By Olga Kuchment
Libo Shan has landed her dream job, and
she’s on a quest to help others succeed, too.
Shan’s research, in the Department of
Plant Pathology and Microbiology, aims to improve the health of plants and even
has implications for humans. In 2013, the associate professor won the College
of Agriculture and Life Sciences Dean’s Award for Early Career Research. Though
Shan is an accomplished researcher, at the core of her work is bringing up the
next generation of biologists.
“I want to see more talented
undergraduates going into our field,” Shan says. “Biology is the most
fascinating science. We will never stop addressing its questions.”
Protecting plants
Shan’s research focuses on plant immune
systems. All plants are born with an immune system that detects and fights most
types of infection. For example, this innate immune system recognizes certain
molecules that are carried by bacteria and other microbial intruders.
Although plants are experts at fighting
disease, their defenses can be breached. Pathogens employ sophisticated
strategies to dampen the plant immune response. Shan works to understand the
battle between pathogens and plants at genetic, molecular, and biochemical
levels. Her lab studies cotton, algae, and the small flowering plant Arabidopsis
thaliana, which has been studied extensively in plant biology and genetics.
Boosting immunity
When microbes invade plants, they often
trip the molecular sensors of the innate immune system. Other parts of the
innate immune system, acting like police officers that respond to a jewelry
store alarm, seek out and apprehend the invaders. And other molecules,
including those called negative regulators, essentially turn down the volume of
the alarms, as though not wanting to call the cops twice for the same break-in.
Some pathogens take advantage of this lapse in vigilance to successfully infect
plants.
In the past several years, Shan’s team
of postdoctoral fellows, graduates, and undergrads has learned more about this
“volume control” feature of plant immune system.
“Let’s say we want to boost the immune
response in plants,” Shan says. “We can control the negative regulator, and we
can also engineer the immune sensor to be more sensitized. The type of immune
response we are studying is very broad. So this applies to a broad spectrum of
pathogens.”
The lab’s results may eventually offer
crop growers the power to engineer plants that are more resistant to different
pests, with higher yields.
“If we can decrease pest damage to
crops, this would leverage our capacity to feed the world,” Shan says.
Animal and human health
Animals’ and humans’ immune systems are
more complex than those of plants, but their building blocks are similar. Plants
such as Arabidopsis are relatively easier and quicker to work with in the lab
than animals, yet have many similar innate immunity components. So, studies of
the plant innate immune system can provide insights into animal and human
health.
For example, the innate immune system
plays an essential role in allergies and autoimmune diseases in humans. Shan’s
experiments with plants could help explain long-standing mysteries such as why
children raised in clean environments are more likely to develop allergies. The
research may also pave the way toward treatments for allergies that do more
than simply mask symptoms, Shan says. Parts of the work are supported by a
grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Teaching
When Shan began training in biology as an undergraduate, she wanted to become a teacher. And today students are closely involved with much of the work in her lab. Shan strives to impart in them a passion for biology and an appreciation for plants. To lab, she brings photos and stories.
When Shan began training in biology as an undergraduate, she wanted to become a teacher. And today students are closely involved with much of the work in her lab. Shan strives to impart in them a passion for biology and an appreciation for plants. To lab, she brings photos and stories.
“In the cold winter, I see a tiny
flower,” Shan says. “Most people wouldn’t notice it but to me, this is
something astounding. How come this little guy is alive?”
When students hits a snag in lab, Shan
tells them to be patient.
“I tell my students: You are so very
talented,” Shan says. “The challenge is how you dig out your talent, how you
find it.”
How did Shan end up studying plants? As
an undergraduate student at Beijing Normal University in China, she wanted to
become a biology teacher. After dissecting animals in class, she chose plants.
“Maybe I was a typical girl?” Shan says.
“I hated to see the blood, I hated the smell.”
She has now studied plants for years. Her
appreciation for them has only deepened.
“Plants feed themselves and they also
produce food for all others in this universe,” Shan says. “I have a lifetime of
questions to address. So I think I made the right choice.”
Dr. Libo Shan and her graduate student, Kevin
Cox.
Dr. Libo Shan and her graduate students,
Wenwei Lin (left) and Kevin Cox.
Wenwei Lin (left) and Kevin Cox.
