Research Group of Medicinal Plants for Health

Research Areas

Mainly on the sythesis, regulation and evolution of flavonoids in Scutellaria baicalensis and related species. 
1. the biosynthetic and regulation of flavonoids in Scutellaria baicalensis;
2. the evolution of flavonoids biosynthetic pathway in Scutellaria L.;
3. The mechanism of flavonoids promoting health;
4. Collection of the germplasm resource of Scutellaria L.


Principal Investigator (PI)
Cathie Martin, Ph.D, Professor
Tel: +44 (0) 1603 450275
Email: cathie.martin@jic.ac.uk
Address: Shanghai Chenshan Plant Science Research Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences / Chenshan Botanical Garden 3888 Chenhua Road, Songjiang Shanghai 201602 China

Education Background

Ph D: 1977-1981 in Biochemistry, University of Cambridge
Bachelor: 1973-1977 First Class Hons. in Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge


Experience

2016 –present professor in Shanghai Chenshan Plant Research Center
2015 Honorary doctorate, University of Copenhagen
2015 Awarded honorary DSc, Royal Holloway College, University of London
2014 BBSRC Most Promising Innovator (with Eugenio Butelli)
2014 Apponted Corresponding Member, ASPB
2013 Appointed MBE for services to Plant Biotechnology
2012 - present Elected AAAS Fellow
2011 - present Elected EMBO member
2008 Individual Merit Promotion to Band 2, JIC
2008 - 2015 Editor in Chief, The Plant Cell
2007 Co-Founder/Director of spin-out company; Norfolk Plant Sciences Ltd
2006 - 2010 Niels Bohr Visiting Professor, Faculty of Life Science, KU, Denmark
2004 - present Editorial board, Trends in Plant Sciences
2004 - present Associate Editor, The Plant Cell 2002 Professor, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia
2000 - present Co-Editor, The Plant Cell
1998 - present Editorial board, Current Opinion in Plant Biology
1996 Individual Merit Promotion to Band 3, JIC (Renewed 2002)
1990 Promoted to Unified Grade 7, John Innes Institute
1983 Appointed Higher Scientific Officer, Department of Genetics, John Innes Centre, Norwich
1981-1983 Cambridge University Research Fellow

Members
Jie Liu
M.Eng., Research Assistant
Tel: 021-37792288
Email: lj123321chelsea@163.com
Mengying Cui
M.S., Research Assistant
Tel: 021-37792288
Email: cuimengying@outlook.com
Qing Zhao
PHD
Tel: 021-37792288
Email: zhaoqing01@sibs.ac.cn

Publications
  1. Qing ZhaoMeng-Ying Cui, Olesya Levsh, Dongfeng Yang, Jie Liu, Jie Li, Lionel Hill, Lei Yang, Yonghong Hu, Jing-Ke Weng, Xiao-Ya Chen and Cathie MartinTwo CYP82D Enzymes Function as Flavone Hydroxylases in the Biosynthesis of Root-Specific 4'-Deoxyflavones in Scutellaria baicalensisMolecular Plant. 2018. 11:135–148.

  2. Kalyani Kallam, Ingo Appelhagen, Jie Luo, Nick Albert, Huaibi Zhang, Simon Deroles, Lionel Hill,1 Kim Findlay, Øyvind M. Andersen, Kevin Davies, and Cathie Martin. Aromatic Decoration Determines the Formation of Anthocyanic Vacuolar Inclusions. Current Biology.2017. 27(7):945. 

  3. Qing Zhao, Yang Zhang, Gang Wang, Lionel Hill, Jing-Ke Weng, Xiao-Ya Chen, Hongwei Xue, and Cathie Martin. A specialized flavone biosynthetic pathway has evolved in the medicinal plant, Scutellaria baicalensisScience Advances. 2016. 2(4):e1501780-e1501780.

  4. Qing Zhao, Xiao-Ya Chen, Cathie MartinScutellaria baicalensis, the golden herb from the garden of Chinese medicinal plants. Science Bulletin. 2016. 61(18):1391-1398.

  5. Qing Zhao, Xiao-Ya Chen. Development: A new function of plant trichomes. Nature Plants.2016. 2(7):16096.

  6. Yang Zhang, Eugenio Butelli, Saleh Alseekh, Takayuki Tohge, Ghanasyam Rallapalli, Jie Luo, Prashant G. Kawar, Lionel Hill, Angelo Santino, Alisdair R. Fernie, and Cathie Martin. Multi-level engineering facilitates the production of phenylpropanoid compounds in tomato. Nature Communications. 2015. 6:219-246. 

  7. Yang Zhang, Rosalba De Stefano, Marie Robine, Eugenio Butelli, Katharina Bulling, Lionel Hill, Martin Rejzek, Cathie Martin, and Henk-jan Schoonbeek.  Different ROS-scavenging properties of flavonoids determine their abilities to extend shelf life of tomato. Plant Physiology. 2015. 169(3):1568. 

  8. Mary Williams, Patti Lockhart, and Cathie Martin. Digital teaching tools and global learning communities. Plant Cell2015. 25: 4773-4774.