Dr Zhengao Di

Postdoctoral Researcher

Dept. of Plant Sciences

Biography

I am a postdoc in Dr. Nicola Patron's group in the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, and Earlham Institute at Norwich Research Park. My research focuses on the transcriptional network in the roots of Arabidopsis and tomato in response to changing nitrogen (N) conditions. Prior to joining the Patron Lab, I completed my PhD in Julian Hibberd's lab at the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, studying C4 photosynthesis engineering.

Research

My postdoc work applies single-cell mRNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to disentangle the spatial distribution of the N-responsive transcription factor network across multiple cell types of the root. Knowledge obtained from the scRNA-seq would then be used to facilitate the cell-type specific engineering of the N-responsive network to manipulate its performance under N-limiting conditions.

I am also interested in developing artificial systems, such as plant suspension cells, protoplasts and cell free protein expression systems, together with automation to accelerate the study of physiological processes in plants.