Contact Information Prof. Dabing Zhang Email: zhangdb@sjtu.edu.cn

Project Description and Objectives The life cycle of flowering plants alternates between diploid sporophyte and haploid gametophyte generations. Male gametophytes develop in the anther compartment of the stamen within the flower, and require cooperative functional interactions between gametophytic and sporophytic tissues. During the male reproductive development, there are numerous biological events, including cell division, differentiation and degeneration of somatic tissues consisting of four concentric cell layers surrounding and supporting reproductive cells as they form mature pollen grains through meiosis and mitosis. To understand the mechanism of plant male reproduction, we are combining systematic biology (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabonomics) with other approaches such as genetics, cell biology, biochemistry, and structural biology to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying each biological process of male reproduction, e.g., cell-to-cell communication, programmed cell death, and fatty acids metabolism.Eligibility Requirements Applicants should have basic knowledge of biology. Experience in biological research would be an advantage.Main Tasks The student will be involved in all stages of the project: 1）Design experimental scheme 2）Perform experiment 3）Analyze experimental results 4）Write the experiment report 5）Finish a research report. 6）Give two presentations on previously published papers and two on original research.

Website Lab: zhanglab.sjtu.edu.cn  School: http://202.120.63.177:8884/english/