南方科技大学医学院/前沿生物技术研究院教授。2016-2022年曾任职中国科学院分子植物科学卓越创新中心研究员、博士生导师。2009年北京师范大学获得学士学位,2014年美国普渡大学获得博士学位,师从朱健康教授。入选第十四批国家青年千人计划、上海市青年拔尖人才、中国科学院百人计划、上海科技青年35人引领计划入选者、中国科学院青年英才培育计划、鹏城孔雀计划,2022年获得教育部自然科学二等奖、2023年获得山东省科学技术奖一等奖。主要从事植物中DNA甲基化的分子机制及果实发育中生物学功能的研究以及植物基因编辑系统的开发工作,系统阐述了DNA甲基化动态形成的分子机制,及其在果实成熟中的生物学功能。在Molecular Cell、PNAS、Genome Biology、Nature Plants、Developmental Cell等国际权威期刊发表SCI论文53篇,通讯/共同通讯作者28篇。主持国家重点研发等国家级项目6项。担任国际期刊Horticulture Research副主编、JIPB副主编、Plant Direct编委、aBIOTECH编委、植物生理学报杂志编委。

教学和科研成果

    1. 系统阐述了DNA甲基化动态形成的分子机制：发现了真核生物中第一个调控DNA去甲基化的蛋白复合体(Molecular Cell, 2015); 发现了首个激活型组蛋白修饰参与调控DNA甲基化通路(Nature Communications, 2021；Plant Journal, 2021); 首次阐述了真核生物中DNA甲基化及去甲基化通路在全基因组的拮抗作用(Nature Plants, 2016)。在遗传学研究中,植物研究体系一直起到了至关重要的作用。很多重要保守的遗传机制都是首先在植物中发现的,比如孟德尔定律。在表观遗传研究中,DNA甲基化相关的一系列成果都是首先在植物中被发现。其中,本课题组的研究对于广泛理解在真核生物中DNA甲基化的动态平衡机制有引领性的作用。

     2. 揭示了DNA甲基化在果实成熟中的重要作用：首次揭示了DNA去甲基化酶在番茄成熟中的必要性(PNAS, 2017; New Phytologist, 2022);率先发现了DNA甲基化在草莓和柑橘等果实中的重要作用,及其动态变化的独特分子机制(Genome Biology, 2018; PNAS, 2019)。果实成熟是生物衰老相关的重要过程。表观遗传调控果实成熟是世界范围内新兴且有重要意义的研究领域。近年来,表观遗传多样性被认为是提供育种中遗传多样性的重要途径之一。本课题组的研究为表观遗传多样性在作物育种中的应用提供了重要理论基础,也为研究癌症发生和人体衰老中DNA甲基化的动态变化提供了新思路。

代表性论文：

1. Huan Huang; Ruie Liu; Qingfeng Niu; Kai Tang; Bo Zhang; Heng Zhang; Kunsong Chen; JianKang Zhu; Zhaobo Lang; Global increase in DNA methylation during orange fruit development and ripening, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2019, 116(4): 1430-1436 (共同通讯作者)

2. Yunduan Li; Yanna Shi; Yichen Li; Jiao Lu; Yunfan Sun; Yuanyuan Zhang; Wenbo Chen; Xiaofang Yang; Donald Grierson; Zhaobo Lang; Guihua Jiang; Kunsong Chen; DNA methylation mediated by RdDM pathway and demethylation affects furanone accumulation through regulation of QUINONE OXIDOREDUCTASE in strawberry, Horticulture Research, 2023, 10(8) (共同通讯作者)

3. Chao Gu; Mao-Song Pei; Zhi-Hua Guo; Lei Wu; Kai-Jie Qi; Xue-Ping Wang; Hong Liu; Zhongchi Liu; Zhaobo Lang; Shaoling Zhang; Multi-omics provide insights into the regulation of DNA methylation in pear fruit metabolism, Genome Biology, 2024, 25(70)(共同通讯作者)

4. Ying Gao; Yujing Lin; Min Xu; Hanxiao Bian; Chi Zhang; Jingyu Wang; Hanqing Wang; Yaping Xu; Qingfeng Niu; Jinhua Zuo; Da-Qi Fu; Yu Pan; Kunsong Chen; Harry Klee; Zhaobo Lang; Bo Zhang; The role and interaction between transcription factor NAC-NOR and DNA demethylase SlDML2 in the biosynthesis of tomato fruit flavor volatiles, New Phytologist, 2022, 235(5): 1913- 1926(共同通讯作者 )

5. Qingfeng Niu; Siqun Wu; Hongtao Xie; Qi Wu; Ping Liu; Yaping Xu; Zhaobo Lang; Efficient A·T to G·C Base Conversions in Dicots Using Adenine Base Editors Expressed under the Tomato EF1α Promoter, Plant Biotechnology Journal, 2023, 0(0)(唯一通讯作者)

6. Yuyun Zhang; Zijuan Li; Jinyi Liu; Yu’e Zhang; Luhuan Ye; Yuan Peng; Haoyu Wang; HuishanDiao; Yu Ma; Meiyue Wang; Yilin Xie; Tengfei Tang; Yili Zhuang; Wan Teng; Yiping Tong; Wenli Zhang; Zhaobo Lang; Yongbiao Xue; Yijing Zhang; Transposable elements orchestrate subgenome convergent and-divergent transcription in common wheat, Nature Communications, 2022,13(1)(共同通讯作者 )

7. Pei Huang; Huan Huang; Xueqiang Lin; Pan Liu; Lun Zhao; Wen-Feng Nie; Jian-Kang Zhu; Zhaobo Lang; MSI4/FVE is required for accumulation of 24-nt siRNAs and DNA methylation at a subset of target regions of RNA-directed DNA methylation, the Plant Journal, 2021, 108: 347-357(唯一通讯作者 )

8. Qingfeng Niu; Zhe Song; Kai Tang; Lixian Chen; Lisi Wang; Ting Ban; Zhongxin Guo; Chanhong Kim; Heng Zhang; Cheng-Guo Duan; Huiming Zhang; Jian-Kang Zhu; Jiamu Du; Zhaobo Lang; A histone H3K4me1-specific binding protein is required for siRNA accumulation and DNA methylation at a subset of loci targeted by RNA-directed DNA methylation, Nature Communications, 2021, 12(1): 3367-3380 (唯一通讯作者)

9. Yuyun Zhang; Zijuan Li; Yu'e Zhang; Kande Lin; Yuan Peng; Luhuan Ye; Yili Zhuang; Meiyue Wang; Yilin Xie; Jingyu Guo; Wan Teng; Yiping Tong; Wenli Zhang; Yongbiao Xue; Zhaobo Lang; Yijing Zhang; Evolutionary rewiring of the wheat transcriptional regulatory network by lineagespecific transposable elements, Genome Research, 2021, 31(共同通讯作者)

10. Qingfeng Niu; Siqun Wu; Xiaoxuan Yang; Ping Liu; Yaping Xu; Zhaobo Lang; Expanding the Scope of CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Genome Editing in plants using an xCas9 and Cas9-NG hybrid, Journal of Integrative Plant Biology, 2020, 62(4): 398-402 (唯一通讯作者)

11. Dengguo Tang; Philippe Gallusci; Zhaobo Lang; Fruit development and epigenetic modifications, New Phytologist, 2020, 228: 839-844 (唯一通讯作者 )

12. Jingfei Cheng; Qingfeng Niu; Bo Zhang; Kunsong Chen; Ruihua Yang; Jian-Kang Zhu; Yijing Zhang; Zhaobo Lang; Downregulation of RdDM during strawberry fruit ripening, Genome Biology, 2018, 19(1): 212-226 (共同通讯作者 )

13. Zhaobo Lang; Yihai Wang; Kai Tang; Dengguo Tang; Tatsiana Datsenka; Jingfei Cheng; Yijing Zhang; Avtar K. Handa; Jian-Kang Zhu; Critical roles of DNA demethylation in the activation of ripening-induced genes and inhibition of ripening-repressed genes in tomato fruit, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2017, 114(22): 4511-4519  ( 唯一第一作者, 共同通讯作者 )

14. Kai Tang; Zhaobo Lang; Heng Zhang; Jian-Kang Zhu; The DNA demethylase ROS1 targets genomic regions with distinct chromatin modifications, Nature Plants, 2016, 2(11): 16169- 16169 (共同第一作者, 唯一通讯作者)

15. Zhaobo Lang; Mingguang Lei; Xingang Wang; Kai Tang; Daisuke Miki; Huiming Zhang; Satendra K. Mangrauthia; Wenshan Liu; Wenfeng Nie; Guojie Ma; Jun Yan; Cheng-Guo Duan; Chuan-Chih Hsu; Chunlei Wang; W. Andy Tao; Zhizhong Gong; Jian-Kang Zhu; The methyl-CpG-binding protein MBD7 facilitates active DNA demethylation to limit DNA hyper-methylation and transcriptional gene silencing, Molecular Cell, 2015, 57(6): 971-983(共同第一作者)