Jianmin WAN

Professor Jianmin Wan is a world leading rice molecular geneticist and breeder. He was the former Vice President of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), and was elected a member of Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2015.

Professor Wan received his Bachelor’s degree in 1982 from Nanjing Agricultural University, China where he also received his Master’s Degree in 1985. He received his PhD from Kyoto University, Japan in 1995. Between 1997 and 2001, Professor Wan was a Senior Research staff in Agricultural Research Center, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan. In 1999, he was recognized as a distinguished scientist by the Chinese Ministry of Education, with the title of Cheung Kong Scholar. He became the Dean of Agronomy Department, Nanjing Agricultural University and then Director General, Institute of Crop Sciences, CAAS. He has played a leading role in China’s national programs in agriculture and molecular breeding, served as Head of the theme on Crop Molecular Breeding in the National Transgenic Crops Program.   Prof. Wan was elected as the Vice President of Chinese Society of Agricultural Sciences, Presidents of the Crop Science Society of China and the Chinese Society of Agricultural Biotechnology.

Professor Wan’s research has been focused on rice germplasm mining, molecular characterization, and molecular breeding.  He is one of the pioneers in practicing crop molecular design breeding in China. One of his scientific achievements is to elucidate the genetic bases of the application of heterosis between indica-japonica rice hybrids to achieve superior grain quality, disease resistance, and high yield. His group cloned 65 important new genes in rice, released 22 cultivars, and was awarded 62 new invention patents. He authored or co-authored more than 280 scientific articles papers in high profile journals, including Science, Nature, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Plants, Nature Communications, Cell Research, Developmental Cell, PNAS, and Plant Cell, and published three books.

In 2010, his work “Production and Application of Stripe Disease Resistant, High Yield, and High Quality Japonica Cultivars” was awarded the First Award of National Science and Technology Progress (First contributor) which was listed as one of the “Ten Great Science and Technology Progress” by the Chinese Ministry of Education. His work on “Cloning of a rice dwarf, tiller enhancing gene DWARF53” won 2014 National Technology Invention Award. He was also the 2012 recipient of the prestigious Science and Technology Achievement Award by the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation.

Selected Publications (*corresponding authors)

1. Liu TZ, …Lin QB*, Wan JM*.  Dwarf and High Tillering1  represses rice tillering through mediating the splicing of  D14  pre-mRNA.  The Plant Cell , 2022, online: 10.1093/plcell/koac169

2. Wang JC, …Wan JM*. Transcriptional activation and phosphorylation of OsCNGC9 confer enhanced chilling tolerance in rice.  Molecular Plant , 2021, 14(2): 315-329

3. Cai MH, Zhu SS*…Wan JM*. DHD4, a  CONSTANS -like family transcription factor, delays heading date by affecting the formation of the FAC complex in rice.  Molecular Plant , 2021, 14(2): 330-343

4. He J, …Yuan LP*, Wan JM*. An R2R3 MYB transcription factor confers brown planthopper resistance by regulating the phenylalanine ammonia-lyase pathway in rice.  PNAS , 2020, 117(1): 271-277

5. Ren YL, …Wan JM*.  GPA5  encodes a Rab5a effector required for post-Golgi trafficking of rice storage proteins.  The Plant Cell , 2020, 32(3): 758-777

6. Lin QB*, …Wan JM*. The APC/C(TE) E3 ubiquitin ligase complex mediates the antagonistic regulation of root growth and tillering by ABA and GA.  The Plant Cell , 2020, 32(6): 1973-1987

7. Wang JC, …Wan JM*. A cyclic nucleotide-gated channel mediates cytoplasmic calcium elevation and disease resistance in rice.  Cell Research , 2019, 29(10): 820-831

8. Tang WJ, …Wang CM*, Wan JM*. Genome-wide associated study identifies NAC42-activated nitrate transporter conferring high nitrogen use efficiency in rice.  Nature Communications , 2019, 10(1): 5279

9. Duan EC, …Wan JM*. OsSHI1 regulates plant architecture through modulating the transcriptional activity of IPA1 in rice.  The Plant Cell , 2019, 31(5): 1026-1042

10. Yu XW, …Wu CY*, Tao DY*, Wang HY*, Wan JM*. A selfish genetic element confers non-Mendelian inheritance in rice.  Science , 2018, 360(6393): 1130-1132

11. Heng YQ, …Cheng ZJ*, Wan JM*. OsALMT7 maintains panicle size and grain yield in rice by mediating malate transport.  The Plant Cell , 2018, 30(4): 889-906

12. Liu JF, …Wang HY*, Wan JM*.  GW5  acts in the brassinosteroid signaling pathway to regulate grain width and weight in rice.  Nature Plants , 2017, 3(5): 17043

13. Wang YH, …Wan JM*. GOLGI TRANSPORT 1B regulates protein export from the endoplasmic reticulum in rice endosperm cells.  The Plant Cell , 2016, 28(11): 2850-2865

14. Lin QB, …Wan JM*. The SnRK2-APC/C(TE) regulatory module mediates the antagonistic action of gibberellic acid and abscisic acid pathways.  Nature Communications , 2015, 6:7981

15. Wu SY, …Wan JM*.  VLN2  regulates plant architecture by affecting microfilament dynamics and polar auxin transport in rice.  The Plant Cell , 2015, 27(10): 2829-2845

16. Liu YQ, …Wan JM*. A gene cluster encoding lectin receptor kinases confers broad-spectrum and durable insect resistance in rice.  Nature Biotechnology , 2014, 33(3): 301-307

17. Wang Q, …Wan JM*.  STV11  encodes a sulphotransferase and confers durable resistance to rice stripe virus.  Nature Communications , 2014, 5:4768

18. Gao H, …Yuan LP*, Wan JM*. Days to heading 7, a major quantitative locus determining photoperiod sensitivity and regional adaptation in rice.  PNAS , 2014, 111(46): 16337-16342

19. Ren YL, …Wan JM*.  GLUTELIN PRECURSOR ACCUMULATION3  encodes a regulator of post-Golgi vesicular traffic essential for vacuolar protein sorting in rice endosperm.  The Plant Cell , 2014, 26(1): 410-425

20. Zhou F, …Wang HY*, Zheng N*, Wan JM*. D14-SCF(D3)-dependent degradation of D53 regulates strigolactone signalling.  Nature , 2013, 504(7480): 406-410

21. Zhao ZG, …Wan JM*. A role for a dioxygenase in auxin metabolism and reproductive development in rice.  Developmental Cell , 2013, 27(1): 113-122

22. Wu WX, …Ge S*, Wan JM*. The association of functional nucleotide polymorphisms at  DTH2  with the northward expansion of rice cultivation in Asia.  PNAS , 2013, 110(8): 2775-2780

23. Lin QB, …Wan JM*. Rice APC/C(TE) controls tillering by mediating the degradation of MONOCULM1.  Nature Communications , 2012, 3: 752

24. Zhang LG, …Wan JM*. Identification and characterization of an epi-allele of  FIE1  reveals a regulatory linkage between two epigenetic marks in rice.  The Plant Cell , 2012, 24(11): 4407-4421

25. Zhou SR, ……Wan JM*. Pollen semi-sterility1 encodes a kinesin-1-like protein important for male meiosis, anther dehiscence, and fertility in rice.  The Plant Cell , 2011, 23(1): 111-129