1.Introduction
Principal Investigator: Professor Zhihui Cheng
Professor of theCollege of Horticulture,Northwest A&F University,'SanWu Talents'and 'San Qin Talents' of Shaanxi Province State Council Special Allowancefor Expert
Concurrent Academic Appointment
Asian Allelopathy Society,member of the council
Allium and Ginger Branch of the Chinese Horticultural Society,Vice-president of the council
Shaanxi Horticultural Society,executive member of the council
Shaanxi Agronomy Society, member of the council
Yangling Crop Seed Association,Vice-president
Consultant, Northwest Horticulture
Review Editor, Frontiers in Plant Science
Academic Editor, PLOS ONE
Editorial Board, Horticulturae
Editorial Board,Acta Horticulturae Sinica
Editorial Board, Chinese Vegetables
2. Main Research Fields & Contents
Key technologyand principles forhigh quality and efficient vegetable production.Environment friendly and sustainable production systems in vegetable field
Key genes exploring and their regulating mechanisms in responding to bio- and abiotic stressesin garlic
Mechanisms of bulb and scape formationin garlic and their application in practical production
Allelopathy of garlic and its utilization in vegetable production systems
Map-based cloning and characterization of cucumber genes controlling important horticultural traits
Marker-assisted-selection-based breeding for fruit skin color, fruit size and pathogen-resistant in cucumber.
3.Major Projects Undertaken
National Natural Science Foundation of China
National Key Science and Technology Support Program from Ministry of Science and Technology of China
Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest from the
Ministry of Agriculture of China
Keysci-tech projects from Government of Shaanxi Province
4.Academic achievements
Elucidation ofeco-physiologicalmechanism of second growth in garlic plants
Development and demonstrationof key technology for cultivation and managementof fresh fruit vegetables, Chinese chive, Chinese cabbage and chili pepper
Mechanism of temperature and photoperiod affecting bulb and scape formation and its regulation in garlic
Collection and identificationof garlic germplasms, creation of garlic polyploid and resistantgermplasms
Molecular mechanism of gene expression and enzyme activity in volatile content of cucumber fruits
Molecular mechanism of lipoxygenas and hydroperoxidelyase involving in the flower sex differentiation and biotic defense to necrotrophic fungus
The alleviation effects of grafting on root-knot nematode of cucumber
Mapping and functional characterization of genes controlling vital cucumber traits
Mapping and identification of a gene resistant to cucumber downy mildew
During the past years, more than 300 peer-reviewed publications, 30% of which were published in SCI Journals.
5. Team members
EBVRGis a key research group in College of Horticulture at the Northwest A&F University,consists offourprofessors, two associated professors and two lecturers.
Dr. Xiaofeng Wang, Professor of the College of Horticulture,
Research Description:Brassinosteroids (BRs) are plant steroid hormones that regulate a wide range of developmental and physiological processes. I am interested in the signal transduction pathways through which BRs regulate plant growth and development. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the molecular mechanism of BRs signal transduction pathways and to provide inter-disciplinary training to students, a wide spectrum of approaches, including plant tissue culture,genetic transformation, gene clones, molecular genetics, biochemistry, proteomics, and cell biology, have been applied. Furthermore, a large effort has been dedicated to molecular breeding of horticultural crops with the latest discoveries in molecular mechanism of BRs signal transduction pathway.
Dr. Shuxia Chen, Professor of the College of Horticulture,
Research Description: Molecularmechanisms of cucumber fruit quality formation and molecular mechanisms of cucumber resistance to stress
Dr. Yuhong Li, Professor of the College of Horticulture,
Research Description: Gene mapping of key cucumber agronomic traits andunderstanding the molecular mechanisms for resistance todowny mildew.
Huanwen Meng, Associate Professor in the College of Horticulture
Research Description: Cucumber genetic breeding and vegetable cultivation and physiology.
Dr. Yupeng Pan, Associate Professor in the College of Horticulture
Research Description: Cucumber and melon germplasm utilization and genetic molecular breeding, genetic dissection of important traits
Dr. Shufen Wang, Lecture at the College of Horticulture.
Research Description: Cultivation and physiology of tomato
Dr. HanqiangLiu, Lecture at the College of Horticulture.
Research Description: Genetics, genomes, and molecular marker-assisted breeding in cucumber. Cultivation, eco-physiology and molecular geneticsin garlic