Current Position:

• Postdoctoral Fellow (2008-present) Plant Biology Division, The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Ardmore, Oklahoma, USA 73401 

Research Interests:

• Biosynthesis and metabolic engineering of useful plant secondary metabolites, transport of plant metabolites, signal transduction involved in biosynthesis of plant secondary metabolites. 

Education:

• Ph.D, Pharmacognosy, 1999, Institute of Materia Medica, Peking Union Medical College & Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Beijing. China.
• M.S. Plant Biology. 1995, College of Life Science, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China.  

Professional experience:  

• Postdoctoral Fellow (2008-present) Plant Biology Division, The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Ardmore, OK, USA 73401
  Project: Biosynthesis and metabolic engineering of proanthocyanidin and lignin in Medicago.
• Research Associate (2004-2008) Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA 73401
  Project: Manipulating metal transport to improve plant nutrition for human health.
• Research Associate (2002-2004) Department of Biochemistry, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA 66056.
  Project: Plant lipid metabolism and phospholipase D-mediated signal transduction.
• JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow (2000-2002)Department of Forest Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Japan. Project: Biosynthesis of a novel antimicrobial tropolone from Cupressus lusitanica cell culture.                 

Selected Publications: 

1. Zhao J, Cheng NH, Motes CM, Blancaflor EB, Moore M, Gonzales N, Padmanaban S, Sze H, Ward JM, Hirschi KD. AtCHX13 is a plasma membrane K⁺ transporter. Plant Physiol. 2008 10.1104/pp.108.124248 
2. Zhao J, Barkla BJ, Marshall J, Pittman JK, Hirschi KD. (2007) The Arabidopsis cax3 mutants display altered salt tolerance, pH sensitivity and reduced plasma membrane H⁺-ATPase activity. Planta  227:659-669.   
3. Mei H, Zhao J, Pittman JK, Lachmansingh J, Park S, Hirschi KD. (2007) In planta regulation of the Arabidopsis Ca²⁺/H⁺ antiporter CAX1. Journal of Experimental Botany 58:3419-3427
4. Zhao J. Fujita K, Sakai K. (2007) Reactive oxygen species, nitric oxide, and their interactions play different roles in Cupressus lusitanica cell death and β-thujaplicin production. New Phytologist  175:215-229.
5. Zhao J, Verpoorte R. (2007). Engineering indole alkaloid production in Catharanthus roseus cell cultures in bioreactors: from biochemical processing to metabolic engineering.  Phytochemistry Reviews 6: 435-457.
6. Zhao J (2007) Plant troponoids: Chemistry, biological activity, and biosynthesis. Current Medicinal Chemistry 14(24):2597-2621.
7. Buseman CM, Tamura P, Sparks AA, Baughman E, Maatta S, Zhao J, Roth MR, Esch SW, Shah J, Williams TD, Welti R. (2006) Wounding stimulates the accumulation of glycerolipids containing oxophytodienoic acid and dinor-oxophytodienoic acid in Arabidopsis leaves. Plant Physiology 142:28-39.
8. Mishra G, Zhang W, Deng F, Zhao J, Wang X (2006) A bifurcating pathway directs abscisic acid effects on stomatal closure and opening in Arabidopsis. Science 312:264-266.
9. Zhao J, Matsimaga Y, Fujita K, Sakai K. (2006) Metabolic flux and signal analysis of b-thujaplicin and monoterpene biosynthesis in elicited C. lusitanica cell culture by elicitor and methyl jasmonate. Metabolic Engineering 8:14-29
10. Zhao J, Davis LC, Verpoorte R (2005) Elicitor signal transduction leading to production of plant secondary metabolites. Biotechnology Advances 23:283-333.
11. Shigaki T, Barkala B, Miranda-Vergara MC, Zhao J, Pantoja O, Hirschi K(2005). Identification of a critical histidine involved in metal transport activity in Arabidopsis cation/H exchanger CAX1. Journal of Biological Chemistry 280: 30136 - 30142  
12. Zhao J, Fujita K, Sakai K. (2005) Oxidative burst in plant cell culture process: a role in production of?β-thujaplicin by Cupressus lusitanica suspension culture. Biotechnology and Bioengineering 90: 621-631.
13. Zhang W, Qin C, Zhao J, Wang X. (2004) Phospholipase Dα1-derived phosphatidic acid interacts with ABI1 phosphatase 2C and regulates abscisic acid signaling, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101:9508-9513. 
14. Zhao J, Wang X. (2004). The common plant phospholpase D, PLDα1, interacts with Arabidopsis heterotrimeric G-protein α-subunit through a motif analogous to the DRY motif in G-protein-coupled receptors. Journal of Biological Chemistry 279: 1794-1800.
15. Zhao J, Zheng SH, Fujita K, Sakai K. (2004) Jasmonate and ethylene signaling pathways and their interaction are integral parts of the elicitor signal transduction leading to phytoalexin biosynthesis in Cupressus lusitanica cell cultures. Journal of Experimental Botany 55:1003-1012.
16. Zhao J, Guo Y, Kosaihira A, Sakai K. (2004) Rapid metabolism of phosphoinositides and its possible roles in phytoalexin biosynthesis in elicitor-treated Cupressus lusitanica cell cultures. Planta 219:121-131.
17. Zhao J, Sakai K. (2003) Multiple signaling pathways mediate fungal elicitor–induced b-thujaplicin accumulation in Cupressus lusitanica cell cultures. Journal of Experimental Botany 54:647-656.
18. Zhao J, Fujita K, Yamada J, Sakai K. (2001) Improved b-thujaplicin production in Cupressus lusitanica suspension cultures by fungal elicitor and methyl jasmonate. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 55: 301-305.