Self-introduction
Dr. Li Ruixi got her Ph.D degree in Peking University. She is the Assistant Professor in the South University of Science and Technology. Dr. Li is mainly engaged in studying the molecular mechanism of plant cell biology and endomembrane trafficking. Her research focuses on studying how plant cells adjust endomembrane trafficking in response to hormone activation and developmental signal as well as the molecular mechanism to establish and maintain the polarity of membrane proteins. Dr. Li’s research results have been published on PLOS Genetics, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Plant Signal & Behavior and other international journals.

Research Interests：
◆Identify key regulators of plant cell endomembrane trafficking through chemical genomic approach.
◆Explore the molecular machinery which selectively maintains the basal and apical polarity of plasma membrane proteins.
◆Investigate the function of the RabA GTPases in the regulation of endomembrane recycling.
◆Screen for compounds which promote root hair growth.

Professional Experience：
◆ 2011 to 2016, postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences in University of California, Riverside.

Educational Background：
◆ 2005 to 2011, Peking University, Ph.D.
◆ 2001 to 2005, China Agricultural University, Bachelor degree.

Honors & Awards：
◆ The CEPCEB Award for Best Postdoctoral Fellow, 2012
◆ The Second Class of National Academic Forum for Young Scholars, 2010
◆ The First Class of National Scholarship 2002, 2003, 2004
◆ DuPont Scholarship, 2003

Representative publications at SUSTech:

2026 

· Peng J, Agudo-Canalejo J, González-Fuente J*, Chodasiewicz M*, Van Damme D*, Daskalakis V*, González-Fuente m, Gao R, Filippidi E*, Gu Y, Guo H, He S*, Huang K*, Huang S*, Jang GJ*, Jia M*, Knorr R*, Lai X*, Li R*, Liang Q, Liu C, Liu X, Miao Y*, Ouyang M, Quan X, Solis-Miranda J, Strader L, Üstün S*, Wang S, Wang W*, Wang Z*, Xiong Y, Xu C, Xu G, Ye H, Zhao C*, Zhu P*, Zhu Y, Gutierrez-Beltran B*, Moschou P*, Fang X*. (2026) A practical guide to investigating biomolecular condensates: a comment from the plant community. Science China Life Sciences, in revision.

· Yang L, Luo W, Huang T, Wang S, Cao Z, Jiang D, Pang L, Liu JX, He S, and Li R*. (2026) The ARLA1A-NAC089 module controls ER-phagy and coordinates with the UPR to maintain cellular homeostasis in plant. Developmental Cell, accepted.

2025

· He Y, Li R*. (2025) Interplay between membrane system and biomolecular condensates in plant. Journal of Experimental Botany, 77(1):5-15.

· Pang L, Huang Y, He Y, Jiang D, Li R*. (2025) The adaptor protein AP-3β disassembles heat-induced stress granules via 19S regulatory particle (RP) in Arabidopsis. Nature Communications, 16(1):2039.

2024

· Li R*, Pang L. (2024) An interplay between biomolecular condensates and SNARE proteins regulates plant autophagy. Autophagy, 20 (12): 2833-2835.

· Jiang D#, He Y#, Li H, Dai L, Sun B, Yang L, Pang L, Cao Z, Liu Y, Gao J, Zhang Y, Jiang L, Li R*. (2024) A condensates-to-VPS41-associated phagic vacuoles conversion pathway controls autophagy degradation in plants. Developmental Cell, 59(17):2287-2301. Highlighted by Developmental Cell (https://www.cell.com/developmental-cell/fulltext/S1534-5807(24)00488-X).

· He Y, Li R*. (2024) Electron microscopy analysis of membraneless condensates in plant cells. Methods in Molecular Biology (Plant Protein Secretion), 2481: 199-205.

· Zhuang X*, Li R*, Jiang L*. (2024) A century journey of organelles research in the plant endomembrane system. Plant Cell, 36(5):1312-1333.

2023

· Li R*, Pang L. (2023) Comparing the effects of proteins with IDRs on membrane system in yeast, mammalian cells, and the model plant Arabidopsis. Current Opinion in Plant Biology, 74:102375.

2022

· Pang L, Ma Z, Zhang X, Huang Y, Li R, Miao Y, Li R*. (2022) The small GTPase RABA2a recruits SNARE proteins to regulate the secretory pathway in parallel with the exocyst complex in Arabidopsis. Molecular Plant, 15(3):398-418. Highlighted by Molecular Plant (https://www.cell.com/molecular-plant/fulltext/S1674-2052(22)00051-X) and Faculty 1000 Prime (https://facultyopinions.com/prime/ 741197076).

· Jiang D, He Y, Zhou X, Cao Z, Pang L, Zhong S, Jiang L and Li R*. (2022) Arabidopsis HOPS subunit VPS41 carries out plant-specific roles in vacuolar transport and vegetative growth. Plant Physiology, 189(3):1416-1434. Highlighted by Plant Physiology (https://academic.oup.com/plphys/article/189/3/1186/6572818).

· Jin Z, Li T, Zhou Y, Huang Y, Ning C, Xu J, Hicks G, Raikhel N, Xiang Y and Li R*. (2022) The small molecule RHP1 promotes root hair tip growth by acting upstream of the RHD6-RSL4-dependent transcriptional pathway and ROP signaling in plants. The Plant Journal, 110(6):1636-1650.

· Li R*, Drakakaki G, Miao Y, Fu Y and Li X. (2022) Editorial: Coordination of plant endomembrane system with developmental signals and environmental stimuli. Frontiers in Plant Science, 13:977333.

· Liu Y, Mu C, Du D, Yang Y, Li L, Xuan W, Kircher S, Palme K, Li X*, Li R*. (2022) Alkaline stress reduces root waving by regulating PIN7 vacuolar translocation. Frontiers in Plant Science, 13:1049144.

2017

· Li R, Rodriguez Furlan C, Wang J, Van de Ven W, Gao T, Raikhel N and Hicks G. (2017) Different endomembrane trafficking pathways exist to establish apical and basal polarities. The Plant Cell, 29(1):90-108. Highlighted by The Plant Cell (https://academic.oup.com/plcell/article/29/1/1/6099028).

Co-authored papers at SUSTech:

· Liao Y, Li X, Ma W, Lin X, Kuang J, Zheng X, Li Z, Qiao F, Liu C, Zhou J, Li F, Li R, Kang BH, Li H, Gao C. (2025) The plant retromer components SNXs bind to ATG8 and CLASP to mediate autophagosome movement along microtubules. Molecular Plant, 18(3):416-436.

· Huang J, Du J, Liu Y, Lu L, Xu Y, Shi J, Liu Q, Li Q, Liu Y, Chen Y, Du M, Zhao Y, Huo L, Wang W, Ding C, Wei L, Wu J, Yuan YW, Chen J, Li R, Cui F, Zhang X. (2025) RH3 enhances antiviral defense by facilitating small RNA loading into Argonaute 2 at endoplasmic reticulum-chloroplast membrane contact sites. Nature Communications, 16(1):1953.

· Chen C, Zhang Y, Cai J, Qiu Y, Li L, Gao C, Gao Y, Ke M, Wu S, Wei C, Chen J, Xu T, Friml J, Wang J, Li R, Chao D, Zhang B, Chen X, Gao Z. (2023) Multi-copper oxidases SKU5 and SKS1 coordinate cell wall formation using apoplastic redox-based reactions in roots. Plant Physiology, 192(3):2243–2260.

· Ke M, Ma Z, Wang D, Sun Y, Wen C, Huang D, Chen Z, Yang L, Tan S, Li R, Friml J, Miao Y and Chen X. (2020) Salicylic acid regulates PIN2 auxin transporter hyperclustering and root gravitropic growth via Remorin-dependent lipid nanodomain organization in Arabidopsis thaliana. New Phytologist, 229(2):963-978.

· Jin H, Pang L, Fang S, Li R, Zhu ZQ. (2018) High ambient temperature antagonizes ethylene-induced exaggerated apical hook formation in etiolated Arabidopsis seedlings. Plant Cell & Environment, 41(12):2858-2868.