معرفی
Dr. Nan Lu serves as a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of North Texas (UNT), affiliated with the BioDiscovery Institute since September 2024. His research program focuses on plant specialized metabolism, with particular emphasis on condensed tannins and anthocyanins in agricultural crops.
Dr. Lu's academic background includes:
- Bachelor of Biotechnology from Shandong Agricultural University (2008)
- Ph.D. in Horticulture from Virginia Tech (2013), supervised by Dr. Richard Veilleux
His research employs integrated genetic, genomic, and biochemical approaches to decipher biosynthesis pathways of plant specialized metabolites. Key investigations include enzyme identification in condensed tannin and anthocyanin pathways, transcriptional regulatory mechanisms in crops, and engineering biopolymers in row crops like soybean and maize. This work bridges fundamental plant biochemistry with practical crop improvement applications.
Recent publications (2021-2024) demonstrate significant contributions to understanding proanthocyanidin biosynthesis, revealing novel pathways such as an unconventional route in maize and exploring pathway flexibility across plant species. His work on transcriptional regulation in soybean and gene function in Medicago truncatula highlights translational potential for enhancing nutritional and agronomic traits.
Dr. Lu actively recruits graduate students through UNT's Biology Graduate Program and serves as Principal Investigator on the current grant project 'Engineering condensed tannins in row crops' (Grasslanz Technology Limited, 12/1/2024-11/30/2026).
He leads an independent research group at UNT's BioDiscovery Institute, building upon his postdoctoral training in Dr. Richard Dixon's laboratory where he investigated plant specialized metabolism.
