People

Lianyong Wang


Assistant Professor of Biology
Member of IPHI

📧 lian.wang@northeastern.edu
📍 EXP 530D

Question & Approach

Despite the chloroplast’s fundamental importance in global photosynthesis, we still lack a comprehensive understanding of how this complex organelle functions, adapts, and communicates within the cell. The Wang lab addresses this knowledge gap by investigating chloroplast biogenesis, dynamics, and regulation using the model organism Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Their research builds upon Dr. Wang’s pioneering work in creating the first comprehensive chloroplast protein localization atlas and protein-protein interaction network, which revealed previously unknown organizational features including novel biomolecular condensates and spatial arrangements of metabolic pathways.

The Wang lab employs three complementary research strategies: systematically mapping protein localization changes under environmental stresses, uncovering the formation mechanisms of newly-discovered chloroplast biomolecular condensates, and engineering nitrogen fixation capabilities into the chloroplast’s specialized pyrenoid structure. Their approach combines cutting-edge techniques in fluorescence microscopy, proteomics, CRISPR genome editing, and synthetic biology to transform our understanding of chloroplast biology. This fundamental research aims to provide new targets for bioengineering crops, algae, and other photosynthetic organisms to enhance their resistance to environmental stresses while improving yields and sustainability. The work is particularly timely given mounting pressures from climate change and the need for more efficient and resilient food production systems.

Bio

Dr. Lianyong Wang is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Northeastern University and a member of the Institute for the Plant-Human Interface (IPHI). Prior to joining Northeastern, he was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University, where he worked in Dr. Martin Jonikas’s laboratory investigating chloroplast biology and protein organization. At Princeton, he led groundbreaking research that produced the first comprehensive chloroplast protein localization atlas and protein-protein interactome. Prior to Princeton, he completed his Ph.D. in Applied Molecular Microbiology at Kyoto University in 2017 under the supervision of Dr. Hideya Fukuzawa, where his research on chloroplast-mediated CO2 sensing pathways was supported by a prestigious Japanese Government (MEXT) Fellowship. During his doctoral work, he discovered a calcium-binding protein that regulates the chloroplast CO2-concentrating mechanism in the model organism Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. His research has focused on understanding fundamental aspects of chloroplast biology and regulation, with implications for improving crop productivity and sustainability. He received his M.S. in Biochemistry from Northeast Forestry University, China in 2011, where he studied plant responses to salt stress, and his B.S. in Biotechnology from Jinan University, China in 2007.

Key Publications

Wang L, Patena W, Van Baalen KA, Xie Y, Singer ER, Gavrilenko S, et al. A chloroplast protein atlas reveals punctate structures and spatial organization of biosynthetic pathways. Cell. 2023;186: 3499–3518.e14.

Wang L, Jonikas MC. The pyrenoid. Curr Biol. 2020;30: R456–R458.

Wang L, Yamano T, Takane S, Niikawa Y, Toyokawa C, Ozawa S-I, et al. Chloroplast-mediated regulation of CO2-concentrating mechanism by Ca2+-binding protein CAS in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016;113: 12586–12591.

Wang L, Yamano T, Kajikawa M, Hirono M, Fukuzawa H. Isolation and characterization of novel high-CO2-requiring mutants of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Photosynth Res. 2014;121: 175–184.


Full list of publications on Google Scholar

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