GDCB - Faculty

Yanhai Yin: Assistant Professor

Research Description: My lab is interested in understanding how plant growth is controlled by internal growth regulators (hormones) in response to environmental cues, with an emphasis on plant steroid hormones called brassinosteroids (BRs). BRs play important roles throughout plant growth and development and are involved in diverse biological processes such as cellular growth (cell elongation and division), vascular development, senescence, reproduction and stress/disease responses. Our long-term goal is to define the molecular mechanisms and genetic networks through which plant steroid and other hormones regulate gene expression and plant growth, development and responses to environment, in both model and crop plants. The knowledge acquired can be used to increase yield and disease or stress tolerance of important crops. Specifically, there are three major areas of research in the lab:

1. The functions and signal transduction pathways of the HERCULES Receptor-like Kinases (HERK): We have recently discovered that HERK family receptor kinases are regulated by BRs and involved in plant growth (Guo et al., 2009a; 2009b). Understanding the signal transduction pathway of these receptor kinases and their interactions with BR pathway will not only increase our knowledge about plant growth, but also have important applications in increasing biomass and grain yield in crops. We are using multidisciplinary approaches to identify ligands and downstream signaling components of the HERK pathway.

2. Molecular mechanisms and transcriptional networks for BR regulated gene expression: We have recently made several findings in this area (Yu et al., 2008, Li et al., 2009) and plan to continue to work in this direction. In addition, my lab has been collaborating with several other groups (Steve Rodermel of GDCB, Srinivas Aluru of Computer Engineering, and Peng Liu of Statistics) in the establishment of a BR transcriptional network using large-scale functional genomic studies and computational modeling.

3. BR functions in crops: My lab is also working with several other groups (Phil Becraft,GDCB; Shuizhang Fei, Horticulture; Kan Wang, Agronomy & Bing Yang, GDCB) in studying BR and HERK pathways in crop plants including rice, maize and soybean. These collaborative efforts will be important to apply the knowledge obtained from model plants to economically important crops.

Contact Information:: 1035D Roy J Carver Co-Lab; Ames, IA 50011; 515-294-4816 voice

Education:: B.S., Biology, Sichuan University, Chendu, China, 1985; M.S., Cell Biology and Genetics, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, 1988; Ph.D., Macromolecular and Cellular Structure and Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, 1997

Publications

Guo, H., Li, L., Ye, H., Yu, X., Algreen, A.,Yin, Y. 2009. Three related receptor-like kinases are required for optimal cell elongation in Arabidopsis thaliana. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 106:7648-7653.
Li, L., Yu, X., Thompson, A, Guo, M. Yoshida, S., Asami, T., Chory, J, Yin Y. 2009. Arabidopsis MYB30 is a direct target of BES1 and cooperates with BES1 to regulate brassinosteroid target gene expression. Plant J. 58:275-286 .
Guo, H., Ye, H., Li, L.,Yin, Y. 2009. A Family of Receptor-Like Kinases Are Regulated by BES1 and Involved in Plant Growth in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Signaling & Behavior 4:784-786.
Srivastava, R., Liu, J., Guo, H., Yin, Y., Howell, S. 2009. Regulation and processing of a plant peptide hormone, AtRALF23, in Arabidopsis. Plant J. 59:930-939.
Tong, H., Jin, Y., Liu, W., Li, F., Yin Y., Qian, Q., Zhu, L. and Chu, C. 2009. Dwarf and low-tillering, a new member of the GRAS family, plays positive roles in brassinosteroid signaling in rice. Plant J. 58:803-816.
Salas Fernandez, M.G., Becraft, P.W., Yin, Y., Lübberstedt, T. 2009. From dwarves to giants? Plant height manipulation for biomass yield. Trend Plant Sci 14:454-461.
Yu, X., Li, L., Li, L., Guo, H., Chory, J., Yin, Y. 2008. Modulation of brassinosteroid-regulated gene expression by Jumonji domain-containing proteins ELF6 and REF6 in Arabidopsis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105:7618-7623.
Yin, Y. Vafeados, D., Tao, Y., Yoshida, S., Asami, T., Chory, J. 2005. A new class of transcription factors mediates brassinosteroid-regulated gene expression in Arabidopsis. Cell 120: 249-259.
Mora-Garcia, S., Vert, G., Yin, Y., Cano-Delgado, A., Cheong, H., and Chory, J. 2004. Nuclear protein phosphotases with Kelch-repeat domains modulate the response to bassinosteroids in Arabidopsis. Genes & Development 18: 448-460.
Caño-Delgado, A. *, Yin , Y. *, Yu. C. *, Vafeados, D., Mora-García, S., Cheng, J-C., Nam, K.H.2, Li, J. and Chory, J. 2004. BRL1 and BRL3 are novel brassinosteroid receptors that function in vascular differentiation in Arabidopsis. Development 131:5341-5351 (*cofirst authors).
Yin, Y., Wu, D., and Chory, J. 2002. Plant receptor kinases: systemin receptor identified. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99: 9090-9092.
Yin, Y., Cheong, H., Friedrichsen, D., Zhao, Y., Hu, J., Mora-Garcia, S., and Chory, J. 2002. A crucial role for putative Arabidopsis topoisomerase VI in plant growth and development. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99: 10191-10196.
Yin, Y., Wang , Z-Y., Mora-Garcia, S., Li, J., Yoshida, S., Asami, T., and Chory, J. 2002. BES1 acccumulates in the nucleus in response to brassinosteroid to regulate gene expression and promotes stem elongation. Cell 109: 181-191.
Petruccelli S, Dai S, Carcamo R, Yin Y., Chen S, and Beachy, R.N. 2001. Transcription factor RF2a alters expression of the rice tungro bacilliform virus promoter in transgenic tobacco plants. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98:7635-7640.
Yin, Y., Zhu, Q., Dai, S., Lamb, C. and Beachy, R.N. 1997. RF2a, a bZIP transcriptional activator of the phloem-specific rice tungro bacilliform virus promoter, functions in vascular development. EMBO J. 16: 5247-5259.