Zhe Wang

Ph.D. Student in Plant Pathology
Plant-Pathogen-Microbiome Interactions Researcher

About Me

I'm now a Ph.D. student in Kenichi Tsuda lab at Huazhong Agricultural University, specializing in plant pathology with a focus on plant-pathogen-microbiome interactions and phyllosphere microbiome research. My work combines multi-omics approaches to understand the molecular mechanisms of plant microbiome-mediated plant protection.

Moreover, I share my research experience and ideas in WeChat Official Account.

Education

Ph.D. in Plant Pathology

September 2022 – Present

Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China

Supervisor: Dr. Kenichi Tsuda

B.S. in Plant Protection

September 2018 – June 2022

Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China

Supervisor: Dr. Liangcai Peng

Research Experience

Graduate Research Project

September 2022 – Present

Title: Multi-omics reveal the interactions among maize, fungal pathogen Bipolaris maydis, and microbiome

Supervisor: Dr. Kenichi Tsuda

Abstract: This research utilizes the maize-Bipolaris maydis-microbiome interaction system, aiming to reveal the molecular mechanisms of plant microbiome-mediated plant protection/pathogen promotion through metagenomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics as well as synthetic community.

Part of the National Key R&D Program of China (Project ID: SQ2022YFA1300114)

Undergraduate Research Project

September 2018 – June 2022

Title: Development of bioethanol detection type yeast sensor

Supervisor: Dr. Liangcai Peng

Abstract: Energy shortages and environmental pollution highlight the need for renewable energy. This project identified eight ethanol-specific inducible promoters (pESN1-8) in Pichia pastoris via RNA-seq, creating a "sensing yeast" that provides a basis for high-throughput ethanol detection and genetic improvement of ethanol-producing yeast.

Publications

2025

  1. Wang Z, Yin JK, Tsuda K*. Harnessing Aspergillus and host M genes for sustainable phyllosphere microbiome engineering. Crop Health, 3(1):6 (2025). [Comment]
        🇨🇳 Chinese version

2024

  1. Nakagami S#, Wang Z#, Han XW, Tsuda K*. Regulation of bacterial growth and behavior by host plant. Annu. Rev. Phytopathol., 62:12.1-12.28 (2024). [Review]
        🇨🇳 Chinese version
  2. Jian Y, Gong D, Wang Z, Liu L, He J, Han X, Tsuda K*. How plants manage pathogen infection. EMBO Reports, 25:31-44 (2024). [Review]

*corresponding author, #co-first author

Skills

  • 🔬 Research: Critical thinking, Qualified scientific writing, Logical presentation
  • 💻 Bioinformatics: Shell & R; RNA-seq, scRNA-seq, Amplicon, Metagenome analysis
  • 🎨 Visualization: BioRender, Rstudio, Adobe Illustrator, PhotoShop
  • 🧪 Experimental: Microbe isolation and culture, Molecular cloning, Vector construction, Yeast genetic transformation, qPCR, Optical microscope
  • 🌐 Languages: Chinese (native), English (CET6: 483, professional)
  • ⚙️ Others: Server management, Paper management (Zotero), Logo & Website design, New media operation (150+ original content posts)

Honors & Awards

  • 2024: Third Prize in Graduate Students Academic Competition
  • 2023-2024: Outstanding Graduate Student Leader (HZAU)
  • 2023-2024: Outstanding Graduate Student (HZAU)
  • 2024: First Prize in the "Paper of the Month" (HZAU)
  • 2022-2023: Outstanding Graduate Student (HZAU)
  • 2022, 2023: Master's Degree First-Class Scholarship (HZAU)
  • 2022: Outstanding Graduate (HZAU)
  • 2018-2022: Outstanding Student (HZAU) - 4 times

Academic Service

  • 2025: Budding editor, Plant & Cell Physiology
  • 2025: Reviewer for PNAS, Plant & Cell Physiology (2 times), Plant Biotechnology
  • 2024: Co-reviewer, Current Biology
  • 2023: Co-reviewer, The Plant Cell, Nature Communications
  • 2022: Co-reviewer, Nucleic Acids Research; Teaching assistant for Biostatistics (Online), Dr. Fumiaki Katagiri

Conference Presentations

  • Oct 2024: The 7th International Conference on Biotic Plant Interactions (Poster), Hangzhou, China
  • Aug 2024: Asian Congress of Plant Pathology (Poster), Changchun, China
  • Aug 2023: Methods In Plant Sciences, Online
  • Aug 2023: Annual Meeting of the Plant Pathology, Taian, China
  • Apr 2023: National Academic Annual Meeting of the Chinese Society of Plant Physiology and Molecular Biology, Wuhan, China
  • Dec 2021: National Congress of Plant Biology, Chengdu, China