Education

Position

• Associate Professor, School of Life Sciences, CUHK
• Investigator, State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, CUHK

Research Interests

• Hormone signal transduction in plants;
• Nitrogen signaling and nitrogen use efficiency;
• Functional genomics of plant stress resistance.

Representative Publications

• Li Q.F., Lu J., Yu J.W., Zhang C.Q., He J.X.*, Liu Q.Q.* (2018) The brassinosteroid-regulated transcription factors BZR1/BES1 function as a coordinator in multisignal-regulated plant growth. Biochim Biophys Acta Gene Regul Mech.1861: 561-571.
• Kuang J.F., Chen J.Y., Liu X.C., Han Y.C., Xiao Y.Y., Shan W., Tang Y., Wu K.Q., He J.X.*, Lu W.J.* (2017) The transcriptional regulatory network mediated by banana (Musa acuminata) dehydration-responsive element binding (MaDREB) transcription factors in fruit ripening. New Phytol 21: 762-781.
• He J.X.* (2016) Signalling: Ying-yang hormonal crosstalk. Nature Plants 2, Article number: 16023. doi:10.1038/nplants.2016.23.
• Li Q.F., He J.X.* (2016) BZR1 interacts with HY5 to mediate brassinosteroid- and light-regulated cotyledon opening in Arabidopsis in darkness. Mol Plant 9:113–125.
• Zhang Y., Liu Z., Wang J., Chen Y., Bi Y., He J.X.* (2015) Brassinosteroid is required for sugar promotion of hypocotyl elongation in Arabidopsis in darkness. Planta 242:881-893.
• Wang X., Bian Y., Cheng K., Gu L.F., Ye M.L., Zou H.F., S.S.M. Sun and He J.X.* (2013) A Large-scale protein phosphorylation analysis reveals novel phosphorylation motifs and phosphoregulatory networks in Arabidopsis. J Proteomics 78:486-98.
• Li Q.F., C Wang, L Jiang, S Li, S.S.M Sun*. and J.X. He*. (2012) An interaction between BZR1 and DELLAs mediates direct signaling crosstalk between brassinosteroids and gibberellins in Arabidopsis. Sci Signal 5:ra72. (Summary/Abstract/Reprint/FullText) (Highlight by Nature Reviews)
• Jiang L, Y. Wang, Q.F. Li, L.O. Björn, J.X. He* and S.S. Li*. (2012) Arabidopsis STO/BBX24 negatively regulates UV-B signaling by interacting with COP1 and repressing HY5 transcriptional activity. Cell Res 22:1046-1057. (Evaluated by Faculty 1000)
• Wang X., Y.Y. Bian, K. Cheng, H.F. Zou*, S.S.M Sun* and J.X. He*. (2012) A comprehensive proteomic study of nitrogen deprivation in Arabidopsis reveals complex regulatory network of plant nitrogen responses. J Proteome Res 11:2301-2315.
• Gampala, S.L., Kim, T.W., He, J.X., Tang, W.Q., Bai, M., Guan, S., Sun, Y., Gendron, J.M., Chen, J., Ferl, J., Ehrhardt, D., Chong, K., Burlingame, A.L., and Wang, Z.Y. (2007) An essential role for 14-3-3 proteins in brassinosteroid signal transduction in Arabidopsis. Dev Cell 13, 177–189.
• He, J.X., Gendron, J.M., Sun, Y., Gampala, S.L., Gendron, N., Sun, C.Q., and Wang, Z.Y. (2005) BZR1 is a transcriptional repressor with dual roles in brassinosteroid homeostasis and growth responses. Science 307:1634-1638.
• Wang, Z.Y. and He, J.X. (2004) Brassinosteroid signal transduction – choices of signals and receptors. Trends in Plant Sci 9: 91-96.
• He, J.X., Fujioka, S., Li, T.C., Kang, S.G., Seto, H., Takatsuto, S.,Yoshida, S., and Jang, J.C. (2003) Sterols regulate development and gene expression in Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol 131:1258-1269.
• He, J.X., JM Gendron, Y. Yang, J. Li, Z.Y. Wang. (2002) The GSK3-like kinase BIN2 phosphorylates and destabilizes BZR1, a positive regulator of the brassinosteroid signaling pathway in Arabidopsis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99:10185-90.

Research Grants

• 2018-2021: NSFC-RGC Joint Scheme. Mechanisms by which brassinosteroids regulate plant photomorphorgenesis through GATA and MYB transcription factors. (Project code: N_CUHK452/17), HK$1,250,000. (PI)
• 2017-2025: Hong Kong UGC-AoE Grant, Center for Genomic Studies on Plant-Environment Interaction for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security. (Project code: AoE/M-403/16), HK$75.59 M. (Co-PI)
• 2017-2019: Research Grant Council (RGC) GRF, Functional study of a new MYB-like transcription factor in secondary cell wall formation in Arabidopsis. (Project code: 14148916), HK$1,072,55. (PI)
• 2016-2018: Research Grant Council (RGC) GRF, Characterization and gene functional study of a new albino mutant in Arabidopsis. (Project code: 14121915), HK$1,014,975. (PI)
• 2014-2018: Hong Kong UGC-AoE Grant, Center for Organelle Biogenesis and Function. (Project code:  AoE/M-05/12), HK$47.25 M. (Co-I)
  
• 2013-2015: Research Grant Council (RGC) GRF, Mechanistic studies of brassinosteroid-induced stress resistance in Arabidopsis. HK$1,200,000. (PI)
• 2011-2013: Research Grant Council (RGC) GRF, Identify new regulators of brassinosteroid signaling and plant development through the bzr1-1D suppressor mutant screen in Arabidopsis. HK$1,000,000. (PI)
• 2010-2012: Research Grant Council (RGC) GRF, Identify new downstream signaling components in the brassinosteroid signal transduction pathway in Arabidopsis - Functional characterization of two BZR1 interacting proteins ZIP1 and ZIP2. HK$944,700. (PI)
• 2012-2015: National Science Foundation of China (NSFC), Genomic study of drought tolerance mechanisms in plants. RMB3.0M. (PI)
• 2012-2016: Shenzhen ‘Peacock’ Project, Applied basic researches of plant molecular biotechnologies and their applications in modern agriculture. RMB30.0M. (Co-I, core member)
• 2011-2013: National Science Foundation of China (NSFC), Functions and mechanisms of the Arabidopsis STO gene in plant UV-B signaling. RMB360,000. (Co-I)
• 2009-2010: National Transgenic Project of China, Development of transgenic corn with high nitrogen use efficiency. RMB4.37M. (Sub-project PI)
• 2009-2010: National Transgenic Project of China, Discovery and mechanistic study of genes important for crop yield, nutrition and stress resistance. RMB 2.96M. (Co-I)

Professional Activities

          Editorship:

• Editorial Board Member, Acta Botanica Sinica (2009-).
  
• Editorial Board Member/Reviewing Editor, Frontiers in Plant Science (2015-)
• Editorial Board Member/Reviewing Editor, Scientific Reports (2016-)
• Editorial Board Member/Reviewing Editor, J of Plant Growth Regulation (2016-2017)
• Editorial Board Member/Reviewing Editor, Plant Science (2018-)

          Peer reviewer:

• Nature Communications, Nature Plants, Plant Cell, Plant Physiol, Mol Plant, Mol Cell Proteomics, Scientific Reports, Plant & Cell Environ, J Exp Bot, Frontiers in Plant Sci, Plant Science, J Genetics and Genomics (JGG), Plant Cell Reports, Planta, J Integr Plant Biol, Protoplasma, J Proteome Res, J Proteomics, PloS One, etc.