Prof. Dr. Jiayang Li

Research Priorities: Plant breeding, yield increase, stress resistance in plants, key genes, transgenic plants, breeding elite types of rice
Jiayang Li is a biologist. He researches the molecular mechanisms underlying plant architecture, with a particular focus on characteristics that improve harvest yield and quality. He and his team use modern technologies to breed rice which has a high yield and a good resistance to stress.
Jiayang Li researches the molecular mechanisms of the plant development and biosynthesis pathways in higher plants. He characterises and clones key genes that influence the plant height, panicle size and culm strength of rice. He is particularly interested in the molecular design of new elite types of rice. Using marker-supported selection and transgenic approaches, he aims to breed rice plants of good quality, nutritional use efficiency and with resistance to stress factors.
Jiayang Li discovered that the rapeseed element lactone can promote cell division. He cloned related genes from rapeseed mutations and developed a method with which botanical functional cells can be systematically assessed. He also researches external environmental factors for the growth of advanced plants. In addition to his research he has held various political offices. From 2001 to 2016 he was China’s Vice Minister of Agriculture.