sichuan university temple university summer program … · application should include a resume/cv,...

Sichuan University – Temple University Summer Progam 2018

SICHUAN UNIVERSITY – TEMPLE UNIVERSITY

SUMMER PROGRAM 2018

RESEARCH PROJECTS IN CHEMISTRY & LIFE SCIENCES

May 28 – August 3, 2018

ABOUT THE PROGRAM: As part of a larger campaign to enhance the ties between Temple University and

Sichuan University (SCU), initial efforts will focus on establishing and maintaining bilateral research exchange

opportunities for undergraduate students at both institutions. To strengthen this initiative, internships are

available for students from Temple University to participate in research groups in either the College of Chemistry

or the College of Life Sciences at SCU. In addition to participation in SCU’s two-week University Immersion

Program (UIP), where faculty from all over the world come to SCU to offer unique classes, successful applicants

to this Program will have an opportunity to conduct independent research with SCU faculty. This brochure

includes information on the faculty and research projects that are open to accept students for Summer 2018 as

part of this Program. Participating students should expect to gain an appreciation for how to perform cutting-

edge scientific research at a top Chinese institution as well as get an introduction to Chinese culture and Sichuan

cuisine in lively Chengdu, the Land of the Panda!

Applications: Interested students should contact the managing faculty representative in the Department of

Chemistry at Temple University, Prof. Eric Borguet ([email protected]), for preliminary screening. The initial

application should include a resume/CV, a current transcript, and a statement describing preferred research

mentor/project, prior research experience, career goals and how the desired project fits with them. After pre-

screening by Temple faculty, applications will be forwarded to the appropriate college at Sichuan University for

final decision making. Applications should be completed by February 28, 2018.

Visa and Travel: Students will be responsible for obtaining an X2 (90-day) Visa for participation in the summer

research program. Sichuan University will provide the requisite letters of invitation to all successful applicants.

Students are responsible for travel arrangements; reimbursements of up to 3,000.00 CNY (USD $450) for round

trip tickets available. There are direct flights between Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU) and the

following U.S. cities: New York (Hainan Airlines), San Francisco (United Airlines), and Los Angeles (Hainan

Airlines). Alternatively, there are multiple daily flights connecting Chengdu with other major Chinese ports of

entry, e.g. Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. The Wangjiang Campus of Sichuan University is a short 40 minute

drive from the airport.

Housing and Food: On/near-campus housing will be provided with access to several on-campus cafeterias. The

estimated cost of housing and food: 5700 CNY (USD $860) per month. Housing costs for two-week UIP covered.

For any questions related to visa, travel, housing and food, please contact Mrs. Xiaoshuang Ma (SCU CoC

International Relations). Email: [email protected]

General Information: Inquiries about the program in the College of Chemistry should be directed to Prof. Jason J.

Chruma (SCU CoC Assistant Dean – International Affairs); Email: [email protected]. Inquiries about the

program in the College of Life Sciences should be directed to Prof. Qun Sun (Head, SCU Life Sciences

Department of Biotechnology); Email: [email protected].


College of Chemistry

OXIDATIVE C─H/C─H COUPLING REACTIONS BETWEEN TWO

(HETERO)ARENES

Project Investigator: Prof. Jingsong You

Preferred Scientific Requirements: Course in Organic Chemistry, previous experience in

the interpretation of 1H and 13C-NMR spectra for organic small molecules.

Research Summary: The structural

motif with (hetero)aryl-(hetero)aryl

bonds is a predominant substructure

of many natural products, pharmaceuticals, and organic

functional materials. Currently, the construction of

(hetero)biaryls mainly relies on the conventional transition

metal catalyzed C–X/C–M cross-coupling of a (hetero)aryl

halide or pseudohalide with a (hetero)aryl organometallic

reagent. From the viewpoint of green chemistry, step-economy,

and high efficiency, relatively inert C–H bond cleavage and recombination is an ideal approach to construct

C((Het)Ar)–C((Het)Ar) linkages. Our goals focus on developing novel highly effective and selective transition

metal-catalyzed direct C–H functionalizations of heteroarenes, especially oxidative C–H/C–H cross-coupling

between (hetero)arenes and annulation reactions involving (hetero)aromatic C–H bond activation, which would

offer highly efficient and facile strategies for the construction of π-conjugated frameworks, and further exploring

their applications in photoelectric conversion materials, and cell and tissue imaging agents. Students working in

our group could learn the knowledge in organometallic chemistry and common skills in organic synthesis as well

as Chinese culture. In addition, they are expected to improve their critical thinking ability and conscientiousness

in scientific research.

Representative Publications

1. Yang, Y., Lan, J.; You, J. Oxidative C─H/C─H Coupling Reactions between Two (Hetero)arenes. Chem. Rev. 2017, 117, 8787.

2. Li, B.; Tang, G.; Zhou, L.; Wu, D.; Lan, J.; Zhou, L.; Lu, Z.; You, J. Unexpected Sole Enol-Form Emission of 2-(2’-

Hydroxyphenyl)oxazoles for Highly Efficient Deep-Blue-Emitting Organic Electroluminescent Devices. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2017, 27,

1605245.

3. Cheng, Y.; Li, G.; Liu, Y.; Shi, Y.; Gao, G.; Wu, D.; Lan, J.; You, J. Unparalleled Ease of Access to a Library of Biheteroaryl

Fluorophores via Oxidative Cross-Coupling Reactions: Discovery of Photostable NIR Probe for Mitochondria. J. Am. Chem Soc. 2016,

138, 4730.

4. Wu, J.; Cheng, Y.; Lan, J.; Wu, D.; Qian, S.; Yan, L.; He, Z.; Li, X.; Wang, K.; Zou, B.; You, J. Molecular Engineering of

Mechanochromic Materials by Programmed C─H Arylation: Making a Counterpoint in the Chromism Trend. J. Am. Chem Soc. 2016,

138, 12803.

5. Tan, G.; He, S.; Huang, X.; Liao, X.; Cheng, Y.; You, J. Cobalt-Catalyzed Oxidative C─H/C─H Cross-Coupling between Two

Heteroarenes. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016 , 55, 10414.

6. Cheng, Y.; Wu, Y.; Tan, G.; You, J. Nickel Catalysis-Enabled Oxidative C(sp2)─H/C(sp

2)─H Cross-Coupling Reactions between Two

Heteroarenes. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 12275.

Contact Info: E-mail: [email protected], Tel: +86 028-8541-2203

Group Web Page: http://chem.scu.edu.cn/Zh/YouJinSong



DEVELOPMENT OF NEW SYNTHETIC METHODS INVOLVING 2-

AZAALLYL ANIONS AND 2-AZAALLYL RADICALS

Project Investigator: Prof. Jason J. Chruma


the interpretation of 1H and 13C-NMR spectra for organic small molecules, and

familiarity with basic techniques for the purification of organic compounds.

Research Summary: The 2-azaallyl

anion is a versatile synthetic

intermediate for the construction of a diverse collection of

biologically-active organoamine scaffolds including alkaloid

natural products (e.g., yohimbine and ent-nicotine) and

natural product-inspired luminescent scaffolds (e.g., 3-aryl--

caroblines). It was very recently discovered that 2-azaallyl

anions can also serve as super-electron donors to generate

reactive alkyl and aryl radicals while being transformed to

persistent 2-azaallyl radicals; this tactic can be employed

toward that synthesis of several pharmaceutically-relevant

diarylmethanyl amines, such as the antihistamine cetirizine.

Over the past decade, my group has focused on the use of

transition metal catalysis to generate and functionalize 2-

azaallyl anions by a decarboxylative reaction manifold. The current project is focused on the discovery of new

C-C bond-forming reactions using 2-azaallyl anions and/or 2-azaallyl radicals as key reaction intermediates and

use of these new reactions to synthesize biologically-active small molecules.

Students working in my group should expect to gain a familiarity with advanced techniques in organic synthesis

and the interpretation of data from a physical organic/organometallic perspective.


1. Li, M.; Berritt, S.; Matuszewski, L.; Deng, G.; Pascual-Escudero, A.; Panetti, G. B.; Poznik, M.; Yang, X.-D.; Chruma, J. J.; Walsh, P. J.

Transition-Metal-Free Radical C(sp3)-C(sp

2) and C(sp

3)-C(sp

3) Coupling Enabled by 2-Azaallyls as Super-Electron-Donors and

Coupling Partners. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b09394

2. Tang, S.; Park, J. Y.; Yeagley, A. A.; Sabat, M.; Chruma, J. J. Decarboxylative Generation of 2-Azaallyl Anions: 2-Iminoalcohols via a

Decarboxylative Erlenmeyer Reaction. Org. Lett. 2015, 17, 2042.

3. Qian, X.; Ji, P.; He, C.; Zirimwabagabo, J.-O.; Archibald, M. M.; Yeagley, A. A.; Chruma, J. J. Palladium-Catalyzed Decarboxylative

Generation and Asymmetric Allylation of -Imino Anions. Org. Lett. 2014, 16, 5228.

4. Li, Z.; Jiang, Y.-Y.; Yeagley, A. A.; Bour, J. P.; Liu, L.; Chruma, J. J.; Fu, Y. Mechanism of the Pd-Catalyzed Decarboxylative Allylation

of -Imino Esters: Decarboxylation via Free Carboxylate Ion. Chem. Eur. J. 2012, 18, 14527.


Group Web Page: http://chem.scu.edu.cn/En/J.Chruma



SUPRAMOLECULAR PHOTOCHIROGENESIS AND TRIPLET-TRIPLET

ANNIHILATION UPCONVERSION (TTA-UC)

Project Investigator: Prof. Cheng Yang

Preferred Scientific Requirements: Major in Organic Chemistry/Bio-organic

Chemistry/Physical Chemistry and/or hands on experience in synthetic chemistry is

preferred.

Research Summary: Supramolecular photochiro-

genesis is a rapidly growing interdisciplinary area

of science at the boundary of photochemistry, asymmetric synthesis and

supramolecular chemistry. The major advantage of supramolecular

photochirogenesis is that by preorganizing substrate(s) at the ground state,

one can manipulate the photochemical transformation by weak but non-

transient interactions in chiral supramolecular media. We have been focused on the manipulating the chiral

photoreactions by optimizing the structures of chiral hosts and/or the external environment such as temperature,

pressure, exciting wavelength, etc. Recently, we established a pillar[5]arene based molecular universal joint and

realized planar chirality switching simply by changing the temperature.

Triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA)-based upconversion (UC) has attracted increasing

attention for efficient light-harvesting of incoherent visible/near-IR light and high

UC quantum yields. In order to improve the efficiency of UC quantum yields, we have

focused on tuning the inherent photophysical properties such as the UV-Vis

absorption ability and triplet lifetimes of the sensitizers. Recently, we developed a

unique method for enhanced upconversion, the sensitizer and annihilator were

positioned in close proximity by host-guest interaction in the solution and the triplet-triplet electron transfer

(TTET) and TTA were both enhanced.

Students working in our group are expected to improve their experimental skills in performing and their

fundamental understanding of photochemical reactions, spectroscopic measurements and organic syntheses.


1. Yao, J.; Wu, W.; Liang, W.; Feng, Y.; Zhou, D.; Chruma, J. J.; Fukuhara, G.; Mori, T.; Inoue, Y.; Yang C. Temperature-Driven Planar

Chirality Switching of a Pillar[5]arene-Based Molecular Universal Joint. Angew.Chem. Int.Ed. 2017, 56, 6869.

2. Fan, C.; Wu, W., Chruma J. J.; Zhao, J.; Yang, C. Enhanced Triplet–Triplet Energy Transfer and Upconversion Fluorescence through

Host–Guest Complexation. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138, 15405.

3. Yao, J.; Yan, Z.; Ji, J.; Wu, W.; Yang, C. Ammonia-Driven Chirality Inversion and Enhancement in Enantiodifferentiating

Photocyclodimerization of 2-Anthracenecarboxylate Mediated by Diguanidino-γ-cyclodextrin. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 6916.

4. Yang, C.; Inoue, Y. Supramolecular Photochirogenesis. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2014, 43, 4123.


Group Web Page: http://www.yangchenggroup.com/index.php



CO2 UTILIZATION AND VISIBLE-LIGHT PHOTOREDOX CATALYSIS

Project Investigator: Prof. Da-Gang Yu



Research Summary: Photosynthesis is highly important in nature with carbon dioxide

(CO2), which is not only a greenhouse gas but also an inexpensive, readily available and

renewable carbon resource. It is

very important to utilize such a

one-carbon (C1) building block in organic synthesis to

construct valuable compounds. However, there are still lots

of limitations in this field due to the thermodynamic and

kinetic stability and general inertness of CO2. Our group

has been focusing mainly on CO2 utilization. We have

developed the direct use of CO2 as the combination of CO

and oxidant to realize the redox-neutral lactamization and lactonization of C─H bonds. Moreover, we have

disclosed the oxytrifluoromethylation of allyl and heteroarylmethyl amines with CO2 to synthesize important

fluorine-containing 2-oxazolidones. Very recently, we also realized the first copper-catalyzed regio- and

enantioselective reductive hydroxymethylation of styrenes and 1,3-dienes with CO2 to form chiral

homobenzylic/allylic alcohols.

On the other hand, visible-light photoredox catalysis has emerged as a useful tool to realize novel radical-type

organic transformations under mild conditions. Inspired by the iron-sulfur world in nature, we realized the first

thiocarboxylation of styrenes and acrylates with CO2 by using visible light as a driving force and catalytic iron

salts as promoters. A variety of important β-thioacids were obtained in high yields and with unusal

regioselectivity through generation of reactive CO2 radical anion. Moreover, we also investigated the visible-light

photoredox/nickel dual catalysis in transformations of C(sp2)-O bonds under mild reaction conditions. Very

recently, we also discovered that simple and commercial available Pd(PPh3)4 could act as the sole photocatalyst

in radical alkylations of C─H bonds with diverse alkyl halides.

The exchange student in my group will be trained with skills on transition metal catalysis, CO2 utilization as well

as visible-light photocatalysis.


1. Zhang, Z.; Liao, L.-L.; Yan, S.-S.; Wang, L.; He, Y.-Q.; Ye, J.-H.; Li, J.; Zhi, Y.-G.; Yu, D.-G. Lactamization of sp2 C─H Bonds with CO2:

Transition-metal-free and Redox-neutral. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 7068.

2. Ye, J.-H.; Zhu, L.; Yan, S.-S.; Miao, M.; Zhang, X.-C.; Zhou, W.-J.; Li, J.; Lan, Y.; Yu, D.-G. Radical Trifluoromethylative

Dearomatization of Indoles and Furans with CO2. ACS Catal. 2017, 7, 8324.

3. Gui, Y.-Y.; Hu, N.; Chen, X.-W.; Liao, L.-L.; Ju, T.; Ye, J.-H.; Zhang, Z.; Li, J.; Yu, D.-G. Highly Regio- and Enantioselective Copper-

Catalyzed Reductive Hydroxymethylation of Styrenes and 1,3-Dienes with CO2. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b10149.

4. Ye, J.-H.; Miao, M.; Huang, H.; Yan, S.-S.; Yin, Z.-B.; Zhou, W.-J.; Yu, D.-G. Visible light-driven and Iron-promoted Thiocarboxylation

of Styrenes and Acrylates with CO2. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, DOI: 10.1002/anie.201707862.


Group Web Page: http://chem.scu.edu.cn/en/DaGangYu



GREEN SYNTHESIS AND ASYMMETRIC CATALYSIS BASED ON CHIRAL

PHOSPHONIUM SALTS AND IMINOPHOSPHORANES

Project Investigator: Prof. Tianli Wang



Research Summary: The Wang group invents new powerful synthetic methodologies

(founded on new catalyst-enabled reactivity) that simplify the synthesis of structurally

complex scaffolds, natural products and molecules of biological significance. We enjoy

tackling reactions that have no precedent in the

literature and strive to make the resulting

methodologies attractive to synthesis chemists

by developing protocols that are operationally

simple, predictable, efficient, selective and

scalable. A predominant focus of our group is

catalytic stereoselective synthesis based on

bifunctional quaternary phosphonium salt and

iminophosphorane catalysts. Our group has

designed and developed new, high-performance,

multifunctional catalysts which could impart

new reactivity and stereocontrol in a wide range

of important and fundamental reaction types, and we also developed new catalytic methods for the synthesis of

important chiral building blocks and stereochemical motifs.

Students working in our group should expect to gain a familiarity with advanced techniques in organic synthesis

and asymmetric catalysis.


1. Wang, T.; Han, X.; Zhong, F.; Yao, W.; Lu, Y. Amino Acid-derived Bifunctional Phosphines for Enantioselective Transformations.

Acc. Chem. Res. 2016, 49, 1369.

2. Wang, T.; Yu, Z.; Hoon, D. L.; Phee, C. Y.; Lan, Y.; Lu, Y. Regiodivergent Enantioselective γ-Additions of Oxazolones to 2,3-

Butadienoates Catalyzed by Phosphines: Synthesis of α,α-Disubstituted α-Amino Acids and N,O-Acetal Derivatives. J. Am. Chem.

Soc. 2016, 138, 265.

3. Wang, T.; Yao, W.; Zhong, F.; Pang, G. H.; Lu, Y. Phosphine-Catalyzed Enantioselectiveg-Addition of 3-Substituted Oxindoles to 2,3-

Butadienoates and 2-Butynoates: Use of Prochiral Nucleophiles. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 2964.

4. Wang, T.; Yu, Z.; Hoon, D. L.; Huang, K.-W.; Lan, Y.; Lu, Y. Highly Enantioselective Construction of Tertiary Thioethers and

Alcohols via Phosphine-Catalyzed Asymmetric g-Addition reactions of 5H-Thiazol-4-ones and 5H-Oxazol-4-ones: Scope and

Mechanistic Understandings. Chem. Sci. 2015, 6, 4912.


Group Web Page: http://chem.scu.edu.cn/Zh/WangTianLi

P*



SIMULTANEOUS MULTI-BIOORTHOGONAL REACTIONS FOR PROBING

AND PERTURBATION OF BIOMOLECULES IN LIVE CELLS

Project Investigator: Prof. Zhipeng Yu

Preferred Scientific Requirements: Course in Organic Chemistry, experience in organic

small molecules characterization, experience in molecular biology experiments (PCR,

Protein purification, etc.).

Research Summary: Bioorthogonal chemistry enables site-precision and ultra-fast

labeling of biomolecules while running in parallel with

native biochemical processes inside of living systems so

as to affect minimal interference. The development of

new types of bioorthogonal chemistries aiming for a

variety of biochemical reporters opens up the

possibility of using multiple simultaneous bioortho-

gonal reactions without cross reactivity between the

specific coupling pairs. Taking advantage of the spatio-

temporal control of the "photo-click" reaction between

a diaryl tetrazole and a ring-strained alkene, bioortho-

gonal covalent bond formation could reach sub-cellular

resolution inside a single cell providing the tools to

study, track, and perturb biomolecular interactions.

The panning of multi-bioorthogonal chemistry

compatibility on or inside live cells could elevate these

tools to be multi-dimensional which would be quite useful to explore more complex biomolecular models. My

group is working on advancing the bioorthogonality of the "photo-click" reaction and other photo-clickable

reactions toward alkenes, and utilizing their spatio-temporal maneuverability to study biomolecules of interest

in live cells. Students working in our group should expect to study the mechanisms of organic chemical reactions

and practice advanced techniques in molecular biology.


1. Ramil, C. P.; Dong, M.; An, P.; Lewandowski, T. M.; Yu, Z.; Miller, L. J.; Lin, Q. Spirohexene-Tetrazine Ligation Enables

Bioorthogonal Labeling of Class B G Protein-Coupled Receptors in Live Cells. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 13376.

2. Tian, Y.; Jacinto, M. P.; Zeng, Y.; Yu, Z.; Qu, J.; Liu, W. R.; Lin, Q. Genetically Encoded 2-Aryl-5-carboxytetrazoles for Site-Selective

Protein Photo-Cross-Linking. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 6078.

3. Ramil, C. P.; An, P.; Yu, Z.; Lin, Q. Sequence-specific 2-cyanobenzothiazole ligation. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138, 5499.

4. Yu, Z.; Lin, Q. Design of Spiro[2.3]hex-1-ene, a Genetically Encodable Double-Strained Alkene for Superfast Photoclick Chemistry. J.

Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 4153.


Group Web Page: http://chem.scu.edu.cn/En/ZhipengYu

0 1 0 2 0 3 0

0 .0

0 .5

1 .0

s fG F P -S p h K /T e t-1 in

p h o s p h a te b u ffe r/A C N

(2 :1 )

s fG F P -S p h K /T e t-1

in P B S /A C N (2 :1 )

s fG F P -S p h K /T e t-2

in p h o s p h a te

b u ffe r

s fG F P -C p K /T e t-1

in P B S /A C N (2 :1 )

T im e / s e c

Pro

du

ct

form

ati

on

sfGFP-S2SphK sfGFP-S2Pyr


College of Life Sciences

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCT POOLED sgRNA LIBRARY FOR FUNCTIONAL

GENOMICS SCREENS

Project Investigator: Prof. Zhonghan Li

Preferred Scientific Requirements: Course in Chemistry, Cell biology and Biochemistry.

Research Summary: CRISPR/Cas-mediated genome editing has become a powerful tool

for dissecting gene function and regulatory network in mammalian cells. Different from

Cas9, Cpf1 is a novel cas protein that retains RNase activity, which facilitates processing

and releasing of multiple sgRNAs from a single transcript. Thus, CRISPR/Cpf1 is

increasingly becoming a more convenient tool to study multi-gene mediated physiological activity and disease

modeling. The current project will be focused on de novo designing and constructing a pooled sgRNA library for

CRISPR/Cpf1 system, which could be further used to carry out functional genomics screening. You will be

exposed to an integrated spectrum of experiments ranging from bioinformatic analysis, synthetic biology and

large scale library molecular cloning.


1. Li, Z.; Rana, T. M. Decoding the Noncoding: Prospective of lncRNA-mediated Innate Immune Regulation. RNA Biol. 2014, 11, 979.

2. Li, Z; Rana, T.M. Therapeutic Targeting of MicroRNAs: Current Status and Future Challenges. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2014, 13, 622.

3. Li, Z.; Dang, J.; Rana, T. M. MicroRNA-mediated Regulation of Extracellular Matrix Formation Modulates Somatic Cell

Reprogramming. RNA, 2014. 20, 1900.

4. Li, Z.; Chao, T. C.; Chang, K.; Lin, N.; Burns, J. C.; Rana, T. M. The Long Non-coding RNA THRIL Regulates TNF- Expression

through its Interaction with hnRNPL. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., U S. 2014,. 111, 1002.

5. Henzler, C. M.; Li, Z.; Dang, J.; Arcila, M. L.; Zhou, H.; Liu, J.; Chang, K. Y.; Bassett, D. S.; Rana, T. M.; Kosik, K. S.. Staged miRNA Re-

regulation Patterns During Reprogramming. Genome Biol. 2013, 14, R149.

6. Li, Z.; Rana, T. M.. A Kinase Library Screen Identifies Small Molecule Activators of iPS Cell Reprogramming. Nat. Commun. 2012, 3,

1085.

7. Li, Z.; Rana, T. M. Molecular Mechanisms of RNA-triggered Gene Silencing Machineries. Accounts Chem. Res. 2012, 45, 1122.

8. Li, Z.; Yang, C. S.; Nakashima, K.; Rana, T. M. Small RNA-mediated Regulation of iPS Cell Generation. EMBO J. 2011, 30, 823.

Contact Info: E-mail: [email protected], Tel: +86 18081018039

Group Web Page: http://life.scu.edu.cn/webContent.asp?id=1161&type=shiziduiwu



TOMATO AS AN IMPORTANT CHASSIS FOR METABOLIC ENGINEERING

Project investigator: Prof. Yang Zhang

Preferred Scientific Requirements: Courses in Biochemistry, Plant Biology, experience in

molecular biology experiment (PCR, protein purification, genetic transformation) and

HPLC

Research Summary: Specialized secondary metabolites serve not only to protect plants

against abiotic and biotic challenges, but have also been used extensively by humans to

combat diseases. Due to the importance of medicinal plants for health, we need to find

new and sustainable ways to

produce their specialized metabo-

lites. In addition to direct extrac-

tion, recent progress in metabolic

engineering of plants offers

alternative supply options. Pre-

viously, we proposed to use

tomato as a chassis for metabolic

engineering. In this project, we

aim to identify key regulatory genes for important metabolites in tomato. In addition, we will characterize new

structure genes for specialized compounds in medicinal plants. Finally, we are going to co-express both structure

genes and regulatory genes in tomato fruit. Together with gene editing technology, we aim to produce high value

compounds in plant chassis in industrial scale.


1. Fu et al. Next Generation Plant Metabolic Engineering, Inspired by an Ancient Chinese Irrigation System. Molecular Plant, in press

2. Zhao, Q.; Zhang, Y.; Wang, G.; Hill, L.; Weng, J. K.; Xue, H. W.; Martin, C. A Specialized Flavone Biosynthetic Pathway has Evolved in

the Medicinal Plant, Scutellariabaicalensis. Science Adv. 2016, 2, e1501780.

3. Zhang, Y.; Butelli, E.; Alseekh, S.; Tohge, T.; Rallapalli, G.; Luo, J.; Kawar, P. G.; Hill, L.; Santino, A.; Fernie, A. R.; Martin, C. Multi-Level

Engineering Facilitates the Production of Phenylpropanoid Compounds in Tomato. Nature Commun. 2015, 6, 8635.

4. Zhang, Y.; Butelli, E.; Martin, C. Engineering Anthocyanin Biosynthesis in Plants. Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. 2014, 19, 81.

Contact Info: E-mail: [email protected] Tel: +86-28-85470795




DNA BARCODING AND COMMUNITY PHYLOGENY OF PLANTS FROM A

NATURE RESERVE IN SOUTHERN SICHUAN

Project Investigator: Dr.Kangshan Mao

Preferred Scientific Requirements: Course in Molecular Ecology, Evolutionary Biology.

Research Summary: One challenge in the field for community ecologists in the field is how to identify species

in an area without previous taxonomic knowledge; it would be even more difficult when there are several groups of closely related species. DNA barcoding aims to achieve accurate species identification by sequencing a standard region of DNA. In plants, the CBOL Plant Working group recommends the two chloroplast fragments matK+rbcL as the core barcode for land plants, and trnH-psbA and the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) as being complementary, whereas a recent survey argued that the ITS (or ITS2) region should also be included in the core barcode for seed plants. When the DNA barcodes are sequenced for plant species in a community, this collection of genetic information will also be useful to construct community phylogeny, and the latter are very useful when conducting studies of species diversity, mecha-nisms of biodiversity maintenance, phylogenetic beta diversity and functional trait evolution. The aim of this project (a daughter project of a master thesis project) will be collecting DNA barcode sequences and construct community phylogeny for ca. 300 plant species from a nature reserve in a transition area between the Sichuan Basin to the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau in southern Sichuan.


1. Zheng, H. L.; Fan, L. Q.; Milne, R. I.; Zhang, L.; Wang, Y. L.; Mao, K. S. Species Delimitation and Lineage Separation History of a

Species Complex of Aspens in China. Front. Plant Sci. 2017, 8, 375.

2. Wang, Q.; Mao, K. S. Puzzling Rocks and Complicated Clocks: How to Optimize Molecular Dating Approaches in Historical

Phytogeography. New Phytologist 2016, 209, 1353.

3. Feng, J. J.; Jiang, D. C.; Shang, H. Y.; Dong M.; Wang, G. N.; He, X. Y.; Zhao, C. M.; Mao, K. S. Barcoding Poplars (Populus L.) from

Western China. PLoS ONE 2014, 8, e71710.

4. Mao, K. S.; Milne, R. I.; Zhang, L. B.; Peng, Y. L.; Liu, J. Q.; Thomas, P.; Mill, R. R.; Renner, S. S. Distribution of Living Cupressaceae

Reflects the Breakup of Pangea. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., U.S.A. 2012, 109, 7793.

5. Mao, K. S.; Hao, G.; Liu, J. Q.; Adams, R. P.; Milne, R. I. Diversification and Biogeography of Juniperus (Cupressaceae): Variable

Diversification Rates and Multiple Intercontinental Dispersals. New Phytologist 2010, 188, 254.


Group Web Page: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kangshan_Mao/



THE DIVERSITY PATTERN OF BIRDS IN MT. GONGGA

Project Investigator: Yongjie Wu

Preferred Scientific Requirements: Course in Ecology and Zoology, previous experience

in the field work of Ecology or Zoology.

Research Summary: Identi-fying and understanding patterns of biodiversity has been a defining focus of

zoology, ecology, biogeography and conservation bio-logy. Scientists have traditionally defined biodiversity hot spots in two ways: (1) regions with exceptional species richness, or (2) regions with an exceptional number of endemic and threatened species. Under either definition, mountain systems are disproportion-ately recognized as hotspots, despite covering only 16.5–27% of the land area on earth. The geographical and environmental complexity of mountains is likely fundamental to the evolution of species and main-tenance of high species richness and endemism in these systems. Recent global climate change is affecting species distributions throughout the world. Species are expected to continue to shift their elevational distributions in response to climate change, tracking temperature and their preferred thermal environments along the mountain slope. Elevational distributions should be affected in one of three ways in direct response to temperature change: (1) the species’ range could shift upslope or down slope, maintaining elevational range size, but perhaps expanding or contracting population size, depending on the topography of the mountain slope, (2) the elevational distribution could be truncated at an upper or lower geographical boundary, or (3) the species could go locally (or globally) extinct because its thermal niche lies beyond the conditions at upper or lower geographical limits. This last scenario results in biotic attrition in the ecosystem. Therefore, it is important to simulate and study the ecology and evolutionary mechanisms underlying the diversity pattern. Endemism of birds peaked in the mountains along the western edge of the Sichuan Basin, highlighting the importance of this region in promoting and maintaining diversity. This region has likely functioned as a biodiversity corridor, bridging the Palaearctic and Oriental biotas to the north and south. Climate simulations suggest that the mountains of Southwest China can accommodate upslope range shifts in response to warming, but low elevation specialists may have experienced increased extinction probabilities during cold periods in the recent past, which may in part explain the current mid-elevation diversity peak.


1. Wu, Y.; DuBay, S. G.; Colwell, R. K.; Ran, J.; Lei, F. Mobile Hotspots and Refugia of Avian Diversity in the Mountains of South-West

China Under Past and Contemporary Global Climate Change. J. Biogeog. 2017, 44, 615.

2. Wu, Y.; Colwell, R. K.; Han, N.; Zhang, R.; Wang, W.; Quan, Q.; Zhang, C.; Song, G.; Qu, Y.; Lei, F. Understanding Historical and

Current Patterns of Species Richness of Babblers Along a 5000-m Subtropical Elevational Gradient. Global Ecol. Biogeog. 2014, 23, 1167.

3. Wu, Y.; Colwell, R. K.; Rahbek, C.; Zhang, C.; Quan, Q.; Wang, C.; Lei, F. Explaining the Species Richness of Birds Along a Subtropical

Elevational Gradient in the Hengduan Mountains. J. Biogeog. 2013, 40, 2310.

Contact Info: E-mail: [email protected], Tel: +86 13880024428



College of LifeSciences

SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF REMNANT TREE EFFECT IN SECONDARY

FORESTS ON THE EASTERN EDGE OF THE QINGHAI–TIBETAN PLATEAU,

CHINA

Project Investigator: Ning Miao

Preferred Scientific Requirements: Course in ecology or vegetation ecology, previous

experience in field work of ecological investigation.

Research Summary: Remnant trees often serve

as dispersal foci, i.e., remnant trees along with

other plants living on or next to them produce fruits and seeds, which

attract animal seed-dispersers who bring in seeds from non-conspecific

plants in nearby trees and forest fragments and who then disperse seeds

out from these remnant tree clumps with associated species, which thus

serve as foci for seed dispersal, both to and from the remnant tree

clumps. As dispersal foci ,remnant trees often generate large numbers of

seeds which contribute to regeneration, and remnant tree species clumps

also often attract birds, bats, and other animals which may increase

dispersal of the remnant trees’ seeds as well as bringing in seeds from

other trees and areas outside the disturbed area. Researchers have

paid attention to the influence of remnant trees on the subsequent

tree species composition, distribution, and density during the

recovery of degraded forest ecosystems. However, the influence of

remnant trees on the spatial patterns of different age/size classes of

the dominant tree species during the course of secondary forest

succession has remained largely unexplored. Over recent years, my

group has focused on the effects of remnant trees in secondary

forests on the eastern edge of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, China.

The current project is focused on spatial associations between remnant trees and dominant trees at different

spatial scales following a large-scale logging disturbance on the eastern edge of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau.


1. Luo, R.; Hui, D.; Miao, N.; Liang, C.; Wells, N. Global Relationship of Fire Occurrence and Fire Intensity: A Test of Intermediate Fire Occurrence-Intensity Hypothesis. J. Geophys. Res.:Biogeosci. 2017, 122, 1123.

2. Miao, N.; Zhang, L.; Li, M.; Fan, L.; Mao, K. Development of EST-SSR Markers for Taxillusnigrans (Loranthaceae) in Southwestern China Using Next-Generation Sequencing, Appl. Plant Sci. 2017.

3. 4. Miao, N.; Liu, S. R.; Shi, Z. M.; Ma, J.; Wang, H. A Review of Ecological Effects of Remnant Trees in Degraded Forest Ecosystems After

Severe Disturbances. Acta Ecol. Sinica, 2013, 33, 13. 5. Miao, N.; Liu, S. R.; Shi, Z. M.; Yu, H.; Liu, X. L. Spatial Pattern of Dominant Tree Species in Sub-alpine Betula-Abies Forest in West

Sichuan of China. Chin. J. Appl. Ecol. 2009, 20, 1263 (in Chinese, with English abstract). 6. Miao, N.; Shi, Z. M.; Feng, Q. H.; Liu, X. L.; He, F. Spatial Pattern Analysis of Abies faxoniana Population in Sub-alpine Area in

Western Sichuan. Sci. Silv. Sin. 2008, 44, 1 (in Chinese, with English abstract).


sichuan university temple university summer program … · application should include a resume/cv,...

Documents