The Key Laboratory of Molecular Epigenetics of the Ministry of Education (MOE) at Northeast Normal University (NENU) was founded on the framework of the Institute of Genetics and Cytology that was founded in 1986 by the later member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Professor Shui Hao. The lab was started to construct in 2007, and formally approved in 2011 by the expert panel headed by the member of CAS, Professor Wu Weihua, organized by the Department of Science and Technology of MOE, and passed the unified evaluation of the Ministry of Education with "excellent" score in 2016. Since its establishment, the lab has carried out systemic and intensive researches, obtained innovative academic achievements of significant impacts in the related respective fields, and trained a large number of qualified personals currently positioned at various universities in the country as university faculty members and scientists at biotech industries specialized in molecular epigenetics.
Lab Goals: Based on the ever-developing epigenetic theories and techniques, the lab aims to explore the common mechanisms that are conserved in animals, plants, and fungi, understanding the causes for epigenetic variations and their transgenerational inheritability. The long-term lab goal is to establish a first-rate center in the northeast region of China for research and education specialized in molecular epigenetics
Personnel: Currently, the lab includes 45 permanent staffs, including 22 professors and 14 assistant professors, 29 of the staff obtained their PhD or postdoctoral training abroad. The lab staff includes a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, winner of the National Science Fund for Outstanding Young Scholars, member of Discipline Assessment Groups of the Academic Degree Commission of the State Council, winner of Yangtze River Scholar professorship, member of the Thousand Talents Plan by the CPC Central Committee, member of the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University, as well as Jilin province “Changbai Mountain scholar” Professor, and other distinguished professor titles. Overall, the personals constituting the lab are a strong team with shared as well as compensating expertise.
Currently, the lab is headed by professor Liu Bao, with help of Professor Wei Min as the deputy head, and Dr. Jiang Lily as the secretary.
Scientific Advisory Committee:
Chair:
Dr. Xiaofeng Cao, Professor in plant genetics, genomics and epigenetics, Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Vice Chair:
Dr. Kang Chong, Professor in plant epigenetics, Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Standing Members:
Dr. James A. Birchler, Professor in genetics and epigenetics, Member of the United States National Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Ge Song, Distinguished professor in plant systematics and evolution.
Dr. Zhizhong Gong, Distinguished professor in crop genetics and breeding.
Dr. Chunming Liu, Distinguished professor in crop genetics, molecular biology and breeding.
Dr. Zhongfu Ni, Distinguished professor in crop genetics, genomics and breeding.
Dr. Ping Wang, Distinguished professor in protein post-translational modification.
Dr. Shuai Chen, Distinguished professor in epigenetic regulation of glycolipid metabolism.
Dr. Jixian Zhai, Associate professor in plant epigenetics.
Major Research Directions: By integrating the traditional strength in biology at NENU, four distinct as well as mutually supportive research directions are formulated in the lab.
Direction I: epigenetic regulatory mechanisms in plant interspecies hybridization and/or polyploidization-induced heritable changes and genomic evolution. This direction mainly focuses on exploring the relationships between the hybridization and polyploidization events with epigenetic variations generated whereby, understanding the causing factors of epigenetic variation and its transgenerational inheritance.
Direction II: epigenetic regulatory mechanisms in crop environmental adaptation. This direction mainly focuses on deciphering the roles of epigenetic variation in crop environmental adaptation and its underlying molecular mechanisms.
Direction III: epigenetic mechanisms in the regulation of gene expression and genome stability in animal and human cells. This direction mainly focuses on analyzing the correlative and causal features between epigenetics and genome stability in normal and tumor cells as well as defining the molecular underpinnings.
Direction IV: application of epigenetic variations in crop improvement and major human disease diagnostics and treatments. This direction mainly focuses on exploring the feasibility to apply induced epigenetic variations in crop germplasm enhancement, and naturally occurred epigenetic variants in diagnosing human diseases and using this as therapeutic targets to screen for effective medicines.
Major achievements: Since its establishment in 2011, significant achievements in each of the foregoing research directions have been made in the lab. As of December, 2020, the lab as the first affiliation has published 156 peer-reviewed search articles in the mainstream international journals of the fields, including Nat Sci Rev., PNAS, Mol Biol Evol, Plant Cell, Cancer Research, PloS Biology, New Phytologist, BMC Biology, Plant Journal, Plant Physiology, Molecular Plant, Cell Death & Disease, J Cell Sci, and etc. In addition, as a co-affiliation, the lab published 45 articles on various renowned scientific journals, including Nature Communications, PNAS, Genome Biol, MBE, Nucleic Acid Res, Cancer Res. Professors Liu Bao, Zhengyi Xu, Chunwu Yang, Xiang Gao and Wang Shucai are invited as associate or guest editors by several international scientific journals. Nearly 20 lab personnel were invited to attend and present lectures in domestic and international conferences. More than 73 personals were invited to give lectures and conduct academic exchanges by other universities and institutions both at home and abroad. In addition, the lab has written 3 books, patented 29 practically voluble achievements, obtained 12 scientific awards, been involved in the release of 2 new crop cultivars. Significantly, many original research findings were successfully converted to practical utilizations and commercial products, which have made significant contributions to the local economy.
