Dr. Chuansheng Mei

Dr. Chuansheng Mei

Scientist II (Supervisor), ISRR

Adjunct Faculty
1Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation
2Department of Horticulture
Virginia Tech


Ph. D. (Crop Science), 2000
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Plant Molecular Biology
Plant Tissue Culture and Transformation
Plant Molecular Breeding
Plant-Endophyte Interaction
Plant Physiology
Contact Information

Office: Room 112L

Telephone: 434-766-6704

Fax: 434-791-3279

Email: chuansheng.mei@ialr.org

Curriculum Vitae

Curriculum Vitae

Publications

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS AND ABSTRACTS


  • Mei C. and Flinn B. 2010. The use of beneficial microbial endophytes for plant biomass and stress tolerance improvement. Recent Patents on Biotechnol 4:81-95
  • Mei C., Park S., Sabzikar R., Qi C., Ransom C., and Sticklen M. 2009. Green tissue-specific production of a microbial endo-cellulase in corn (Zea mays L.) endoplasmic-reticulum and mitochondria converts cellulose into fermentable sugars. J Chem Technol Biotechnol 84:689-695
  • Park S-H., Ransom C., Mei C., Sabzikar R., Qi C., Chundawat S., Dale B. and Sticklen M. In the quest of alternatives to microbial cellulase mix production: Corn stover-produced heterologous multi-cellulases readily deconstruct lignocellulosic biomass to fermentable sugars. J Chem Technol Biotechnol (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI 10.1002/jctb.2584
  • Mei C., Kim S., Lowman S., Flinn B., Seiler J., and Nowak J. Development of a low input switchgrass production system harnessing beneficial bacterial endophytes. International Biomass Conference & Expo, a biorefinery and biomass power & thermal event to be held in St. Louis, May 2-5, 2011 (invited speaker).

· Yang D., Mei C., Zeng L., Li Q., Xiao L., Yang Y. and He Z. Jasmonate inhibits gibberellins signaling through stabilizing the DELLA protein SLR1 in rice (in preparation).

  • Kim S., Da K., and Mei C. A high efficient system for micropropagation of large-scale and high-quality Miscanthus x giganteus plants (abstract). In Vitro Biology meeting to be held in Raleigh, North Carolina, June 4-8, 2011
  • Mei C., Aulakh S., Flinn B., Veilleux R. and Igbal M. Evaluation of Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) germplasms and genetic Improvement of biomass yield. Proceedings of 2010 International Academic Conference on Jerusalem artichoke, Nanjing, China. Oct. 20-25, 2010 (invited speaker).
  • Mei C., Kim S., Nowak J. and Flinn B. Genetic enhancement of biofuel and bioenergy crop switchgrass. American Society of Plant Biologists Annual Meeting held in Montreal, Canada, July 31-August 4, 2010
  • Mei C., Sabzikar R., and Sticklen M. Maize chloroplast transformation (abstract). The International Symposium on Chloroplast Genomics and Genetic Engineering held in Changchun, China. December 7-9, 2007.
  • Mei C., Ransom C., Sabzikar R., Zhai Y. and Sticklen M. Production of microbial endo- and exo-glucanase enzymes within feedstock biomass to reduce the needs for external cellulases (abstract). 29th Symposium on Biotechnilogy for Fuels and Chemicals held in Denver, CO. April 29-May 2, 2007.
  • Mei C., Qi M., Sheng G. and Yang Y. Inducible overexpression of rice allene oxide synthase gene increases endogenous jasmonic acid level, PR gene expression and host resistance to fungal infection. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interaction 2006 19:1127-1137
  • Mei C., Zhou X., and Yang Y. Use of RNA interference to dissect defense signaling pathways in rice plants. In: Methods in Molecular Biology: Plant-Pathogen Interactions, 2006 354:161-171 edited by Ronald P. C., Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ.
  • Mei C., Wassom J., and Widholm J. Maize transformation with antifungal genes using seed-specific globulin promoter. Maydica 2004 49 (4):255-265
  • Yang Y., Qi M., and Mei C. Endogenous salicylic acid protects rice plants from oxidative damage caused by aging as well as biotic and abiotic stress. Plant J. 2004 40:909-919
  • Mei C., Zhou X., and Yang Y. Generation of jasmonate-insensitive transgenic rice via dsRNAi-mediated suppression of the COI1 ortholog. Phytopathology 2003 93:S60

· Mei C., Zhou X., and Yang Y. Rice COI1 gene mediates hormone signal interactions and negatively regulates cell elongation and plant height (in preparation).

  • Zhou, X., Mei C., and Yang Y. A rice EIN2-like gene mediates ethylene and abscisic acid crosstalk and inversely regulates disease resistance and abiotic stress tolerance (in preparation).
  • Mei C. Cooper J., Riner L., and Paiva N., Clone and characterization of b-glucosidase genes hydrolyzing isoflavonoid glucose conjugates from Medicago truncatula (in preparation).
  • Wassom J., Mei C., Rocheford T., and Widholm J. Allelic variation in candidate genes associated with QTL for the maize anther culture response. Maydica 2000 45:267-276
  • Wassom J., Mei C., Rocheford T. and Widholm J. Variation for ABA concentration in tassels from H99 X FR16 and H99 X Pa91 F4 families. MNL 1998 72:78-79
  • Mei C. et al. Abscisic acid regulation on the rate of plantlet regeneration from rice calli in vitro. J. of Agric. Biotech. 1994 2(1):96-99

· Mei C. et al. Effect of agar concentration on the rate of plantlet regeneration and contents of endogenous ABA and ZRs in rice calli. Chinese J. of Rice Sci. 1993 7: 48-152

· Mei C. et al. Improvement of efficiency of rice anther culture with 4PU-30. Plant Physiology Communications 1992 28(3):208-209

· Mei C. et al. Efficiency improvement of rice anther culture on M8 medium. Genetic Manipulation in Plants 1991 7(2):74-80

· Mei C. et al. Improvement of efficiency of rice anther culture with 4PU-30. Plant Physiology Communications 1992 28(3):208-209

· Mei C. et al. Plantlet regeneration from rice calli in relation to endogenous hormone concentration and their proportion. In: You C. and Chen Z. (ed), Agricultural Biotechnology, Proc. of Asia-Pacific Conference on Agricultural Biotechnology, August 20-24, 1992, Beijing, China. China Science and Technology Press, pp615-616

· Mei C. et al. Green preservation effect of 4PU-30 on rice leaves. Plant Physiology Communications 1989(1):17-19

· Mei C. et al. Improving regeneration rate of anther culture in indica rice. Jiangsu J. of Agric. Sci. 1988 4(2):45-48

· Mei C. et al. Changes of the informational macromolecules during the course of growth and senescence in rice calli. Chinese J. of Rice Sci. 1988 2(2):85-88

  • Mei C. et al. Changes of aminopeptidase activity during leaf senescence in rice. Acta Phytophysiologia Sinica 1987 13:58-63
Patents

Patents and Patent Filings

Home Faculty Dr. Chuansheng Mei


Research Interests:

My research program focuses on genetic improvement of biofuel and bioenergy crops. I am using both conventional and genetic engineering approaches to boost the rural economy, by developing elite cultivars adapted to the environments of Southern Virginia, where tobacco was historically grown. Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is one of the most promising bioenergy crop candidates for the US. It gives relatively high biomass yields and can grow on marginal lands. However, the biomass yield varies from year to year and from location to location. Our goal is to develop a low input and sustainable switchgrass feedstock production system utilizing beneficial bacterial endophytes. Beneficial microbial endophytes, generally, promote plant growth, increase nutrient uptake, enhance host tolerance to environmental stresses, and inhibit the growth of plant pathogens and associated diseases. We have demonstrated that one of the most studied plant growth-promoting bacterial endophytes, Burkholderia phytofirmans strain PsJN, is able to colonize and significantly promote growth of switchgrass cv. Alamo under in vitro, growth chamber, and greenhouse conditions. The stimulation of switchgrass lowland cultivar Alamo growth by PsJN was genotype specific, as no beneficial response was recorded with the upland cultivar Cave-in-Rock. We are currently conducting a comparative global gene expression profiling in both cultivars following PsJN inoculation using EST microarrays, in a collaboration with the Noble Foundation. The current research is supported by the DOE Plant Feedstock Genomics for Bioenergy 2010. Also, we are attempting to improve switchgrass biomass production by regulating floral development and leaf senescence, and by enhancing tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. This is being done using new technologies developed through genomics, molecular breeding, bioinformatics, plant physiology and biochemistry research.

Miscanthus x giganteus is a tall, warm-season perennial grass, which has been grown in Europe as a biofuel and bioenergy crop for more than a decade. It is a sterile triploid (3N=57) generated from the hybridization of the diploid M. sinensis (2N=38) with the tetraploid M. sacchariflorus (4N=76) and is characterized as a low input and low maintenance plant with a high yield, little or no susceptibility to pests and diseases, and low moisture and low ash contents at harvest. In comparison with switchgrass, it was reported that M. x giganteus produced much more biomass than switchgrass. Since M. x giganteus is a sterile hybrid and does not produce viable seeds, more practical and high-throughput protocols are needed to provide the large number of plants for the large-scale plantings required to make this a viable energy crop in the US.

In addition to these grassy feedstocks, we are also evaluating different Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) germplasm backgrounds in the field, in an attempt to find the best cultivars suitable for growth under southern Virginia environmental conditions. We are currently developing tissue culture and transformation systems to improve biomass yield, by regulating floral development and sugar translocation from stems to tubers.



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Mei Research Projects

  • Tissue Culture and Transformation


    Switchgrass

    Tissue Culture and Genetic Engineering

    Read more...
  • Molecular Breeding


    Switchgrass Transformation System

    Development of Elite Switchgrass Cultivars Adapted to Local Environments

    Read more...
  • Chemical Mutagenesis


    Chemical Mutagenesis

    EMS-treated Seeds

    Read more...
  • Endophyte-Switchgrass Interaction


    Endophyte-Switchgrass Interaction

    Effects of a Bacterium Endophyte on Switchgrass Growth

    Read more...
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