TANG KEXUAN Professor Department of Plant Science Phone: 021-34206916 Email: kxtang@sjtu.edu.cn Address: Room 405, Zone 1, Agriculture and Biology Building, Plant Biotechnology Center, School of Agriculture and Biology, Dongchuan Road 800, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China, 200240

 

 

Prof. Dr. Kexuan Tang is a Distinguished Professor, Director of Plant Biotechnology Research Center, Director of Fudan-SJTU-Nottingham Plant Biotechnology R&D Center at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He is the Vice Chairman of Division of Ornamental Plants, International Society for Horticultural Science.

 

Research Interests:

1. Plant synthetic biology
2. Plant metabolic regulation and engineering;

 

Education

1991-1996:Ph.D, Plant Biotechnology, Nottingham University, UK

1985-1988: Master degree, Crop Genetics and Breeding, Beijing Agricultural University, China

1981-1985: Bachelor degree, Genetics, Sichuan University, China

 

Research Experience/Achievement

• 1988-1991 Research Associate, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai, China
• 1996-1999 Associate Professor, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
• 1997-1998 6-month visiting scientist at John Innes Centre (with Dr. Paul Christou), UK (sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation Biotechnology Career Fellowship)
• 1999-2000 3-month visiting scientist at University of California-Davis (with Dr. Pamela Ronald), USA (sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation Biotechnology Career Fellowship)
• 1999-2003 Professor, Group Leader (PI) of Plant Genetic Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering; Assistant Dean, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
• From 2001-now: Director of Fudan-SJTU-Nottingham Plant Biotechnology R&D Center, Shanghai, China
• 2003-2012 Professor and the Dean, School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
• From 2003-now: Distinguished Professor, Director of Plant Biotechnology Research Center, School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

 

In recently years, Prof. Tang presides over 20 research projects including Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Project, China National Key R&D Project, China National “863” High-Tech Project, China Transgenic Plant Research and Commercialization Project, China National “973” Basic Research Program Project, Shanghai Science and Technology Committee Project, Sino-UK Collaborative Project to work on plant synthetic biology, plant metabolic regulation and engineering. He has developed transgenic Artemisia annua plants with enhanced artemisinin contents, transgenic Catharanthus roseus with increased vinblastine contents, the first GM medicinal plants in the world in the field trial stage. He has identified a number of transcription factors from Artemisia annua which influence trichome initiation and development.

 

He has published over 300 Science Citation Indexed (SCI) papers in international scientific journals with total citations of over 13000 such as PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES USA, CRITICAL REVIEWS IN BIOTECHNOLOGY, BIOTECHNOLOGY ADVANCES, CELL RESEARCH, SCIENCE ADVANCES, NEW PHYTOLOGIST, MOLECULAR PLANT and etc. He has chief-edited 2 books: Plant Biotechnology, and Biotechnology of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He has over 200 domestic or international patents filed or granted. He is the highly cited Chinese scholar.

 

Publications

• Ma, Y., Xu, D., Yan, X., Wu, Z., Kayani, S., Shen, Q., Fu, X., Xie, L., Hao, X., Hassani, D., Li, L., Liu, H., Pan, Q., Lv, Z., Liu, P., Sun, X. and Tang, K. (2021). Jasmonate- and abscisic acid-activated AaGSW1-AaTCP15/ AaORA transcriptional cascade promotes artemisinin biosynthesis in Artemisia annua. Plant Biotechnology Journal 19:1412-1428.
• Xie, L*., Yan, T.*, Li, L.*, Chen, M., Hassani, D., Li, Y., Qin, W., Liu, H., Chen, T., Fu, X., Shen, Q., Rose, J.K.C. and Tang, K. (2021). An HD-ZIP-MYB complex regulates glandular secretory trichome initiation in Artemisia annua. New Phytologist 231: 2050–2064.
• Danial, H., Fu, X., Shen, Q., Khalid, M., Rose, J.K.C. and Tang, K. (2020). Parallel Transcriptional Regulation of Artemisinin and Flavonoid Biosynthesis. Trends in Plant Science 25(5): 466-476.
• Shen, Q.*, Zhang, L.*, Liao, Z.*, Wang, S., Yan, T., Shi, P., Liu, M., Fu, X., Pan, Q., Wang, Y., Lv, Z., Lu, X., Zhang, F., Jiang, W., Ma, Y., Chen, M., Hao, X., Li, L., Tang, Y., Lv, G., Zhou, Y., Sun, X., Brodelius, P.E., Rose, J.K.C and Tang, K. (2018). The genome of Artemisia annua provides insight into the evolution of Asteraceae family and artemisinin biosynthesis. Molecular Plant 11: 776-788.
• Ma, Y., Xu, D., Li, L., Zhang, F., Fu, X., Shen, Q., Lyu, X., Wu, Z., Pan, Q., Shi, P., Hao, X., Yan, T., Chen, M., Liu, P., He, Q., Xie, L., Zhang, Y., Tang, Y., Zhao, J., Zhang, L., Sun, X. and Tang, K. (2018). Jasmonate promotes artemisinin biosynthesis by activating the TCP14-ORA complex in Artemisia annua. Science Advances 4, eaas9357.
• Yan, T.*, Li, L.*, Xie, L., Chen, M., Shen, Q., Pan, Q., Fu, X., Shi, P., Tang, Y., Huang, H., Huang, Y., Huang, Y. and Tang, K. (2018). A novel HD-ZIP IV/MIXTA complex promotes glandular trichome initiation and cuticle development in Artemisia annua. New Phytologist 218: 567–578.
• Chen, M., Yan, T., Shen, Q., Lu, X., Pan, Q., Huang, Y., Tang, Y., Fu, X., Liu, M., Jiang, W., Lv, Z., Shi, P., Ma, Y., Hao, X., Zhang, L., Li, L. and Tang, K. (2017). GLANDULAR TRICHOME-SPECIFIC WRKY 1 promotes artemisinin biosynthesis in Artemisia annua. New Phytologist 214(1): 304-316.
• Shen, Q.*, Lu, X.*, Yan, T., Fu, X., Lv, Z., Zhang, F., Pan, Q., Wang, G., Sun, X. and Tang, K. (2016). The jasmonate-responsive AaMYC2 transcription factor positively regulates artemisinin biosynthesis in Artemisia annua. New Phytologist 210: 1269-1281.
• Lu, X., Zhang, L., Zhang, F., Jiang, W., Shen, Q., Zhang, L., Lv, Z., Wang, G. and Tang, K. (2013). AaORA, a trichome-specific AP2/ERF transcription factor of Artemisia annua, is a positive regulator in the artemisinin biosynthetic pathway and in disease resistance to Botrytis cinerea. New Phytologist 198: 1191-1202.
• Zhang, L., Ding, R., Chai, Y., Bonfill, M., Moyano, E., Oksman-Caldentey, K-M., Xu, T., Pi, Y., Wang, Z., Zhang, H., Kai, G., Liao, Z., Sun, X., and Tang K. (2004). Engineering tropane biosynthetic pathway in Hyoscyamus niger hairy root cultures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 101(17): 6786-6791. 

 

Honors, Awards and Academic Activities

• Fellow of Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA), 2022
• Fellow of Royal Society of Biology (FRSB), 2022
• Shanghai Technology Invention Award (the second prize), 2015
• Honorary Doctorate, Linnaeus University, Sweden, 2012
• Shanghai Leading Talent, 2007
• President Award, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 2005
• Shanghai Excellent Subject Leading Scholar, 2004
• Chang Jiang Scholar, the Ministry of Education in China, 2004
• Chairman of Board, Artemisinin Industrial Alliance
• Frontiers in Plant Science (Associate editor)
• Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (Associate editor)
• Biotechnology and Applied Biochemistry (Associate editor)
• European Journal of Horticultural Science  (Associate editor)
• Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering (Editorial board member)