Yun Zhou

Active Mentor - currently hosting PULSe students for laboratory rotations and recruiting PULSe students into the laboratory; serves on preliminary exam committees

Current Research Interests:

The research interest of Dr. Zhou’s group is to understand cellular and molecular mechanisms in control of plant meristem development, using both experimental and computational approaches. Our research centers on the stem-cell identity and function during plant development, and we are interested in understanding: how stem cells are dynamically organized and maintained through continuous cell division, growth and differentiation; how developmental decisions are made during cell patterning and new organ formation; and how the transcriptional circuits mediate stem-cell homeostasis and cell-cell communication. We are tackling these questions using multiple interdisciplinary methods, including live-cell imaging, computational quantification, modeling, biochemistry, molecular genetics, and functional genomics.

Selected Publications:

• Zhou, Y. , Yan, A. , Han, H., Li, T., Geng, Y., Liu, X., and Meyerowitz, E.M.(2018). HAIRY MERISTEM with WUSCHEL confines CLAVATA3 expression to the outer apical meristem layers. Science. 361, 502-506. doi: 10.1126/science.aar8638
• Zhou, Y., Liu, X., Engstrom, E.M., Nimchuk, Z.L., Pruneda-Paz, J.L., Tarr, P.T., Yan, A., Kay, S.A., and Meyerowitz, E.M. (2015) Control of plant stem cell function by conserved interacting transcriptional regulators. Nature 517, 377–380. doi:10.1038/nature13853
• Nimchuk, Z.L., Zhou, Y., Tarr, P.T., Peterson, B., Meyerowitz, E.M. (2015) Plant stem cell maintenance by transcriptional cross regulation of related receptor kinases. Development. 142:1043-1049
• Zhang, X.#, Zhou, Y.#, Ding, L., Wu, Z,, Liu, R., Meyerowitz, E.M. (2013) Transcription repressor HANABA TARANU controls flower development via integrating multiple hormone actions, floral organ specification and GATA3 family auto regulation. Plant Cell. 25:83-101.
• (# co-first author) Li, W., Zhou, Y., Liu, X., Yu, P., Cohen, J. D., and Meyerowitz, E. M. (2013) LEAFY Controls Auxin Response Pathways in Floral Primordium Formation. Science Signaling. 6, ra23.