Sugar and Hypoxia Signaling in Plants
Mechanism of Root Development
Rice is the major dietary staple for nearly half of humanity.
Developing technologies for breeding rice tolerant to
multiple stresses while maintaining high productivity is
important. Rice is also a powerful model for studying gene
functions in cereals.
- (1) Regulation of sugar homeostasis - Sugar
homeostasis is crucial for growth, stress tolerance
and productivity. We study regulatory mechanisms of
sugar homeostasis linked to abiotic stress tolerance
and productivity in rice.
- (2) Hypoxia signaling and regulation - Most terrestrial
plants are extremely vulnerable to flooding due
to limited O2 for respiration in tissues submerged
underwater. Rice is unique for its ability to germinate
underwater and grow in water-logged soil. We study
the mechanism of low O2 sensing and signaling
that regulate hormone-dependent anatomical and
metabolic adaptation to flooding in rice.
- (3) Root development and stress tolerance - Root
architecture is essential for water/nutrient uptake that impacts growth rate, tolerance to drought and flooding, and
productivity in plants. We study mechanisms regulating root architecture in response to drought and flooding.
- (4) Rice functional genomics – We generated a rice mutant population of 100,000 T-DNA-tagged gene activation/
knockout lines and a database of 60,000 T-DNA tagged rice genome sequences. This genetic resource, the
Taiwan Rice Insertional Mutant (TRIM) population, is used worldwide for rice functional genomics research.

- PDF, 1984-1988, Dept. Biology, Univ Rochester
Dept. Plant Biology, Cornell Univ USA
- Ph.D., 1984, Dept Plant Pathology
Univ. Arkansas, USA
- MS, 1979, Dept Plant Pathology
Natl Chung Hsing Univ.
- BS, 1975, Dept Plant Pathology
Natl Chung Hsing Univ.
- Hong, Y.-F., Ho, T.-H. D., Wu, C.-F., Ho, S.-L., Yeh, R.-H.,
Lu, C.-A., Chen, P.-W., Yu, S.-M. (2012) Convergent
starvation signals and hormone crosstalk in regulating
nutrient mobilization upon germination. Plant Cell 24:
2857-2873.
- Lin, C.-R., Lee, K.-W., Chen, C.-Y., Hong, Y.-F., Chen,
J.-L., Lu, C.-A., Chen, K.-T., Ho, T.-H. D., Yu, S.-M. (2014)
SnRK1A-interacting negative regulators modulate the
nutrient starvation signaling sensor SnRK1 in sourcesink
communication in cereal seedlings under abiotic
stress. Plant Cell 26: 808-827.
- Yu, S.-M., Lo, S.-F., Ho, T.-H. D. (2015) Source-sink
communication: regulated by hormone, nutrient, and
stress cross-signaling. Trends Plant Sci. 20: 844-857.
- Lo, S.-F., Fan, M.-J., Hsing, Y.-I., Chen, L.-J., Chen, S.,
Wen, I.-C., Liu, Y.-L., Chen, K.-T., Jiang, M.-J., Lin, M.-
K., Rao, M.-Y., Yu, L.-C., Ho, T.-H. D., Yu, S.-M. (2016)
Genetic resources offer efficient tools for rice functional
genomics research. Plant Cell & Environ. 39: 998-1013.
- Chen, Y.-S., Ho, T.-H. D., Liu, L., Lee, D.-H., Lee, C.-
H., Chen, Y.-R., Lin, S.-Y., Lu, C.-A., Yu, S.-M. (2019)
Sugar regulated interactions between MYBS2 and 14-
3-3 proteins enhances plant growth, stress tolerance
and grain weight in rice. Pro. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 116:
21925-21935.
- Lo, S.-F., Cheng, M.-L., Lin, C.-W., Hong, Y.-F., Lee,
K.-W., Hsiao, Y., Hsiao, A.-S., Chen, P.-J., Wong, L.-
I., Chen, N.-C., Hsing, Y.-I., Reuzeau, C., Yu, S.-M.,
Ho, T.-H. D. (2020) RBG1 increases cell division and
auxin levels to enhance seed and root development and
stress recovery. Plant Biotech. J. 18: 1969-1983. (cover
story)