RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY

The biological system on the earth is, at its core, a flow of genetic information from the extinguished ancestors (source) to the extant species (branched targets), during which mutation, selection, gene flow and genetic drift act on to modify its elements and affect the translation to phenotypes. In plants, studying how gene and genome have evolved is critical for understanding the evolution of morphological and physiological diversities that is often in response to environmental shifts, and predicting prospective changes that plants may have in the face of new challenges. As a scientist who is interested in plant and evolutionary biology, I dedicate myself to researching on a variety of problems, which are biologically relevant and concentrated on a few core questions including 1) what are the genetic innovations that allow plants to overcome diverse challenges during the long time evolution? 2) what is the nature of genomic selection and adaptation in domesticated plants imposed by human cultivation? and 3) how can we identify and utilize the wisdom of plants in dealing with environmental stresses and pathogen threats to secure food productivity? These questions adhered to my previous research projects and will continue to guide my future work, in which I will use multi-omics approaches to address key questions in the evolutionary and economically important plants.