Faculty
Jian-Kang Zhu
Jane S. Johnson Endowed Chair in Plant Sciences/Presidential Chair/Director of the CAU-UCR Center of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology (Ph.D., 1993, Purdue University)
Office: 3119C Genomics Building
Phone: (951) 827-7117
Fax: (951) 827-5155
Email: jian-kang.zhu@ucr.edu
Zhu Lab Research and Interests
Detecting and responding to environmental perturbations are important for all living organisms. One of the most important distinguishing features of plants is that they are sessile and thus have to endure environmental challenges. Our lab is interested in the molecular mechanisms underlying plant responses to harsh environments such as soil salinity, drought and cold temperatures. In addition, we are interested in the mechanisms of transcriptional gene silencing and in the role of epigenetic gene regulation in stress adaptation. We use a combination of genetic, biochemical, genomic and proteomic approaches to analyze various levels of gene regulation (chromatin level/epigenetic, transcriptional, posttranscriptional, and protein activity) and to understand stress signaling and stress tolerance. Our long-term goals are to elucidate the signaling pathways used by plants in responding to environmental stresses and to identify key genes for modifying the responses of crops to environmental stresses which ultimately will lead to major contributions to agriculture and the environment.
Some Representative Publications
Chinnusamy*, V., Schumaker, K., Zhu, J.K. 2004. Molecular genetic perspectives on cross-talk and specificity in abiotic stress signalling in plants. J. Exp. Bot. Vol. 55: p.225-236. (Refereed, Invited)
Zhang, J.Z., Creelman, R.A., Zhu, J.K. 2004. From laboratory to field. Using information from Arabidopsis to engineer salt, cold, and drought tolerance in crops. Plant Physiol. Vol. 135: p.615-621. (Refereed, Invited)
Gong, D., Guo, Y., Schumaker, K.S., Zhu, J.K. 2004. The SOS3 family of calcium sensors and SOS2 family of protein kinases in Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol. Vol. 134: p.919-926. (Refereed, Invited)
Website: This item was mistakenly left out of my last merit report.
Chinnusamy*, V., Jagendorf*, A., Zhu, J.K. 2005. Understanding and improving salt tolerance in plants. Crop Sci. Vol. 45: p.437-448. (Refereed, Invited)
Verslues*, P.E., Zhu, J.K. 2005. Before and beyond ABA: upstream sensing and internal signals that determine ABA accumulation and response under abiotic stress. Biochemical Society Transactions. Vol. 33: p.375-379. (Refereed, Invited)
Kapoor*, A., Agius*, F., Zhu, J.K. 2005. Preventing transcriptional gene silencing by active DNA demthylation. FEBS Letters. Vol. 579: p.5889-5898. (Refereed, Invited)
Chinnusamy*, V., Zhu*, J., Zhu, J.K. 2006. Gene regulation during cold acclimation in plants. Physiol. Plant. Vol. 126: p.52-61. (Refereed, Invited)
Platten, J.D., Cotsaftis, O., Berthomieu, P., Bohnert, H., Davenport, R.J., Fairbairn, D.J., Horie, T., Leigh, R.A., Lin, H.X., Luan, S., Maser, P., Pantoja, O., Rodriguez-Navarro, A., Schachtman, D.P., Schroeder, J.I., Sentenac, H., Uozumi, N., Very, A.A., Zhu, J.K., Dennis, E.S., Tester, M. 2006. Nomenclature for HKT transporters, key determinants of plant salinity tolerance. Trends Plant Sci. Vol. 11: p.372-374. (Refereed, Invited)
Maggio, A., Zhu, J.K., Hasegawa, P.M., Bressan, R.A. 2006. Osmogenetics: aristotle to Arabidopsis. Plant Cell. Vol. 18: p.1542-1557. (Refereed, Invited)
Chinnusamy*, V., Zhu*, J., Zhu, J.K. 2006. Salt stress signaling and mechanisms of plant salt tolerance. Genet. Eng (N Y). Vol. 27: p.141-177. (Refereed, Invited)
Zhu*, J., Dong*, C.H., Zhu, J.K. 2007. Interplay between cold-responsive gene regulation, metabolism and RNA processing during plant cold acclimation. Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. Vol. 10: p.290-295. (Refereed, Invited)
Sunkar*, R., Zhu, J.K. 2007. Micro RNAs and short-interfering RNAs in plants. J. Integr. Plant Biol. Vol. 49: p.817-826. (Refereed, Invited)
Sunkar*, R., Chinnusammy*, V., Zhu*, J., Zhu, J.K. 2007. Small RNAs as big players in plant abiotic stress responses and nutrient deprivation. Trends Plant Sci. Vol. 12: p.301-309. (Refereed, Invited)
Chinnusammy, V., Zhu, J., Zhu, J.K. 2007. Cold stress regulation of gene expression in plants. Trends Plant Sci. Vol. 12: p.444-451. (Refereed, Invited)
Zhu, J.K., Shimamoto, K. 2007. When will signaling meet small RNAs and epigenetic regulation? Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. Vol. 10: p.433-435. (Refereed, Invited)
Verslues, P., Zhu, J.K. 2007. New developments in abscisic acid perception and metabolism. Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. Vol. 10: p.447-452. (Refereed, Invited)
Laboratory Personnel:
Agarwal, Manu: manu.agarwal@ucr.edu
Andreucci, Andrea: andre@dsb.unipi.it
Agius, Fernanda: maria.agius@ucr.edu
Batelli, Goirgia , giorgiabatelli@virgilio.it
Borsani, Omar: julio.borsani@ucr.edu
Chakraborty, Niranjan: nchakraborty@ucr.edu
Dong, Chun hai:chun-hai.dong@ucr.edu
Fujii, Hiroaki: hiroaki.fujii@ucr.edu
Gao, Zhihuan: zhihuan.gao@ucr.edu
Hao, Yujin mailto: yujin.hao@ucr.edu
Hu, Xiangyang: xiangyang.hu@ucr.edu
Jain, Pradeep: pradeep.jain@ucr.edu
Kapoor, Avnish: avnish@ag.arizona.edu
Katiyar-Agarwal, Surekha: surekha.katiyar-agarwal@ucr.edu
Stevenson, Becky: rebecca.stevenson@ucr.edu
Sunkar, Ramanjulu: ramanjulu.sunkar@ucr.edu
Verslues, Paul: verslp01@student.ucr.edu
Zheng, Xianwu: xianwu.zheng@ucr.edu
Zhu, Jian-hua: jianhua.zhu@ucr.edu