Research Interests

Genetic analysis of complex traits in crops
We are interested in quantitative genetics of complex traits in crops. For the stage of trait-to-gene, our primary focus is the genetic dissections of complex traits and the identification of causative genes and alleles. For the gene-to-trait stage, our aim is to reassemble identified gene/QTL elements, gene regulatory networks, and environmental factors to predict the phenotypes of plants. We plan to integrate the permanent populations, multiple-level omics data, functional data, and next-generation analysis approaches (e.g., deep learning) to deal with the issues involving missing heritability and low phenotype prediction.

The genetic mechanisms of heterosis in crops
Heterosis, or hybrid vigor, is a predominant phenomenon in plant genetics, serving as the basis of crop hybrid breeding, but the causative loci and genes underlying heterosis remain unclear in many crops. Our primary interest is to dissect the underlying genetic architecture of heterosis for rice and maize in particular, and seek for the common genetic patterns and causative genes contributing to heterosis in crops. 

Bioinformatics methods for genomics and genetics studies
​We design bioinformatics methods to solve the problems associated with the above two research fields, and aim to build genotyping methods for different crops with diverse genomic characteristics with minimized cost. Also, we develop toolkits to assist crop breeders to facilitate the process of crop breeding.