Zhi Li

Associate Professor

College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F University

South Campus, Scientific Research Building, 4119

Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, P. R. China

E-mail: lizhi@nwsuaf.edu.cn

IRCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4144-0099

Courses:

General Horticultural Plant Breeding, Organic Horticulture, Practice of Horticultural Plant Breeding

Research Interests:

Elsinoë ampelina  is an ascomycetous fungus that causes grape anthracnose, a potentially devastating disease worldwide. The molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenicity of  E. ampelina  are still poorly understood. Our research interest is using molecular biological methods to reveal the grape-anthracnose pathosystem and answer how pathogenic factors interfere the immune response of grape. Genetic improvement of those factors will be contributed to disease resistance breeding of grapevines.

Education Experience:

Huazhong Agricultural University, Ph.D, Pomology, 2014.

Huazhong Agricultural University, MS, Pomology, 2010.

Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, BS, Horticulture, 2007.

Professional Experience:

Associate Professor at the College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F University (2019-present).

Instructor at the College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F University (2014-2018).

Selected publications:

Li Z, Wang Y, Fan YC, Ahmad B, Wang X, Zhang S, Zhu Y, Gao L, Chang P, Wang X. Transcriptome analysis of the grape- Elsinoë ampelina  pathosystem reveals novel effectors and a robust defense response. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, 2021, 34:110-121.

Li Z, Fan YC, Chang PP, Gao LL, Wang X*. Genome sequence resource for  Elsinoë ampelina , the causal organism of grapevine anthracnose. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, 2020, 33(4):576-579.

Li Z, Chang P, Gao L, Wang X*. The endophytic fungus  Albifimbria verrucaria  from wild grape as an antagonist of  Botrytis cinerea  and other grape pathogens. Phytopathology, 2020, 110(4):843-850.

Li Z, Zhang S, Han R, Zhang H, Li K, Wang X*. Infection process and host responses to  Elsinoë ampelina , the causal organism of grapevine anthracnose. European Journal of Plant Pathology, 2019, 155(2):571-582.

Li Z, Dang H, Yuan X, He J, Hu Z, Wang X*. Morphological characterization and optimization of conditions for conidial production of  Elsinoë ampelina , the causal organism of grapevine anthracnose. Journal of Phytopathology, 2018, 166(6):420-428.

Guo R, Qiao H, Zhao J, Wang X, Tu M, Guo C, Wan R, Li Z*, Wang X*. The grape  VlWRKY3  gene promotes abiotic and biotic stress tolerance in transgenic  Arabidopsis thaliana . Frontiers in Plant Science, 2018, 9, 545.

Wen Z, Yao L, Singer SD, Muhammad H, Li Z*, Wang X*. Constitutive heterologous overexpression of a TIR-NB-ARC-LRR gene encoding a putative disease resistance protein from wild Chinese  Vitis pseudoreticulata  in Arabidopsis and tobacco enhances resistance to phytopathogenic fungi and bacteria. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 2017, 112:346-361.

Han R, Yin W, Ahmad B, Gao P, Li Z, Wang X*. Pathogenesis and immune response in resistant and susceptible cultivars of grapevine ( Vitis  spp.) against  Elsinoë ampelina  infection. Phytopathology, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-03-20-0079-R.

Wang X, Tu M, Wang D, Liu J, Li Y, Li Z, Wang Y, Wang X*. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated efficient targeted mutagenesis in grape in the first generation. Plant Biotechnology Journal, 2018, 16:844-855.