Zhang, Xiao-Ning

Dr. Xiao-Ning Zhang

Name:
Xiao-Ning Zhang, Ph.D.

Academic School:
School of Arts and Sciences

Academic Department:
Biology

Titles/Responsibilities:
Assistant Professor, Biology

Contact Information:
Office phone: (716) 375-2485
E-mail: xzhang@sbu.edu 

Office Location/Hours:
Walsh Science Center 216
4-5 p.m. MWF

Courses Taught:

Academic Degrees:
  • Ph.D., Fudan University, China
  • M.S. & B.S., Nanjing University, China

Other Education:
  • M.A. in Applied Healing Arts, Tai Sophia Institute

Accomplishments:
  • Barna Saha, Allison Hoch, Samir Khuller, Louiqa Raschid & Xiao-Ning Zhang. Dense subgraphs with restrictions and applications to gene annotation graphs. Research in Computational Molecular Biology. Vol.6044/2010: 456-472. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-12683-3_30.
  • Jason Chien, Kevin Cilano, Stephen M. Mount & Xiao-Ning Zhang. Is the functional difference between two alternatively spliced SR45 isoforms in Arabidopsis preserved in two rice SR45 orthologs during evolution? RNA 2010. Poster #603. June 22-27, 2010.
  • Xiao-Ning Zhang & Stephen M. Mount. Two alternatively spliced isoforms of the Arabidopsis thaliana SR45 protein have distinct roles during normal plant development. Plant Physiology. 2009, 150 (3): 1450-1458.
  • Xiao-Ning Zhang & Stephen M Mount. SR45, a splicing factor, is required for normal pollen development. Frontiers in Sexual Plant Reproduction III. Poster P1-28. October 17-19, 2008.
  • Xiao-Ning Zhang (corresponding author), Yingjie Wu, John W. Tobias, Brian P. Brunk, Gerald F. Deitzer & Dongmei Liu. HFR1 is crucial for transcriptome regulation in the cryptochrome 1-mediated early response to blue light in Arabidopsis thaliana. PLoS ONE. 2008, 3(10): e3563. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003563.
  • Xiao-Ning Zhang, Zhi-Cai Qu, You-Zhong Wan, Hong-Wei Zhang & Da-Leng Shen. Application of suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) to cloning differentially expressed cDNA in Dunaliella salina (Chorophyta) under hyperosmotic shock. Plant Molecular Biology Reporter. 20(1): 49-57. 2002.

Teaching Philosophy:
  1. Creating an interactive teaching environment for active learning.
  2. Helping students to connect textbook knowledge with real world issues.
  3. Bringing real research projects to the classroom and lab.
  4. Introducing the science community to students and letting them explore.

Current Research Interests/Projects:

My long-term interest is to understand how plants interact with the environment, including biotic and abiotic stresses, particularly abiotic stresses. One step toward this understanding is to answer the question, how do plants adjust growth and development by regulating pre-mRNA splicing in response to environmental signals? So far, I have found evidence that the plant splicing factor SR45 is involved in plant growth and development and responds to cold/heat stress and sugar supplies. I am planning to extend this work with the following three goals:

 

  1. Look for the partners involved in SR45 functions.
  2. Understand the role for other splicing factors in the interplay between the response to environmental signals and plant growth and development.
  3. Understand the evolutionary significance for the splicing network among species.

The following project is currently supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF): 
RUI: Cloning and Characterization of OPENED IMMATURE FLOWER.