About Dr. Qi

Dr. Xingyun Qi earned her Ph.D. in cell biology from McGill University. She served as a postdoctoral fellow at Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Washington studying the development of stomata, the mouths on plant epidermis. 

 

Research Interests

The sensitivity of crops to harsh environmental conditions is a major limitation for food production. Two crucial life-events of plants, photosynthesis and transpiration, are greatly affected by abiotic stress. Stomata, small pores on the epidermis of plant aerial parts that facilitate gas exchange with the environment, play critical roles in both photosynthesis and transpiration. Stomatal development is tightly regulated for plant adaptation to the changing environment. The research interest in Qi lab is to study the mechanism of environmental stress regulation on stomatal development, using approaches in molecular biology, cell biology, genetics, and plant developmental biology.