Liu Degao, Ph. D. Assistant Professor

Personal Information

Dr. Liu is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Genomics for Crop Abiotic Stress Tolerance, within the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at Texas Tech University. Previously, Dr. Liu served as a Researcher 5 at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Dr. Liu also worked as a postdoctoral research associate at both the University of Minnesota and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Research Interests

Dr. Liu’s laboratory is interested in developing high-throughput genome editing and synthetic biology technologies. Dr. Liu’s team leverages these innovative approaches to enhance photosynthesis and improve plants' tolerance to abiotic stresses, thereby contributing to the sustainable fulfillment of global requirements for food, fiber, bioenergy, and carbon sequestration.

Development of cutting-edge genome editing and synthetic biology technologies.

Establishment of transgene-free, tissue culture-independent genome editing methods in crop plants.

Engineering photosynthesis for improving water use efficiency and abiotic stress tolerances in plants.

Investigation into the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie plant responses to abiotic stresses.

Select publications

Complete publications. Google scholar.

• Liu, D., Ellison, E.E., Myers, E.A., Donahue, L.I., Xuan, S., Swanson, R., Qi, S., Prichard, L.E., Starker, C.G., Voytas, D.F., (2024). Heritable gene editing in tomato through viral delivery of isopentenyl transferase and single-guide RNAs to latent axillary meristematic cells. PNAS, 121 (39) e2406486121

• Liu, D., Myers, EA., Xuan, S., Prichard, LE., Donahue, LI., Ellison, EE., Starker, CG., Voytas, DF., (2024). Heritable, multinucleotide deletions in plants using viral delivery of a repair exonuclease and guide RNAs. Plant Physiology, kiae015.

• Liu, D., Xuan, S., Prichard, L.E., Donahue, L.I., Pan, C., Nagalakshmi, U., Ellison, E.E., Starker, C.G., Dinesh-Kumar, S.P., Qi, Y., Voytas, D.F., (2022) Heritable base-editing in Arabidopsis using RNA viral vectors. Plant Physiology, Volume 189, Issue 4, Pages 1920-1924.

• Liu, D., Tang, D., Xie, M., Zhang, J., Zhai, L., Mao, J., Luo, C., Lipzen, A., Zhang, Y., Savage, E., Yuan, G., Guo, H.B., Tadesse, D., Hu, R., Jawdy, S., Cheng, H., Li, L., Yer, H., Clark, M.M., Sun, H., Shi, J., Budhathoki, R., Kumar, R., Kamuda, T., Li, Y., Pennacchio, C., Barry, K., Schmutz, J., Berry, R., Muchero, W., Chen, J.G., Li, Y., Tuskan, GA., Yang, X., (2023). Agave REVEILLE1 regulates the onset and release of seasonal dormancy in Populus. Plant Physiology, Volume 191, Issue 3, Pages 1492-1504.

• Liu, D., Chen, M., Mendoza, B., Cheng, H., Hu, R., Li, L., Trinh, C.T., Tuskan, G.A., Yang, X., (2019). CRISPR/Cas9-mediated targeted mutagenesis for functional genomics research of crassulacean acid metabolism plants. Journal of Experimental Botany, Volume 70, Issue 22, Pages 6621-6629.

• Liu, D., Hu, R., Palla, K.J., Tuskan, G.A., Yang, X., (2016). Advances and perspectives on the use of CRISPR/Cas9 systems in plant genomics research. Current Opinion in Plant Biology, Volume 30, Pages 70-77.

• Liu, D., He, S., Zhai, H., Wang, L., Zhao, Y., Wang, B., Li, R., Liu, Q., (2014). Overexpression of IbP5CR enhances salt tolerance in transgenic sweetpotato. Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC), 117, Pages 1-16.

• Liu, D., Hu, R., Zhang, J., Guo, H.B., Cheng, H., Li, L., Borland, A.M., Qin, H., Chen, J.G., Muchero, W., Tuskan, G.A., Yang, X., (2021). Overexpression of an Agave phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase improves plant growth and stress tolerance. Cells, Volume 10, Issue 3, 582.

• Liu, D., Mewalal, R., Hu, R., Tuskan, G.A., Yang, X., (2017). New technologies accelerate the exploration of non-coding RNAs in horticultural plants, Horticulture Research, Volume 4, 17031.