Seminar by Dr Yuling Jiao

Seminar abstract
Grass inflorescence morphology is highly diversified among species and is a key determinate to crop yield. To understand how the developmental morphodynamics affects inflorescence architecture, we analyzed early inflorescence development in bread wheat and rice. Computational modeling shows that developmental timing and meristem fate transition account for the inflorescence architecture diversification. The model also explains the formation of different types of supernumerary spikelets in wheat, and predicts that paired spikelets, a form of inflorescence branching, can be achieved by two distinct mechanisms. We indeed identified a mutant, duo2, with faster developmental progression and earlier heading, and found robust yield improvement in duo2 under field conditions. The causal gene, named DUO-D2, encodes a LOB domain protein. This study reveals how diversification of grass inflorescence can be achieved by perturbations of developmental dynamics.

Bio Yuling Jiao
Dr. Yuling Jiao earned his B.S. degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Peking University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale University, where he used microarray to study gene expression in Arabidopsis and rice under the guidance of Prof. Xing-Wang Deng. He was awarded John Spangler Nicholas Prize for Outstanding Doctoral Candidate in Biology for his thesis work. As a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology in the laboratory of Prof. Elliot Meyerowitz, he developed new techniques for cell type-specific transcriptome profiling. In 2010 he became a Group Leader at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology (IGDB). He switched his research interest to shoot morphogenesis, and more recently on wheat spike architecture. He moved to Peking University in 2021 and is now Boya Distinguished Professor in the School of Life Sciences and Center for Quantitative Biology. He received Science and Technology Award for Chinese Youth, CSPB Distinguished Young Scientist Award, VCANBIO Award for Innovations and Breakthroughs in Life Sciences and Medicine, and the Newton Advanced Fellowship from the Royal Society. Yuling is a on the Editorial Board of Plant Cell, Plant Cell & Environment, Physiologia Plantarum, etc.