Cell, 2019). 

2. Mechanism of transgenerationalthermomemory with early flowering but attenuated immunity  Global warming has profound effects on plant growth and fitness. Plants have evolved sophisticated epigenetic machinery to respond quickly to heat, and exhibit transgenerational memory of the heat-induced release of post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS). However, how the thermomemory is transmitted to progeny and the physiological relevance are elusive. Here we show that heat-induced HEAT SHOCK TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR A2 (HSFA2) directly activates the H3K27me3 demethylase RELATIVE OF EARLY FLOWERING 6 (REF6), which in turn derepresses HSFA2. REF6 and HSFA2 establish a heritable feedback loop, and activate an E3 ubiquitin ligase, SUPPRESSOR OF GENE SILENCING 3 (SGS3)-INTERACTING PROTEIN 1 (SGIP1). SGIP1-mediated SGS3 degradation leads to inhibited biosynthesis of trans-acting siRNA (tasiRNA). The REF6-HSFA2 loop and reduced tasiRNA converge to release HEAT-INDUCED TAS1 TARGET 5 (HTT5), which drives early flowering but attenuates immunity in an SA-independent manner. Thus, heat induces transmitted phenotypes via a coordinated epigenetic network involving histone demethylases, transcription factors, and tasiRNAs, ensuring reproductive success and transgenerational stress adaptation (Liu et al., Cell Research, 2019). 

3. Elimination of a Retrotransposon for Quenching Genome Immunity in Modern Rice Transposable elements (TEs) constitute the most abundant portions of plant genomes and can dramatically shape host genomes during plant evolution. They also play important roles in crop domestication. However, whether TEs themselves are also selected during crop domestication has remained unknown. Here, we identify an active long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposon, HUO, as a potential target of selection during rice domestication and breeding. HUO is a low-copy-number LTR retrotransposon, and is active under natural growth conditions and transmitted through male gametogenesis, preferentially inserting into genomic regions capable of transcription. HUO exists in all wild rice accessions and about half of the archaeological rice grains (1200–7000 years ago) and landraces surveyed, but is absent in almost all modern varieties, indicating its gradual elimination during rice domestication and breeding. Further analyses showed that HUO is subjected to strict gene silencing through the RNA-directed DNA methylation pathway. Our results also suggest that multiple HUO copies may trigger genomic instability through altering genome-wide DNA methylation and small RNA biogenesis and changing global gene expression, resulting in decreased disease resistance and yield, coinciding with its elimination during rice breeding. Together, our study suggests that negative selection of an active retrotransposon might be important for genome stability during crop domestication and breeding (Peng et al., 2019).