Çï¿ûÊÓƵ

Research Areas

Fungal Genomics, Fungal Pathogenicity, Host-Pathogen Interaction, Integrative Multi-Omics, Bioinformatics, and Plant Pathology

Education

Ph.D. – Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst
M.S. – Department of Plant Pathology, China Agricultural University
B.Sc. – Plant protection, China Agricultural University

Publications

1. Zhang, Y., S.W. Liu, D. Mostert, H.L. Yu, M.X. Zhuo, G.T. Li, C.W. Zuo, S. Haridas, K. Webster, M.H. Li, I. Grigoriev, G.J. Yi, A. Viljoen, C.Y. Li, L.J. Ma (2024) Virulence of banana wilt-causing fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum tropical race 4 is mediated by nitric oxide biosynthesis and accessory genes. Nature Microbiology 1-12.
   
2. Zhang, Y., P.L. Kao, A. Rampal, S. Mafu, S. Savinov, L.J. Ma (2022) High-throughput screening assays to identify plant natural products with antifungal properties against Fusarium oxysporum. In Methods in Molecular Biology: Fusarium wilt Humana Press, New York, NY, 2021.
   
3. Zhang, Y., H. Yang, D. Turra, S. Zhou, G. Delulio, …, L.J. Ma (2020) The genome of opportunistic fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum carries a unique set of lineage-specific chromosomes. Communications Biology 3 (1), 1-12.
   
4. Zhang, Y., K. Zhang, A.F. Fang, Y.Q. Han, J. Yang, M.F. Xue, …, W.X. Sun (2014) Specific adaptation of Ustilaginoidea virens in occupying host florets revealed by comparative and functional genomics.Nature Communications 5:3849, 169.

Funding

Current Grants

1. JGI CSP New Investigator Award (DOE), Principal Investigator, (01/2025 – 01/ 2028)

Previous Grants

1. GSU Faculty Service Award

Research Projects

Exploring Genomic Dynamics and Gene Regulatory Networks Underlying the Biofuel Producing Capability of Fusarium oxysporum

F. oxysporum is one of the few filamentous fungal species being able to break down biomass and convert monosaccharides to ethanol. Although numerous F. oxysporum have been sequenced as pathogens, its bioenergy production potential has not been comprehensively studied using the cutting edge genomic and functional approaches. This project aims to bridge the gap by sequencing F. oxysporum with inter-species variation in producing bioethanol from plant biomass. These data will be used to understand the genes and regulatory mechanisms that contribute to bioconversion efficacy.

Investigating Functional Diversity of Host Immunity Receptors Conferring Disease Resistance Against Fungi

The plant-fungi co-evolutionary battle has equipped plants with sophisticated defense mechanisms to fend off pathogens. Pathogenic fungi are able to secrete effectors to facilitate the invasion of their host. To overcome this, plants have evolved a repertoire of resistance gene (R) that detect pathogen effectors inside the plant cell, leading to effector-triggered immunity (ETI). In plants, disease resistance is often conferred by R genes, most of which are nucleotide-binding leucine-rich-repeat receptors (NLRs). Because of their importance, there has always been much interest in defining NLRome at different taxonomic levels. This project is to study the pan-NLRome of banana using resistance gene enrichment sequencing (RenSeq) to explore the NLR architectural diversity and identify new architecture that could be used as a resource to develop durable resistance banana cultivars.

News

Research Group

Undergraduate Students

• Dalton Crunkelton
• Andres Nunez
• Ava Ehinger

Graduate Students

• Mst Shamim Ara Supty