Zhengao Di

I joined Dr. Nicola Patron's group as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist in 2023. My research focuses on the transcriptional network in the roots of Arabidopsis and tomato in response to changing nitrogen (N) conditions.

Using single-cell mRNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis, we aim 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 completed my PhD in Julian Hibberd's lab at the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge from 2017-2022, and continued as a postdoc in the same lab prior to joining EI.

My PhD focused on the engineering of a reverse C4 photosynthesis system that aimed to install C4 biochemistry in the opposite cell types from those used by C4 species. This approach was hypothesised to replicate the spatial patterning of the C4 biochemical pathway but make use of the native leaf anatomy of C3 species.