Zhang lab is dedicated to reinvent potato from a tuber-propagated tetraploid crop into an inbred line-based diploid crop propagated by seeds. They used genome design to develop the first generation of inbred lines and the conceptual hybrid “Upotato No. 1” with strong heterosis.
The group includes 1 PI, 5 postdoctoral fellows, 3 research assistants, 3 Ph.D. students, and 8 MSc. students.
Pei Wang: Pei Wang received his Ph.D. from Yunnan Normal University in December 2019. He is a postdoc that works in Chunzhi Zhang's lab. His research interests mainly focus on molecular design breeding of potatoes.
Hui Du: Hui Du received his Ph.D. from Shanghai jiao tong University, China, in 2020. He is a postdoc that works in Chunzhi Zhang`s lab. His research interests are in cloning and functional analysis of important trait regulatory genes in diploid potato.
Zhong Zhang: Zhong Zhang received his Ph.D. from Northwest A&F University, China in 2018. He is a postdoc that works in Chunzhi Zhang`s lab. His research interests are in potato metabolism and the genetic selection underlying evolution and domestication.
Zefeng Zhai: Zefeng Zhai received his Ph.D. from China Agricultural University in 2022. He currently works in Chunzhi Zhang`s lab, focusing on the genetic basis underlying tuberization in long-day conditions.
Li Yuan: He received his Ph.D. in cell biology from Hebei Normal University in 2020 and subsequently served as a postdoc at Henan University until 2023. In September 2023, he joined Chunzhi Zhang’ lab. His research primarily centers on comprehending how potatoes adapt to cyclic environmental changes at the transcriptomic and metabolomic levels.
PhD Students: Qing Li; Xingyu Jing; Lianlian Ma
Master Students: Shixuan Xia Lian Huang Duoduo Qian Jiuzhou Deng （Haicai Li ) Jing Xu Yan Zhang Hao Jiang
Simin Lin ：Daily Management
Xiaojing Hu ：Potato Molecular Design Breeding
Xiaochun Wang ：Creation and Application of late blight resistant diploid potato germplasm