Skip to main content

Xinxin Ding
Postdoctorate RA

Xinxin Ding is a postdoctoral research associate, focusing on multi-omic (transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic) data collection and analysis of the emerging oil crop pennycress. Ding’s work is part of a large project aiming to improve pennycress yield and stress resilience by gaining a system-level understanding of carbon allocation during plant development and reproduction under favorable and adverse growth conditions.

Ding has studied plant biology using a combination of genetics, biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, and bioinformatics tools for the past 10 years. She’s worked with the moss Physcomitrella patens, Arabidopsis, and maize. She’s interested in integrating multi-omic data to accelerate the discovery of genes and proteins regulating essential cellular processes such as nutrient remobilization and abiotic stress responses, which can help find targets for improving crop performance. For her PhD study, Ding worked on a project funded by the National Science Foundation Plant Genome Grant focusing on understanding the roles of autophagy in nutrient recycling, stress protection, and seed development in maize.

Research Interests

  • Plant abiotic stress responses
  • Plant nutrient synthesis, storage, and remobilization
  • Plant cell membrane trafficking and cargo transport/export
  • Selective degradation of cellular compartment
  • Mining and integrating omic data (genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic)
  • Qualitative and quantitative light microscopy

Education

  • PhD in Botany, University of Wisconsin−Madison, WI (Sept. 2014–Aug. 2021).
  • Bachelor of Science, Biology & Biotechnology; Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA (Sept. 2010–May 2014).

Affiliations and Professional Service

  • Member of American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB)

Publications

2022

*Ding, X., *Zhang, X., *Paez-Valencia, J., McLoughlin, F., Reyes, F. C., Morohashi, K., Grotewold, E., Viestra, R. D., & Otegui, M. S. (2022). Microautophagy Mediates Vacuolar Delivery of Storage Proteins in Maize Aleurone Cells. Frontiers in Plant Science,13, 833612.

*These authors share first authorship.

Li, L., Lee, C., Ding, X., Qin, Y., Wijerathna-Yapa, A., Broda, M., Otegui, M. S., & Millar, A. H. (2022). Defects in autophagy lead to selective in vivo changes in turnover of cytosolic and organelle proteins in Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell, 34(10), 3936–3960.

2021

Ding, X., Zhang, X., Olsen, O. A., & Otegui, M. S. (2021). Transient expression of fluorescently tagged proteins in developing maize aleurone cells. MethodsX, 8, 101446.

Goodman, K., Paez-Valencia, J., Pennington, J., Sonntag, A., Ding, X., Lee, H. N., ... & Otegui, M. S. (2021). ESCRT components ISTL1 and LIP5 are required for tapetal function and pollen viability. The Plant Cell, 33(8), 2850–2868.

2020

*Zhang, X., *Ding, X., *Marshall, R. S., Paez-Valencia, J., Lacey, P., Vierstra, R. D., & Otegui, M. S. (2020). Reticulon proteins modulate autophagy of the endoplasmic reticulum in maize endosperm. Elife, 9, e51918.         

*These authors share first authorship.

McLoughlin, F., Marshall, R. S., Ding, X., Chatt, E. C., Kirkpatrick, L. D., Augustine, R. C., ... & Vierstra, R. D. (2020). Autophagy Plays Prominent Roles in Amino Acid, Nucleotide, and Carbohydrate Metabolism During Fixed-carbon Starvation in Maize. The Plant Cell, 32(9), 2699–2724.

2018

Ding, X., Pervere, L. M., Bascom Jr, C., Bibeau, J. P., Khurana, S., Butt, A. M., ... & Vidali, L. (2018). Conditional genetic screen in Physcomitrella patens reveals a novel microtubule depolymerizing-end-tracking protein. PLoS genetics, 14(5), e1007221.