About the Editors
Editor-in-Chief
Yongfeng Guo, PhD
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Qingdao, China
Yongfeng Guo is currently a professor at the Tobacco Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. He received his Ph.D. in Horticulture from Cornell University in 2006. His research interest includes molecular regulation of leaf senescence, plant peptide signalling, and plant molecular farming.
Yongfeng Guo is performing the Editor-in-chief responsibilities in his personal capacity.
Associate Editors
Ioannis Stringlis, PhD
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Crop Science, Agricultural University of Athens
Attica, Greece
I am Assistant Professor at the Agricultural University of Athens. My research focuses on a) plant-microbiome-pathogen interactions, b) mechanisms of induced systemic resistance in plants, c) interaction between iron deficiency and pathogens, and d) plant defense mechanisms activated in response to phytopathogens and beneficial microbes.
I completed my PhD studies (topic: Plant-microbe interactions; 2018) and later worked as postdoctoral researcher (topic: plant-microbiome interactions; 2018 - 2023) at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. https://w1.aua.gr/efp/en/faculty/ioannis-stringlis/
Salma Balazadeh, PhD
Associate Professor Leiden University
Leiden, Netherlands
Salma Balazadeh obtained her Ph.D. degree in Molecular Plant Biology from the Max Planck Institute and the University of Potsdam. She is now an Associate Professor at Leiden University, where her lab investigates how plants respond to environmental stress and how beneficial microbes enhance plant resilience to conditions like drought and heat.
Michael Timko, PhD
Lewis and Clark Professor of Biology
Virginia, United States
Broadly trained biologist with over 40 years of experience in studying the growth, biochemistry, genetics and functional genomics of plants. Current research seeks to expand our knowledge and understanding of the key components involved in the regulation of plant secondary metabolism, and how secondary metabolites can be used to improve human cellular immunity and anti-inflammatory responses. We employ a combination of in vivo and in vitro methodologies and gene expression manipulation to understand the processes underlying plant immune responses and pathogen/parasite virulence.
Kevin Yueju Wang, PhD
Associate Professor of Molecular Biology University of Pikeville Pikeville, KY, USA
I am a dedicated researcher specializing in plant biotechnology, with a strong focus on plant molecular farming and protein expression. My work aims to enhance agricultural productivity and sustainability through the development of plants that can produce recombinant pharmaceuticals and high-value protein compounds. Leveraging advanced biotech tools, I strive to engineer plant genomes for improved traits and resilience against environmental stresses. My research contributes to the innovative use of plants in biotechnology, aiming to address global challenges in medicine and agriculture.
Kewei Zhang
Professor/ Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology
College of life sciences, Zhejiang Normal University
Zhejiang, China
Kewei Zhang is a distinguished professor of Qianjiang Scholars at Zhejiang Normal University. His research group is dedicated to exploring the regulation mechanism of hormones in plant growth and development. Using Arabidopsis Thaliana and Oryza Sativa as model plants, he delves into the mechanisms of hormone synthesis, transport, and signal transduction in plant growth and adaptation. His research aims to uncover the regulation mechanisms of essential agronomic traits and develop innovative methods to improve crop yields. He is most interested in three objects: 1) Regulation of plant growth and senescence, 2) Phytohormone translocation, and 3) Phytohormone metabolism and regulation.
Zhao Zhang, PhD
Professor, College of Horticulture China Agricultural University
Beijing, China
We take comparative and functional genomic approaches to dissect complex traits in horticultural crops, with a current focus on ornamental plants (flowers). We exploit the natural diversity of these plant genomes to identify genes responsible for disease resistance, floral scents and other (quantitative) traits and then apply it to breeding.
Interested in joining the journal team?
If you are interested in joining the journal as an Editorial Board Member or Associate Editor, please complete this Google form. Associate Editors are part of the editorial team that handle manuscripts, while Editorial Board Members are regular reviewers and are consulted for ad hoc advice. We will contact you if your expertise meets the needs of the journal.
Nature Portfolio journals are committed to promoting practices that support diversity, equity and inclusion in science communication and publishing, and we strongly encourage gender, race, ethnic, geographic, career stage and other diversity in our journal teams. Our in-house staff will use your information only for the purposes of identifying new editorial team or board members. Please contact the journal by email if you would like to remove your information from these records.
Please note that we are not able to respond to all applicants.
