Session 2: Biomass Restructuring and Germplasm Innovation for Bamboo Forest under Global Change

Brief Introduction:

Meeting Agenda：

Speaker Biography：

Dr. Qiang Zhu is a Professor at Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, where he serves as academic Leader of the Fujian Provincial University Scientific and Technological Innovation Team, and awards as a Distinguished Professor of Fujian Province's "Minjiang Scholar" program. His current work focuses on developing comprehensive genetic toolkits for bamboo and Chinese fir, and on elucidating the molecular mechanisms underpinning key agronomic traits, particularly cell wall biosynthesis and stress resilience. As corresponding author, he has published over 30 papers in leading international academic journals, such as New Phytologist, Plant Biotechnology Journal, and The Plant Journal. He is a recipient of the Fujian Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award.

Dr. Qiang Wei is a professor and doctoral supervisor at Nanjing Forestry University, leading the Bamboo Functional Genomics and Molecular Breeding team. His research focuses on molecular regulation of bamboo growth and environmental adaptation, revealing cytological and molecular mechanisms of shoot thickening and elongation. He has published 60 papers as first/corresponding author, including 18 in Q1 plant/forestry journals, with works in The Plant Cell, New Phytologist, and Plant Biotechnology Journal. He has led 12 national-level projects funded by NSFC, national R&D programs, and Jiangsu Provincial NSF. He is a Young Academic Leader of Jiangsu Qinglan Project and an Innovative Leading Talent of Jiangxi Thousand Talents Program. He received the Liangxi Forestry Natural Science Award (second class, rank 3) and Jiangsu Higher Education Science and Technology Research Award (third class, rank 1). He serves on editorial boards of BMC Methods and Molecular Biology Reports, as a review committee member for Tree Physiology, and on the academic committee of Nanjing Forestry University. He is a regular reviewer for over 20 journals including PNAS.

Dr. Guirong Qiao, Associate Professor and Master Supervisor at the Research Institute of Subtropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry. She specializes in genetic improvement and molecular biology of bamboo. Taking important economic bamboo species such as Phyllostachys edulis and Dendrocalamus latiflorus as research materials, she has overcome technical bottlenecks in bamboo genetic manipulation and constructed stable and efficient genetic transformation platforms, providing key technical support for bamboo functional genomics research. Her research systematically dissects the biological functions and molecular regulatory networks of key genes involved in representative biological processes of bamboo, including cell wall biosynthesis, shoot bud development, and floral transition. She has presided over multiple national and provincial research projects, including the National Natural Science Foundation of China, sub-tasks of the National Key R&D Program, fundamental research funds of the Chinese Academy of Forestry, and public welfare research projects of Zhejiang Province. She has published more than 20 academic papers as the first or corresponding author and holds 3 authorized invention patents. Committed to addressing the practical needs of bamboo industry development, she aims to unravel the molecular basis of unique bamboo traits and translate basic research findings into bamboo germplasm improvement practices, providing important theoretical basis and technical support for bamboo molecular breeding, efficient utilization of bamboo resources, and high-quality development of the bamboo industry.

Dr.Ning Li is an Associate Professor at the College of Forestry, Central South University of Forestry and Technology (CSUFT). She graduated from Northeast Forestry University and received her PhD from the University of Goettingen, Germany, in 2017. She subsequently conducted postdoctoral research at the Schwann-Schleiden Research Centre and joined CSUFT in 2019. Her research focuses on the breeding, cultivation, and protection of non-wood forest plants, with particular emphasis on mining and innovating genetic resources for key traits supporting bamboo-based alternatives to plastics. She has led a subproject of a Major Program and a Youth Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, as well as several provincial research projects, and was selected for the Furong Young Talent Program. She has published more than 20 papers as first or corresponding author in journals including Plant Biotechnology Journal, New Phytologist, Journal of Hazardous Materials, Industrial Crops and Products, and Tree Physiology, including one cover story article and three ESI Highly Cited Papers with most-cited paper has received over 700 citations. She also holds three granted Chinese invention patents.

Dr. Yan Wang is an Assistant Research Fellow at the Institute of Gene Science and Industrialization for Bamboo and Rattan Resources, International Centre for Bamboo and Rattan (ICBR). She has served as Principal Investigator for projects including the Young Scientists Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Category C), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Fellowship Program (Category C), and the General Grant of China Postdoctoral Science Foundation. Her research has been published in scientific journals including Molecular Plant, Plant Physiology, New Phytologist, and Horticulture Research. 

Xinzhang Song, Tier-II Professor and Ph.D. Supervisor, specializes in bamboo silviculture and carbon sequestration. He has led projects funded by the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, Key Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Key Program for International (Regional) Cooperation and Exchange, and National Key R&D Program of China. He has published over 100 papers as first or corresponding author in leading journals, including Science Advances and Advanced Science, authored two monographs, and obtained two invention patents. As the principal awardee, he received the Second Prize of the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Award. He leads a National Forestry and Grassland Science and Technology Innovation Team and has been recognized as an Advanced Worker in Agricultural Science and Technology of Zhejiang Province. He serves as Vice Chair of the Forest Ecology Branch of the Chinese Society of Forestry, Vice President of the Ecological Society of Zhejiang Province, and an editorial board member of Forest Ecosystems and Scientia Silvae Sinicae. He also reviews manuscripts for journals including Science and PNAS.

Dr. Xinxin Ma, Professor. She received her Ph.D. in Wood-based Composite Science and Engineering from the Chinese Academy of Forestry in 2015, was a visiting scholar at the University of North Texas in 2016, and joined the International Centre for Bamboo and Rattan (ICBR) in 2017. Her research focuses on bamboo rheology. She has developed in situ Raman spectroscopy under multi-field loading for visualized spectral imaging analysis of bamboo rheology, and established precision aging bending, push-bending progressive forming, and rolling-bending technologies for small-diameter round bamboo. Four achievements including the key precision aging bending technology were assessed as internationally advanced. She leads five projects including NSFC and a National Key R&D Program sub-project. She has published over 30 papers as first/corresponding author, authored the monograph Bamboo Mechanics, been granted over 10 invention patents, and developed one ISO standard. She serves as an expert in ISO/TC 296 WG7 and has received the Liang Xi Science and Technology Progress First Prize and Mao Yisheng Wood Science and Technology Award. In 2021, she was selected as a provincial-level talent under the National Forestry and Grassland Administration Hundred-Thousand-Ten Thousand Talents Project. 

Dr. Qing Xu is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Bamboo and Rattan Resources and Environment, International Centre for Bamboo and Rattan (ICBR). Her research centers on remote sensing-driven forest and bamboo resource inventory and monitoring, with core expertise in airborne LiDAR applications, forest biomass estimation, uncertainty quantification, and the integration of statistical inference. Dr. Xu earned her Ph.D. from the University of Eastern Finland in 2014. She completed postdoctoral appointments at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Nevada, Reno, where she joined the NASA Carbon Monitoring System program to reduce uncertainties in forest carbon stock estimation across California. After she joined the ICBR, she has established China’s first 32-hectare mixed bamboo-broadleaved forest Megaplot in Yong’an, Fujian, to support long-term forest carbon sequestration and biodiversity research. Dr. Xu has led two National Natural Science Foundation of China projects and participated in a National Social Science Fund project. She has published over 20 peer-reviewed papers in top-tier remote sensing journals.