Research Area

Organ Morphogenesis and Evo-Devo

Introduction

Dr. Dong was trained as a post-doc focused on fruit development in John Innes Centre. He started his own lab in the IBCAS in the late 2020. Work in his lab concentrates on comparative evo-devo analysis in fruit development using Brassicaceae as a model in where they aim to understand how variation in the interactions between hormonal and genetic activities has led to fruit shape diversity, which could be potentially used for crop improvement.

Publications

1. Xu Li†, Ruo-Yan Liu†, Shu-Yan Chen†, Xiu-Chen Weng†, Hong-Yan Shan†, Hao-Ran Sun†, Shui-Xian Li†, Ming Luo, Steven M. Smith, Jia-Yang Li, Cai-Huan Tian, Hong-Tao Liu*, Yang Zhu*, Yang Dong*, Hong-Zhi Kong*, Hong-Ju Li*, Bing Wang*. 2025. Comprehensive overview of plant development: Morphogenesis above ground. The Innovation Life, 3:100172.

2. Jeonghwan Ahn†, Feng Gao†, Yang Dong*. 2025. Developmental mechanisms of fruit diversification in angiosperms and the evolutionary implications. Plant, Cell and Environment, 48:4585–4598 (Cover Image).

3. Yan-Jun Zan†*, Shuai Chen†, Min Ren†, Guo-Xiang Liu†, Yu-Tong Liu†, Yu Han, Yang Dong, Yao Zhang, Huan Si, Zheng-Wen Liu, Dan Liu, Xing-Wei Zhang, Ying Tong, Yuan Li, Cai-Hong Jiang, Liu-Ying Wen, Zhi-Liang Xiao, Yang-Yang Sun, Rui-Mei Geng, Yan Ji, Quan-Fu Feng, Yuan-Ying Wang, Guo-You Ye, Ling-Zhao Fang, Yong Chen, Li-Rui Cheng*, Ai-Guo Yang*. 2025. The genome and GeneBank genomics of allotetraploid Nicotiana tabacum provide insights into genome evolution and complex trait regulation. Nature Genetics, 57: 986–996.

4. Tian-Feng Lü+, Feng Gao+, Tong-Bing Su*, Yang Dong*. 2025. Developmental genetics of fruit diversity in Brassicaceae. Current Opinion in Plant Biology, 85:102707.

5. Heather Marie McLaughlin+*, Tianfeng Lü+, Bhavani Natarajan, Lars Østergaard, Yang Dong*. 2025. Conserved roles of ETT and ARF4 in gynoecium development in Brassicaceae with distinct fruit shapes. Development, 152: dev204263 (Cover Image).

6. Yao Zhang, Hao-Ran Sun, Zhi-Cheng Hu and Yang Dong*. 2025. Cellular mechanism of polarized auxin transport on fruit shape determination revealed by time-lapse live imaging. Plant Reproduction, 38:1.

7. Zhi-Cheng Hu†, Mateusz Majda†, Hao-Ran Sun†, Yao Zhang, Yi-Ning Ding, Quan Yuan, Tong-Bing Su, Tian-Feng Lü, Feng Gao, Gui-Xia Xu, Richard S. Smith, Lars Østergaard* and Yang Dong*. 2025. Evolution of a SHOOTMERISTEMLESS transcription factor binding site promotes fruit-shape determination. Nature Plants, 11: 23-35 (Featured Article).

8. Yi-Ning Ding, Feng Gao, Xin-Ran Li and Yang Dong*. 2024. Genetics and molecular regulation of gynoecium patterning and fruit development in Arabidopsis. Seed Biology, 3: e018.

9. Zheng Wang+, Jinghua Yang+, Feng Cheng+, Peirong Li+, Xiaoyun Xin, Weihong Wang, Yang Dong* and Tongbing Su*. 2022. Sub-genome dominance and the evolutionary implications in crop domestication. Horticultural Research 9: uhac090.

10. Juan-Juan Wang+, Yang Wang+, Tian-Feng Lv, Xia Yang, Jing Liu, Yang Dong* and Yin-Zheng Wang*. 2022. An efficient and universal protoplast isolation protocol suitable for transient gene expression analysis and single-cell RNA sequencing. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 23: 3419.

11. Yang Dong*, Zhi-Cheng Hu and Lars Østergaard*. 2022. An optimized protocol to assess SUMOylation in the plant Capsella rubella using two-component DEX-inducible transformants. STAR Protocols 3:101197.

12. Jing Liu, Quan Yuan and Yang Dong*. 2021. Phyllotaxis development: a lesson from the Asteraceae family. Trends in Plant Science 26:873-875. (Cover Image).

13. Yang Dong, Mateusz Majda, Jan Šimura, Robert Horvath, Anjil K. Srivastava, Łukasz Łangowski, Tilly Eldridge, Nicola Stacey, Tanja Slotte, Ari Sadanandom, Karin Ljung, Richard S. Smith and Lars Østergaard*. 2020. HEARTBREAK controls post-translational modification of INDEHISCENT to regulate fruit morphology in Capsella. Current Biology 30:3880–3888.

14. Chao-Qun Li, Meng-Qi Han, Yang Dong, Tian-Feng Lü, Peng-Wei Li, Yan Liu and Ying-Zheng Wang*. 2020. Reversal versus specialization in floral morphological evolution in Petrocosmea (Gesneriaceae). Journal of Systematics and Evolution 58:145-158.