Zhonglin Mou

Assistant Professor

Department of Microbiology and Cell Science University of Florida 
Ph.D. (1999) Institute of Genetics, CAS, Beijing, China
Post-doctoral: (2000-2004) DCMB, Department of Biology, Duke University

Teaching Interest

Cell Biology

Description of Research

General area: Plant defense responses

My laboratory studies the mechanisms plants evolved to defend themselves against microbial pathogens.  Particular interest is focused on a specific mechanism known as systemic acquired resistance (SAR).  SAR is a secondary defense response, which is induced by a primary infection and confers plants long-lasting resistance to a broad spectrum of pathogens.  The signal transduction in SAR is one of the frontiers of plant research.  We perform genetic screens in Arabidopsis thaliana to identify new components in the SAR signal transduction pathway. We use genetic, molecular, biochemical, and genomic approaches to investigate the fundamental aspects of plant defense responses.

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Selected Publications

Mou, Z. , Zhang, X., Spoel, S. and Dong, X. (2004). Degradation of NPR1 switches off systemic acquired resistance in Arabidopsis. (submitted)

Mou, Z., Fan, W. and Dong, X. (2003). Inducers of plant systemic acquired resistance regulate NPR1 function through redox changes. Cell 113, 935-944.  

Mou, Z., Wang, X., Fu, Z., Dai, Y., Han, C., Ouyang, J., Bao, F., Hu, Y. and Li, J. (2002). Silencing of phosphoethanolamine N-methyltransferase results in temperature-sensitive male sterility and salt hypersensitivity in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 14, 2031-2043.

Mou, Z., He, Y., Dai, Y., Liu, X. and Li, J. (2000). Deficiency in fatty acid synthase leads to premature cell death and dramatic alterations in plant morphology. Plant Cell 12, 405-417.

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