Title/Position: Professor, Doctoral Supervisor
Educational Background:
2010-2013 PhD in University of Tokyo, Japan.
2003-2010 Bachelor & Master in Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
Study Abroad Experience：
2018-2020 Research Associate in University of Cambridge, Britain
2014-2018 Postdoc Fellow in Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden
Research Focus:
TRANSCRIPTIONAL CONTROL
When plants respond to internal or external signals, large sets of genes are switched on and off with precise spatiotemporal programming. The coordinated switching is realized by transcription factors --- a category of proteins that recognize specific DNA codes and regulate the gene expressions nearby. In eukaryotes, DNA is packaged in nucleosomes. When bound, the nucleosomes prevent transcription by excluding the binding of transcription machinery to DNA. We are interested in how transcription factors overcome such barrier, to regulate local chromatin accessibility and activate expression of corresponding genes.
FUNCTIONAL NON-CODING GENOME
As the sites recognized by transcription factors reside in the regulatory noncoding genome, which remains largely underexplored for its functions. Our team also aims to unravel the functions of the noncoding genome.
JUNCAO EPIGENETICS & BREEDING
JUNCAO Technology was invented by Prof. Zhanxi Lin in Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University. JUNCAO technology has helped farmers in many developing countries to shake off poverty. The JUNCAO industry represents efficient use of solar energy, land, and water, and a comprehensive cycle utilization of the plants, fungus, and animals. It tightly links the economic, ecological, and social benefits together. We systematically illustrate the epigenetic maps for JUNCAO and study its transcription regulation, to find functional genomic sites for further improvement of the JUNCAO germplasm.
SEQUENCING-BASED TECHNOLOGIES
In the past decade, the emergence and development of sequencing-based technologies have generated data in an unprecedented scale, allowing scientists to study transcriptional control from a whole-genome perspective and at a systems level. Combining high-throughput experiments and data analysis, we also strive to develop novel sequencing-based technologies, to assist the epigenetic studies on transcriptional control.
Selected Publications:
l T. Li#, H. Chen#, N. Ma#, D. Jiang, J. Wu, X. Zhang, H. Li, J. Su, P. Chen, Q. Liu, Y. Guan, X. Zhu, J. Lin, J. Zhang, Q. Wang*, H. Guo*, F. Zhu*, Specificity landscapes of 40 R2R3‐MYBs reveal how paralogs target different cis‐elements by homodimeric binding. iMeta (IF = 23.7), 2025, 4, e70009.
l L. Luo#, D. Lin#, J. Li#, H. Chen#, Q. Qi, L. Zhang, Y. Luo, J. Chen, D. Jiang, P. Lü, W. Zhu, H, Lin, E. Shao, H. Yan, Y. Jin, G. Lu, Z. Lin, L. Xun, F. Zhu*, L. Huang*, J. Xiao*, EGDB: a comprehensive multi-omics database for energy grasses and the epigenomic atlas of pearl millet. iMeta (IF = 23.7), 2024, 3, e263.
l C. Wen#, Z. Yuan#, X. Zhang#, H. Chen, L. Luo, W. Li, T. Li, N. Ma, F. Mao, D. Lin, Z. Lin, C. Lin, T. Xu, P. Lü*, J. Lin*, F. Zhu*, Sea-ATI Unravels Novel Vocabularies of Plant Active Cistrome. Nucleic Acids Res. (IF = 14.9), 2023, 51, p11568.
l M. Sun#, H. Yan#, A. Zhang#, Y. Jin ... X. Zhang, F. Zhu*, L. Huang*, Milletdb: A Multi-Omics Database to Accelerate the Research of Functional Genomics and Molecular Breeding of Millets. Plant Biotechnol. J. (IF = 13.8), 2023, 21, p2348.
l F. Zhu, L. Farnung, E. Kaasinen, B. Sahu, Y. Yin, B. Wei, S.O. Dodonova, K.R. Nitta, E. Morgunova, M. Taipale, P. Cramer, J. Taipale, The interaction landscape between transcription factors and the nucleosome. Nature (IF = 41.577), 2018, 562, p76.
Research Projects:
2022 High-throughput screening and functional exploration of novel cellular temperature sensors
2024 Development of methods for identification of plant active cis-element sets and exploration of unknown elements
2025 Establishment, development and application of in vivo intelligent evolution technology
Email：fjzhu@fafu.edu.cn