Tiancong QI     Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

2003 – 2007       B.S.A., China Agricultural University

2007 – 2012       Ph.D., Tsinghua University

2012 – 2016       Postdoctoral Scholar, Tsinghua University

2016 – 2019       Tang Distinguished Scholar, Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California, Berkeley

2019 – present    Assistant Professor, Principal Investigator, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University

Research interest

Plant diseases affect plant yield and quality, and have caused serious agricultural economic losses. The goal of our laboratory is to study the molecular mechanisms of plant pathogenic bacteria, and plant resistance to diseases, especially the immune pathways triggered by pathogenic effectors.

Selected publications

1. Liu B, Seong K, Pang S, Song J, Gao H, Wang C, Zhai J, Zhang Y, Gao S, Li X, Qi T*, Song S*. Functional specificity, diversity and redundancy of Arabidopsis JAZ family repressors in jasmonate and COI1-regulated growth, development and defense. New Phytologist, 2021, 231(4):1525-1545.

2. Song S*, Liu B, Zhai J, Zhang Y, Wang K, Qi T*. The intragenic suppressor mutation Leu59Phe compensates for the effect of detrimental mutations in the jasmonate receptor COI1. Plant Journal, 2021, doi: 10.1111/tpj.15464.
3. Martin R#, Qi T#, Zhang H, Liu F, King M, Toth C, Nogales E, Staskawicz BJ. (2020). Structure of the activated ROQ1 resistosome directly recognizing the pathogen effector XopQ. Science, 370(6521):eabd9993.
4. Qi T, Seong K, ThomazellaD, Kim JR, Pham J, Seo E, Cho MJ, Schultink A and Staskawicz B. (2018). NRG1 functions downstream of EDS1 to regulate TIR-NLR-mediated plant immunity in Nicotiana benthamiana. PNAS, 115(46): E10979–E10987.
5. Wu D#, Qi T#, Li WX, Tian H, Gao H, Wang J, Ge J, Yao R, Ren C, Wang XB, Liu Y, Kang L, Ding SW, Xie D. (2017). Viral effector protein manipulates host hormone signaling to attract insect vectors. Cell Research, 27(3): 402–415.
6. Zhu B, Gao H, Xu G, Wu D, Song S, Jiang H, Zhu S, Qi T*, Xie D*. (2017). Arabidopsis ALA1 and ALA2 mediate RNAi-based antiviral immunity. Frontiers in Plant Science, 8: 422.
7. Gao H, Yang M, Yang H, Qin Y, Zhu B, Xu G, Xie C, Wu D, Zhang X, Li W, Yan J, Song S, Qi T*, Ding S*, Xie D*. (2018). Arabidopsis ENOR3 regulates RNAi-mediated antiviral defense. Journal of Genetics and Genomics, 45(1): 33–40.
8. Qi T, Huang H, Song S, Xie D. (2015). Regulation of jasmonate-mediated stamen development and seed production by a bHLH-MYB complex in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell, 27(6): 1620–1633.
9. Qi T, Wang J, Huang H, Liu B, Gao H, Liu Y, Song S, Xie D. (2015). Regulation of jasmonate-induced leaf senescence by antagonism between bHLH subgroup IIIe and IIId factors in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell, 27(6): 1634–1649.
10. Qi T, Huang H, Wu D, Yan J, Qi Y, Song S, Xie D. (2014). Arabidopsis DELLA and JAZ proteins bind the WD-repeat/bHLH/MYB complex to modulate gibberellin and jasmonate signaling synergy. Plant Cell, 26(3): 1118–33.
11. Song S, Huang H, Gao H, Wang J, Wu D, Liu X, Yang S, Zhai Q, Li C, Qi T#, Xie D#. (2014). Interaction between MYC2 and ETHYLENE INSENSITIVE3 modulates antagonism between jasmonate and ethylene signaling in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell, 26(1): 263–279.
12. Song S#, Qi T#, Fan M, Zhang X, Huang H, Gao H, Wu D, Guo H, Xie D. (2013). The bHLH subgroup IIId factors negatively regulate jasmonate-mediated plant defense and development. PLoS Genetics, 9(7): e1003653.
13. Qi T, Song S, Ren Q, Wu D, Huang H, Chen Y, Fan M, Peng W, Ren C, Xie D. (2011). The Jasmonate-ZIM-domain proteins interact with the WD-repeat/bHLH/MYB complexes to regulate jasmonate-mediated anthocyanin accumulation and trichome initiation in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Cell, 23(5): 1795–814.
14. Song S#, Qi T#, Huang H, Ren Q, Wu D, Chang C, Peng W, Liu Y, Peng J, Xie D. (2011). The Jasmonate-ZIM domain proteins interact with the R2R3-MYB transcription factors MYB21 and MYB24 to affect jasmonate-regulated stamen development in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell, 23(3): 1000–1013.

^#:Co-first author; *: Corresponding authors

Contact information

Tel：010 – 62793181 (lab)

E-mail：qitiancong@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn