Eco-physiology and Biotechnology of Vegetable

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