Chair Proffesor Department of Biology
Dr. Hongwei Guo is currently a chair professor at Department of Biology, SUSTech. He is also the director of the newly established Institute of Plant and Food Science (IPFS) at SUSTech. Dr. Hongwei Guo has devoted himself and his lab to the research field of plant molecular biology and genetics for the past 20 years. Particularly, his group had made great contributions to the understanding of plant ethylene signaling mechanisms. They have originally established the protein degradation model and the RNA decay model for ethylene action, and revealed the crosstalk mechanisms between ethylene and other phytohomones (auxin, JA, and GA) and environmental factors (light, salt, and other stresses). In addition to their outstanding work in plant hormone research field, Dr. Hongwei Guo’s lab has recently achieved great progress in the study of plant mRNA decay, gene silence and siRNA biology. They have reported the potential post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) risk of plant endogenous genes, and discovered the bidirectional cytoplasmic RNA decay pathway in plant to prevent this PTGS risk. Significant discoveries and findings from Guo’s lab were published in top peer-reviewed journals such as Cell, Nature, Science, PNAS, Plant Cell, Current Biology, among others.
Personal Profile
Research
Plant hormone signaling.
Plant siRNA biology.
Plant senescence and postharvest biology.
Teaching
Lectures:
Principles of Biology
Plant Physiology
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1) Guo’s group has originally established the protein degradation model and the RNA decay model for ethylene action, both of which were breakthrough in hormone signaling research field and made great contributions to the understanding of plant ethylene signaling mechanisms.
2) The group has also illustrated the crosstalk mechanisms between ethylene and other phytohomones (auxin, JA, and GA) and environmental factors (light, salt, and other stresses), which revealed the pivotal roles of ethylene in plant development and plant’s adaption to the complex environment.
3) Recently, the group has reported the potential post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) risk of plant endogenous genes, and discovered the bidirectional cytoplasmic RNA decay pathway in plant to prevent this PTGS risk.
4) Furthermore, the group has employed combinatorial methods, including multi-omics, chemical biology and genome editing, to study the regulatory mechanisms of plant leaf senescence and fruit ripening processes, and to explore potential agricultural applications for their fundamental discoveries.
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Mentoring the next generation biologists with the highest standards is another primary task of the Department of Biology. Our professors choose internationally acclaimed textbooks to teach core courses biological sciences, biotechnology and bioinformatics. Undergraduates are encouraged to join the laboratory early to get firsthand working experience in basic and/or applied biological research, which helps them to consolidate the mastering of basic techniques, to broaden their knowledge horizons and to acquire the capabilities of problem identifying, hypothesis formulating and problem solving.
Life science, one of the fastest developing natural scientific disciplines, has been the driving force behind the growth of the world economy and provides the know for the development of new technologies serving to improve the human health and welfare at large. Wit generous financial support from the Shenzhen municipal government, we are confident that the Department of Biology in SUSTech will surely grow into a top tier globally-renowned research and teaching center!