Xinnian Dong

About

Xinnian Dong is an Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Biology at Duke University, holding appointments since 2004 and 2007 respectively. His laboratory uses Arabidopsis thaliana as a model system to study the mechanisms of plant defense against microbial pathogens, with a focus on systemic acquired resistance (SAR). SAR is a response induced by local infection that provides long-lasting, systemic resistance against a broad spectrum of pathogens, with salicylic acid (SA) identified as the endogenous signal of SAR. His research involves genetic and molecular analyses to identify genes involved in SAR regulation, aiming to understand the gene functions and elucidate the SAR signaling pathway. These SAR-regulating genes are also targeted for molecular engineering of disease-resistant crops. Dr. Dong's work has contributed to understanding plant immune systems, immune hormone regulation, and plant stress responses, with recent publications exploring plant immune mechanisms and the regulation of immune responses through circadian clocks and translational control.

Research topics

• Biochemistry
• Cell biology
• Biology
• Immunology
• Chemistry
• Genetics
• Microbiology
• Medicine

Selected publications

• Formation of NPR1 Condensates Promotes Cell Survival during the Plant Immune Response

  Cell · 2020 · 366 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  DOI

• Structural basis of NPR1 in activating plant immunity

  Nature · 2022 · 193 citations

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Salicylic acid in plant immunity and beyond

  The Plant Cell · 2024-01-02 · 183 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior author

  As the most widely used herbal medicine in human history and a major defence hormone in plants against a broad spectrum of pathogens and abiotic stresses, salicylic acid (SA) has attracted major research interest. With applications of modern technologies over the past 30 years, studies of the effects of SA on plant growth, development, and defence have revealed many new research frontiers and continue to deliver surprises. In this review, we provide an update on recent advances in our understand…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Structural basis of salicylic acid perception by Arabidopsis NPR proteins

  Nature · 2020 · 163 citations

  DOI

• NPR1, a key immune regulator for plant survival under biotic and abiotic stresses

  Molecular Cell · 2023-12-15 · 162 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Nonexpressor of pathogenesis-related genes 1 (NPR1) was discovered in Arabidopsis as an activator of salicylic acid (SA)-mediated immune responses nearly 30 years ago. How NPR1 confers resistance against a variety of pathogens and stresses has been extensively studied; however, only in recent years have the underlying molecular mechanisms been uncovered, particularly NPR1's role in SA-mediated transcriptional reprogramming, stress protein homeostasis, and cell survival. Structural analyses ultim…

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Dynamic regulation of salicylic acid biosynthesis & perception in plant immunity

  NIH · $3.8M · 2004–2018

• Arabidopsis 2010: Expression Profiling of Plant Disease Resistance Pathways

  NSF · $3.6M · 2005–2011

• Elucidation of translational regulatory mechanisms of plant immune responses

  NSF · $925k · 2017–2022

Frequent coauthors

• Lijing Liu

  43 shared

• Yangnan Gu

  University of California, Berkeley

  40 shared

• Musoki Mwimba

  Bridge University

  39 shared

• Joseph D. Clarke

  University of Birmingham

  35 shared

• Sophia G. Zebell

  Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

  35 shared

• Wei Wang

  Peking University

  34 shared

• Raul Zavaliev

  Duke University

  32 shared

• Guoyong Xu

  Shanghai Zhangjiang Laboratory

  31 shared

Similar researchers at Duke University

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• Rytas J. Vilgalysh-93
• Gregory Allan Wrayh-70