Professor (Special Appointment) at Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology and a Research Fellow at the Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is a recipient of the National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars (Overseas), and was selected for Shenzhen Pengcheng Peacock Plan (Category B).

Dr. Qi’s research integrates plant molecular genetics, biochemistry, cell biology, and synthetic biology to explore:

1.The molecular mechanisms of auxin-regulated adaptive plant growth and developmental plasticity.

2.The functional roles of cyclic nucleotide monophosphates (cNMPs) in plants.

3.Applications of plant synthetic biology.

He pioneered the discovery that auxin receptors TIR1/AFBs exhibit nucleotidyl cyclase activities, opening a new direction in auxin signaling research. He also demonstrated the critical role of cNMPs in auxin signal transduction, potentially resolving a decades-long debate about the importance of cNMPs in plants.

Dr. Qi has authored over 20 SCI-indexed papers with more than 2,500 citations. As the first or co-first author, he has published over 10 academic papers in prestigious journals such as Nature (2), Plant Cell, Plant Physiology, New Phytologist, and PLoS Genetics. He frequently serves as a reviewer for leading journals, and presents his findings at international academic conferences.

Education Background

Bachelor’s Degree (March 2004–February 2006): Northwest Normal University

Master’s Degree (September 2006–July 2009): Northwest Normal University

Ph.D. (September 2009–July 2015): Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Professional Experience

2023.08–Present: Professor (Special Appointment), Faculty of Synthetic Biology,Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology

2019.09–2023.07: Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Science and Technology Austria

2017.09–2019.08: Associate Research Fellow, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences

2015.09–2017.08: Postdoctoral Fellow, VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology, Belgium

1.Qi L.# and Friml J# (2025). Nucleotidyl cyclase activities of TIR1/AFB auxin receptors: New insights into the mechanism of auxin signaling. Cryptic Enzymes and Moonlighting, edited by Helen Irving, Christoph Gehring and Aloysius Wong.Elsevier299-322. (Book chapter; #Corresponding author)

2.Chen H.*,Qi L.*, Zou M.*, Lu M., Kwiatkowski M., Pei Y., Jaworski K. and Friml J (2025). TIR1-produced cAMP as a second messenger in transcriptional auxin signalling.Nature640: 1011-1016. (*Co-first author)

3. Qi L., Kwiatkowski M., Kulich I., Chen H., Gao Y., Yun P., Li L., Shabala S., Farmer E., Jaworski K and Friml J (2023). Guanylate cyclase activity of TIR1/AFB auxin receptors in rapid auxin responses.bioRxivdoi: 10.1101/2023.11.18.567481.

4.Qi L.and Friml J. (2023). Tale of cAMP as a second messenger in auxin signaling and beyond.New Phytologist.240: 489-495.

5.Qi L., Kwiatkowski M., Chen H., Hoermayer L., Sinclair S., Zou M., del Genio C., Kubeš M., Napier R., Jaworski K., and Friml J. (2022). Adenylate cyclase activity of TIR1/AFB auxin receptors in plants.Nature.611: 133-138.

6.Qi L.*,Zhang X.*, Zhai H.*, Liu J.*, Wu F., Li C., and Chen Q. (2019). Elongator is required for root stem cell maintenance by regulating SHORTROOT transcription.Plant Physiology.179: 220-232. (Co-first author)

7.Qi L.*, Yan J.*, Li Y., Sun J., Chen Q., Li H., Chu J., Sun X., Yan C., Yu Y., and Li C. (2012).Arabidopsis thalianaplants differentially modulate auxin biosynthesis and transport during defense responses to the necrotrophic pathogenAlternaria brassicicola.New Phytologist.195: 872-882. (Co-first author)

8.Sun J.*,Qi L.*, Li Y., Zhai Q., and Li C. (2013). PIF4 and PIF5 transcription factors link blue light and auxin to regulate the phototropic response inArabidopsis. Plant Cell.25: 2102-2114. (Co-first author)

9.Sun J.*,Qi L.*, Li Y., Chu J., and Li C. (2012). PIF4-mediated activation of YUCCA8 expression integrates temperature into the auxin pathway in regulatingArabidopsis hypocotyl growth.PLoS Genetics.8(3): e1002594. (Co-first author)

10.Ding L.*,Qi L.*, Jing H., Li J., Wang W. and Wang T. (2008) Phytotoxic effects of leukamenin E (an ent-kaurene diterpenoid) on root growth and root hair development inLactuca sativaL. seedlings.Journal of Chemical Ecology34: 1492-1500. (* Co-first author)

Auxin Signaling: Investigating auxin signal transduction and its applications in agricultural synthetic biology.

cNMPs in Plant Signaling: Exploring the role of cyclic nucleotide monophosphates (cNMPs) in plant cellular signaling and their agricultural applications.

Synthetic Biology in Agriculture: Developing crop improvement strategies, nutrient enhancement, and green biomanufacturing using synthetic biology approaches.