Wang Laboratory: A Plant RNA Biology Lab
December 10, 2024 Congratulations to Yunhan! Her first-author manuscript “DNA ligase I circularizes potato spindle tuber viroid RNA in a biomolecular condensate” has been accepted by Molecular Plant Pathology. She has been hard at work with Junfei and Jie (both are co-authors) and developed a state-of-the-art method to co-localize RNA and protein in cells. Yunhan has another co-first-author method manuscript under revision. Now, Yunhan sets a record of the quickest publishing for future students (~8 months since she joined the lab in mid-March 2025).
May 15, 2024 Congratulations to Sameerika! Sameerika was awarded the First Place poster presentation in our Plant Pathology First annual symposium. Great job!
May 6, 2024 Wang lab will be supported by NSF in the next three years to explore the in vivo RNA structural dynamics of viroids. This is in collaboration with the leading RNA biologist, Dr. Yiliang Ding, at John Innes Centre (UK), through the BBSRC-NSF joint funding mechanism. Kudos to the team! Looking forward to the exciting collaborations!
May 2, 2024 We are excited that Ms. Yunhan Wang has decided to join our lab as a Ph.D. student. We expect great things from you! Welcome!
February 26, 2024 Three pioneers of the viroid and prion research rated our TFIIIA-7ZF and Virp1/IMPa-4 work as the most recent milestones (Steger et al., Viruses, 2024). See their figure here.
February 7, 2024 Ms. Yunhan Wang joins our lab for rotation. Yunhan received her joint B.S degree from University of British Columbia (Canada) and Nanjing Forestry University (China). Yunhan is now a graduate student in the Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Program at UF and a CALS Dean's fellowship recipient. Welcome, Yunhan!
November 12, 2023 Dr. Wang joined the Editorial Board for Molecular Plant Pathology.
September 12, 2023 Dr. Wang joined the Editorial Board for PLOS Pathogens as an Academic Editor of the Plant Pathogens section.
September 11, 2023 Dr. Wang is invited to give a seminar titled "A foreign RNA's journey in cells" at Department of Plant Pathology, University of Georgia (Athens, GA).
August 4, 2023 Congratulations to Sameerika! Sameerika received the prestigious Grinter Fellowship from the graduate school at University of Florida. Way to go!
June 25, 2023 Dr. Wang delivered a State-of-the-Art lecture at annual American Society for Virology meeting in Athens GA. It is dedicated to the late Prof. Biao Ding, who was one of the leaders in viroid research. Go viroid! (Link to the Flyer)
June 15, 2023 We moved to the Plant Pathology Department at University of Florida. Go viroid! New lab page here.
March 10, 2023 Dr. Wang is invited to give a virtual seminar titled "A foreign RNA's journey in cells" to the Department of Biology, Arkansas State University.
December 13, 2022 Our Plant Cell paper regarding the mechanism regulating viroid nuclear import is highlighted in the "Spotlight" of Trends In Microbiology and the "In brief" of Plant Cell! Go viroid!
October 3, 2022 Congratulations to Dr. Ma! Junfei's outstanding performance during her Ph.D. study is recognized by the College of Arts and Sciences (MSSTATE). She received an award that appointed her as the research ambassador of the college. Proud of her! (Video link)
September 27, 2022 Dr. Wang joined the Editorial Board of Viruses (Link).
September 21, 2022 Congratulations to Dr. Ma! Junfei successfully defended her dissertation. After some minor edits and a few paperwork, she will officially receive her Ph.D. degree. Proud of her!
September 8, 2022 Congratulations to Dr. Dissanayaka Mudiyanselage! Shachinthaka successfully defended his dissertation. After some minor edits and a few paperwork, he will officially receive his Ph.D. degree (The first one from the Wang lab). Shachinthaka will move to University of Pennsylvania as a Postdoc researcher in January 2023. Proud of him!
June 25, 2022 Our recent publication (a collaborative product from three teams) analyzing the functional dynamics of small RNAs during tomato domestication has been selected for The Plant Journal's Research Highlight (one publication is selected per issue; link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/tpj.15857). It is also featured as the cover: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/cms/asset/0881147e-d01d-4096-89f8-88c3b7f82033/tpj15331-toc-0001-m.jpg. Kudos to all authors.
June 20, 2022 Congratulations to Junfei! Junfei received the Biology Faculty Fund from our department to attend American Society for Plant Biologist annual meeting (Portland OR).
June 3, 2022 Congratulations to Shachinthaka and Junfei! Shachinthaka won Graduate Student Research Award (PhD category) of our Department and had also been nominated to the Graduate Student Research Award of our College! Well deserved. Junfei was also nominated to Graduate Student Teaching Award of our Department.
May 12, 2022 Congratulations to Junfei and Shachinthaka! Both of them are selected to give oral presentations at the annual meeting of American Society for Virology this July (Madison, WI) and awarded travel grants to attend the meeting. Particularly, Junfei received ASV Milt Zaitlin Student Travel Award, only one recipient each year!
February 21, 2022 Dr. Wang is invited to give a virtual seminar titled "A foreign RNA's journey in plants" to the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Delaware.
February 2, 2022 Wang lab will be funded by NSF in the next three years to analyze the molecular basis of RNA promoters in viroids. This project will begin on April 1st, 2022. Kudos to the whole lab! (University News link)
October 11, 2021 Dr. Wang is invited to give a virtual seminar titled "Potato spindle tuber viroid, a small probe for understanding plant RNA-based machinery" to the Department of Plant Pathology, Ohio State University.
August 7, 2021 Dr. Wang becomes the Chair of Molecular and Cellular Phytopathology Committee, American Phytopathological Society. It is a one-year term till August 2022.
March 10, 2021 Dr. Wang is invited to give a virtual seminar titled "Potato spindle tuber viroid, a small probe for understanding plant RNA-based machinery" to the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University.
October 19, 2020 Dr. Wang is invited to give a virtual seminar titled "Potato Spindle Tuber Viroid, a Model for Studying RNA-templated Transcription by DNA-dependent RNA Polymerase II and Beyond" to the Department of Biology, Louisiana State University.
August 6, 2020 Dr. Wang has been elected as the Vice Chair of Molecular and Cellular Phytopathology Committee, American Phytopathological Society. It is a one-year term till August 2021.
July 31, 2020 Wang lab will be funded by NIH in the next three years to analyze the role of TFIIIA-7ZF in the replication of PSTVd. Kudos to the whole lab! (University news link)
March 25, 2020 Congratulations to Shachinthaka! Shachinthaka's manuscript has been accepted by Viruses. This work clarifies the Pol II transcription initiation mechanism when using PSTVd circular RNA template. This is not his first paper in Wang lab. However, it takes courage and determination to complete a wonderful work during the pandemic of COVID-19. I would also like to dedicate this manuscript to my beloved family and friends in Wuhan, China, as well as dear friends and colleagues in US who are suffering in this difficult time. Take care!
February 7, 2020 Dr. Wang is invited to give a seminar titled "Towards the understanding of the simplest yet a sophisticated organism, Potato spindle tuber viroid" at the Department of Biology, University of Mississippi (Oxford, MS).
September 1, 2019 Wang lab, as part of a group, received a research grant from National Science Foundation to study the functional dynamics of Processing Bodies during plant-pathogen interactions.
July 22, 2019 Congratulations to Junfei and Shachinthaka! Shachinthaka was selected to give an oral presentation at the annual meeting of American Society for Virology (Minneapolis, MN). Junfei and Shachinthaka both won travel awards from the American Society for Virology to attend the meeting. In addition, Junfei was supported by the graduate travel fund from the College of Arts & Sciences, while Shachinthaka won the Biology Faculty Fund from our department to support his trip.
May 13, 2019 Congratulations to Sara! Sara successfully applied the prestigious Summer Internship at University of Tokyo (Japan). Sara stands out in this worldwide competition! (Link to the News)
April 24, 2019 Congratulations to Sara! Sara won the First Place Award at the 12th annual MSU Biological Sciences Undergraduate Research Program. Thanks to Sara, Ying received the First Place Mentor award. (Link to the News)
September 26, 2018 Our recent Journal of Virology paper was highlighted by the journal!! Please check it out here: https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jvi.01406-18?permanently=true
July 16, 2018 Congratulations to Jian! Jian was selected for an oral presentation at the American Society for Plant Biologists annual meeting (Montreal, Canada).
February 22, 2018 Congratulations to Heather and Shachinthaka! Heather was selected to give an oral presentation at the Millsaps-HHMI Undergraduate Symposium during the annual meeting of Mississippi Academy of Sciences (Hattiesburg, MS) and was honorably mentioned. Shachinthaka was also selected to present at the special symposium sponsored by Mississippi INBRE at the same meeting.
January 10, 2018 Wang lab and Gordon Lab received a collaborative Strategic Research Initiative grant from the College of Arts & Sciences.
January 1, 2017 Wang lab, as part of a group, received a research grant from National Science Foundation to study the evolutionary dynamics of tomato domestication.