Zhang Wei, holds a Ph.D. and serves as a Doctoral Supervisor. He is a Distinguished Professor under the Qilu Scholar Program, an Outstanding Young and Middle-Aged Expert at Shandong University, and a Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET) recipient by the Ministry of Education. Furthermore, he is recognized as an Outstanding Young Scientist of Shandong Province and a High-Level Talent in Urgent Need in Shandong Province. He has also been awarded the titles of Outstanding Teacher, Excellence Award in Undergraduate Teaching, and Outstanding Young Teaching Talent at Shandong University.
EDUCATION
Ph.D, 1999.09-2005.10. College of Biology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, P. R. China.
Bachelor, 1993.09-1997.06. Biology Department, Qufu Normal University, Shandong, P. R. China
WORK EXPERIENCE
2009.06-current, Professor, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong Province, P. R. China
2019.01-2026.07，Vice Dean of the School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong Province, P. R. China
2005.10-2009.06, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Biology Department, Pennsylvania State Univeristy, PA. USA
RESEARCH PROFILE
His research primarily focuses on model plants and economically important crops, including Arabidopsis thaliana, Chinese cabbage, and soybean. He is dedicated to elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying plant responses to abiotic stresses, such as drought and salinity, with the ultimate goal of developing elite crop germplasm characterized by high yield, stress tolerance, and superior quality.
In recent years, he has directed over ten research projects funded by major national and provincial grants. These include the National Transgenic Major Project, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (Ministry of Education), the Outstanding Young Scientists Fund of Shandong Province, the Outstanding Young Scientists Fund of Shandong University, and the Qilu Young Scholar Discipline Construction Project.
He has cloned multiple key functional genes involved in plant stress responses and published over 60 academic papers in prestigious journals, including The Plant Cell, Plant Physiology, PLOS Pathogens, The Plant Journal, New Phytologist, and Molecular Plant. Currently, he serves as a Standing Council Member of the Shandong Society for Plant Physiology and an Associate Editor for Frontiers in Plant Science.
His outstanding research achievements have been recognized with several awards, including the Third Prize of the Shandong Natural Science Award, the Second Prize of the Excellent Academic Achievements Award for Shandong Universities, the Second Prize of the Natural Science Award for Shandong Universities, and the Third Prize of the Natural Science Award for Shandong Universities.
TEACHING & MENTORING
He has been actively engaged in frontline teaching for both undergraduate and graduate programs. His core teaching responsibilities include delivering the undergraduate core course Plant Biology, as well as the foundational courses Botany and Undergraduate Thesis for the Taishan College, an elite undergraduate training program supported by the Ministry of Education.
Additionally, he co-teaches the course Frontiers in Life Sciences for both undergraduate and graduate students, and supervises field practice programs for undergraduates at both the School of Life Sciences and Taishan College.
Over the years, he has mentored 6 postdoctoral researchers, over 20 Ph.D. candidates, and more than 30 master's students.
He has also led over ten provincial, ministerial, and university-level teaching reform and laboratory construction projects. Recognized as a "Famous Teacher in Qingdao," he is the principal investigator of a First-Class Course in Shandong Province.
His outstanding contributions to education have earned him numerous accolades, including the Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Award, the Second Prize of Teaching Achievement, the Second Prize of Teaching Innovation Competition, Outstanding Teacher, Outstanding Individual in Educational Expansion, Outstanding Young Teaching Talent, and Outstanding Class Advisor at Shandong University.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
1. Chuang Cheng, Qiqi Wu, Mei Wang, Donghua Chen, Jie Li, Jianlin Shen, Shuguo Hou, Pengcheng Zhang, Li Qin, Biswa R Acharya, Xiaoduo Lu, Wei Zhang *（2023）. Maize MITOGEN-ACTIVATED PROTEIN KINASE 20 mediates high-temperature–regulated stomatal movement. Plant Physiology, 193(4), 2788-2805. doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiad488. (*Correspondence author)
2. Chaochao Liang, Chunlong Li, Jing Wu, Min Zhao, Donghua Chen, Cuimei Liu, Jinfang Chu, Wei Zhang, Inhwan Hwang, Mei Wang*（2022）. SORTING NEXIN2 proteins mediate stomatal movement and response to drought stress by regulating trafficking and protein levels of the ABA exporter ABCG25. Plant Journal, 2022, 110: 1603-1618.
3. Mei Wang#, Meng Wang#, Min Zhao, Mengcheng Wang, Shupeng Liu, Yanchen Tian, Byeongho Moon, Chaochao Liang, Chunlong Li, Weiming Shi, Ming-Yi Bai, Shuwei Liu, Wei Zhang, Inhwan Hwang, and Guangmin Xia*. TaSRO1 plays a dual-role in suppressing TaSIP1 to fine tune mitochondrial retrograde signaling and enhance salinity stress tolerance. New Phytologist, 2022, 236 (2): 495-511.
4. Zunyong Liu, Shuguo Hou, Olivier Rodrigues, Ping Wang, Dexian Luo, Shintaro Munemasa, Jiaxin Lei, Jun Liu, Fausto Andres Ortiz-Morea, Xin Wang, Kinya Nomura, Chuanchun Yin, Hongbo Wang, Wei Zhang, Keyan Zhu-Salzman, Sheng Yang He, Ping He, Libo Shan (2022). Phytocytokine signalling reopens stomata in plant immunity and water loss. Nature 605, 332–339. doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04684-3.
5. Xue Zhu, Peng Wang, Zhimin Bai, Marco Herde, Yanqi Ma, Na Li, Shuo Liu, Chao-Feng Huang, Rongxiu Cui, Hongyu Ma, Meng Zhang, Hui Wang, Tiandi Wei, Taiyong Quan, Wei Zhang*, Chunguang Liu, Tao Zhang, Zhong-Bao Yang* . (2021). Calmodulin-like protein CML24 interacts with CAMTA2 and WRKY46 to regulate ALMT1-dependent Al resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana. New Phytologist. 233(6), 2471-2487. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17812
6. Lilong He, Ying Jing, Jian-Lin Shen, Xi-Ning Li, Hui-Ping Liu, Zi-Long Geng, Mei Wang, Yongqing Li, Dong-Hua Chen, Jianwei Gao, Wei Zhang*. (2019). Mitochondrial pyruvate carriers prevent cadmium toxicity by sustaining the TCA cycle and glutathione synthesis. Plant Physiology, 180 (1) :198-211. DOI: 10.1104/pp.18.01610. (*Correspondence author)
7. Xin Wang, Shuguo Hou, Qiqi Wu, Minyan Lin, Biswa R. Acharya, Daoji Wu, and Wei Zhang* (2017). IDL6-HAE/HSL2 impacts pectin degradation and resistance to Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato DC3000 in Arabidopsis leaves. Plant Journal. 89(2), 250–263. (*Correspondence author)
8. Chun-Long Li, Mei Wang, Xiao-Meng Wu, Dong-Hua Chen, Hong-Jun Lv, Jian-Lin Shen, Zhu Qiao, and Wei Zhang*. (2016). THI1, a thiamine thiazole synthase, interacts with Ca2+-dependent protein kinase CPK33 and modulates the S-type anion channels and stomatal closure in Arabidopsis. Plant Physiology. 170( 2), 1090-1104. (*Correspondence author)
9. Shuguo Hou, Xin Wang, Donghua Chen, Xue Yang, Mei Wang, David Turrà, Antonio Di Pietro, and Wei Zhang*. (2014). The secreted peptide PIP1 amplifies immunity through receptor-like kinase 7. Plos Pathogens. 10(9): e1004331. (* Correspondence author).
10. Chun-Long Li, Mei Wang, Xiao-Yan Ma, and Wei Zhang*. (2014). NRGA1, a putative mitochondrial pyruvate carrier, mediates ABA regulation of guard cell ion channels and drought stress responses in Arabidopsis. Molecular Plant. 7 (10): 1508-1521. (* Correspondence author).
11. Biswa R. Acharya, Byeong Wook Jeon, Wei Zhang* and Sarah M. Assmann. (2013). Open Stomata 1 (OST1) is limiting in abscisic acid responses of Arabidopsis guard cells. New Phytologist. 200:1049-1063. (*Co-correspondence author).
12. Li-Na Zhao, Li-Ke Shen, Wen-Zheng Zhang, Wei Zhang*, Yi Wang, and Wei-Hua Wu (2013) Ca2+-dependent protein kinase11 and 24 modulate the activity of the inward rectifying K+ channels in Arabidopsis pollen tubes. Plant Cell. 25:649-661. (* Joint first author)
13. David Chakravorty, Yuri Trusov, Wei Zhang, Biswa R. Acharya, Michael B. Sheahan, David W. McCurdy, Sarah M. Assmann, José Ramón Botella (2011) An atypical heterotrimeric G-protein γ-subunit is involved in guard cell K+-channel regulation and morphological development in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Journal. 67（5）：840-851.
14. Sarah E. Nilson, Wei Zhang.* (2010). Heterotrimeric G protein regulation of stomatal movements. Integrated G Proteins Signaling in Plants (Yalovsky, S., Baluska, F., Jones, A. Eds.). Springer. 177-197. (* Correspondence author).
15. Liu-Min Fan, Wei Zhang*, Jin-Gui Chen, J Philip Taylor, Alan M Jones, Sarah M Assmann. (2008). Abscisic acid regulation of guard-cell K+ and anion channels in Gb- and RGS-deficient Arabidopsis lines. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A 105, 8476-8481. (* Joint first author).
16. Wei Zhang, Sarah E. Nilson, Sarah M Assmann. (2008). Isolation and whole-cell patch clamping of Arabidopsis guard cell protoplasts. Cold Spring Harbor Protocols. pdb.prot5014. (* Correspondence author).
17. Wei Zhang, Liu-Min Fan, Wei-Hua Wu. (2007). Osmo-sensitive and stretch-activated calcium-permeable channels in Vicia faba guard cells are regulated by actin dynamics. Plant Physiology. 143, 1140-1151.
