First author^#, Corresponding author*, Members of Zhenhua's team

-Jianhua Wang^#, Xuan Zhou^#, Wenjuan Ji^#, Jianghu Bian, Changjian Zhang, Hong Zhou, Changheng Shan, Ning An, Rongchi Li, Quanzhe Li, Si-Hua Hou, Zhenhua Liu*. Plastid 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases mediate stereoselective C14β-hydroxylation in cardenolide biosynthesis. PNAS. (February, 2026)

-Changheng Shan^#, Xuan Zhou^#, Jiaojiao Zhu, Aatif Rashid, Jianhua Wang, Ning An, Changjian Zhang, Wenjuan Ji, Baosong Cai, Ke Wu, Sheng Wang, Zhenhua Liu*. Gene duplication and clustering underlie the conservation and diversification of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthesis in plants. Nature Communications. (August, 2025)

-Hao Ai^#, Ruixiang Cheng, Rong Yan, Yaodi Wang, Kexin Wu, Xuan Zhou, Wei Yu, Hao Cheng, Deyue Yu , Xiaorong Tao, Zhenhua Liu*, Dapeng Li*, Yi Xu*. Screening and mechanistic analysis of soybean varieties resistant to stay-green syndrome caused by the soybean stay-green associated virus. Plant Biotechnology Journal. (June, 2025)

-Yingxiao Mai^#, Huimin Hu^#, Wenjuan Ji^#, Yaxuan Xiao, Hong Zhou, Zaohai Zeng, Wenshu Lv, Xingling su, Jiakun Zheng, JingXu, Yanwei Hao, Zhenhua Liu*, Rui Xia*. Evolution and functional characterization of a biosynthetic gene cluster for saponin biosynthesis in Sapindaceae. Molecular Plant. (May, 2025)

-JiaoJiao Zhu^#, Naveed Ahmad, Xuan Zhou, Wanyin He, Jianhua Wang, Changheng Shan, Zelong Chen, Wenjuan Ji, Zhenhua Liu*. Divergent fatty acid desaturase 2 is essential for falcarindiol biosynthesis in carrot. Plant Communications. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xplc.2025.101323 (March, 2025)

-Daiquan Jiang^#, Huaibin Lin^#, Zhenhua Liu^#, Keke Qi^#, Wenjin Zhang, Hongyang Wang, Chengcai Zhang, Lu Zhu, Jiaojiao Zhu, Yan Zhang, Luqi Huang, Sheng Wang*, Yang Pan*, Lanping Guo*. Polyacetylenes and sesquiterpenes in Chinese traditional herb Atractylodes lancea: biomarkers and synergistic effects in red secretory cavities. Molecular Horticulture. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43897-024-00130-2 (February, 2025)

-Wenjuan Ji ^#, Huijuan Wang^#, Ning An, Xuan Zhou, Bingxiao Wen, Bernhard Grimm, Zhenhua Liu*. At5g63290 does not encode coproporphyrinogen III oxidase. Plant physiology. https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiaf046 (January, 2025)

-Wenjuan Ji^#, Anne Osbourn*, Zhenhua Liu*. Understanding metabolic diversification in plants: branchpoints in the evolution of specialized metabolism. Philosophical Transactions B. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2023.0359 (Septemper, 2024)

-Xiaoyang Han^#, Jingyi Zhao, Hong Zhou, Xuan Zhou, Zixin Deng, Zhenhua Liu*, Yi Yu*. The biosynthesis of asiaticoside and madecassoside reveals tandem duplication–directed evolution of glycoside glycosyltransferases in the Apiales. Plant Communications. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xplc.2024.101005 (June, 2024)

-Naveed Ahmad^#, Yi Xu, Faheng Zang, Dapeng Li, Zhenhua Liu*. The evolutionary trajectories of specialized metabolites towards antiviral defense system in plants. Mol Horticulture. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43897-023-00078-9 (January, 2024)

-Zhi-Yan Du, Yang Qu, Zhenhua Liu, Mariam Gaid. Editorial: Advances in metabolism and chemodiversity - focus - plant enzymes. Frontiers in Plant Science. 2023 Jun 16;14:1227424. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1227424.

-ZhiXue Wang^#, Leiyun Yang^#, Georg Jander, Ruchika Bhawal, Sheng Zhang, Zhenhua Liu, Aaron Oakley, Jian Hua. AIG2A and AIG2B limit the activation of salicylic acid-regulated defenses by tryptophan-derived secondary metabolism in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell. 2022 Aug 16:koac255. doi: 10.1093/plcell/koac255.

-Chuansong Zhan^#, Shuangqian Shen^#, Chenkun Yang, Zhenhua Liu, Alisdair R. Fernie, Ian A. Graham, and Jie Luo. Plant metabolic gene clusters in the multi-omics era. Trends in Plant Science, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2022.03.002. (2022)

-Xuan Zhou^#, Zhenhua Liu*. Unlocking Plant Metabolic Diversity: A (pan)-Genomic View. Plant Communications, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xplc.2022.100300. (2022)

-Yao Yao^#, Jihua Zhou^#, Can Cheng, Fuan Niu, Anpeng Zhang, Bin Sun, Rongjian Tu, Jianing Wan, Yao Li, Yiwen Huang, Kaizhen Xie, Yuting Dai, Hui Zhang, Jing Han Hong, Xiaohua Pan, Jiaojiao Zhu, Hong Zhou, Zhenhua Liu, Liming Cao* & Huangwei Chu*. A conserved clathrin-coated vesicle component, SCYL2, regulates plant innate immunity in rice. Plant, Cell & Environment. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/pce.14240 (Dec.,2021)

-Guy Polturak^#, Zhenhua Liu & Anne Osbourn*. New and Emerging Concepts in the Evolution and Function of Plant Biosynthetic Gene Cluster. Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogsc.2021.100568 (2021)

-Wenbing Su^#, Yi Jing^#, Shoukai Lin^#, Zhen Yue^#, Xianghui Yang^#, Jiabao Xu, Jincheng Wu, Zhike Zhang, Rui Xia, Jiaojiao Zhu, Ning An, Haixin Chen, Yanping Hong, Yuan Yuan, Ting Long, Ling Zhang, Yuanyuan Jiang, Zongli Liu, Hailan Zhang, Yongshun Gao, Yuexue Liu, Hailan Lin, Huicong Wang, Levi Yant, Shunquan Lin* and Zhenhua Liu*. Polyploidy underlies co-option and diversification of biosynthetic triterpene pathways in the apple tribe. PNAS. 118.20 (2021): e2101767118.

-Yan Li^#, Aymeric Leveau^#, Qiang Zhao^#, Qi Feng, Hengyun Lu, Jiashun Miao, Zheyong Xue, Azahara C. Martin, Eva Wegel, Jing Wang, Anastasia Orme, Maria-Dolores Rey, Miroslava Karafiátová, Jan Vrána, Burkhard Steuernagel, Ryan Joynson, Charlotte Owen, James Reed, Thomas Louveau, Michael J Stephenson, Lei Zhang, Xuehui Huang, Tao Huang, Danling Fan, Congcong Zhou, Qilin Tian, Wenjun Li, Yiqi Lu, Jiaying Chen, Yan Zhao, Ying Lu, Chuanrang Zhu, Zhenhua Liu, Guy Polturak, Rebecca Casson, Lionel Hill, Graham Moore, Rachel Melton, Neil Hall, Brande B H Wulff, Jaroslav Doležel, Tim Langdon, Bin Han* and Anne Osbourn*. Subtelomeric assembly of a multi-gene pathway for antimicrobial defense compounds in cereals. Nature Communications. 12, 2563 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22920-8

-Shicheng Zou^#, Jincheng Wu^#, Muhammad Qasim Shahid, Yehua He, Shunquan Lin, Zhenhua Liu* & Xianghui Yang*. Identification of key taste components in loquat using widely targeted metabolomics. Food Chemistry, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.126822 (2020)

-Zhenhua Liu^#, Jitender Cheema, Marielle Vigouroux, Lionel Hill, James Reed, Pirita Paajanen, Levi Yant and Anne Osbourn*. Formation and diversification of a paradigm biosynthetic gene cluster in plants. Nature Communications. 2020 Oct;11(1) 5354. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19153-6

-Zhenhua Liu^#, Hernando G. Suarez Duran^#, Yosapol Harnvanichvech, Michael J. Stephenson, M. Eric Schranz, David Nelson, Marnix H. Medema* and Anne Osbourn*. Drivers of metabolic diversification: How dynamic genomic neighborhoods generate new biosynthetic pathways in the Brassicaceae. New Phytologist, doi: 10.1111/nph.16338 (2019)

-New Phytologist invited Reuben J. Peters to comment on this work:Doing the gene shuffle to close synteny: dynamic assembly of biosynthetic gene clusters. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.16631

-Zhixue Wang^#, Leiyun Yang, Zhenhua Liu, Minghui Lu, Yiheng Lan, Tieliu Shi, Dianxing Wu, and Jian Hua*. Natural variations of growth thermo-responsiveness determined by SAUR26/27/28 proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana. New Phytologist. doi: 10.1111/nph.15956 (2019)

-Alber Annette^#, Renault Hugues, Basilio Lopes, Alexandra Bassard, Jean-Etienne, Zhenhua Liu，Ullmann Pascaline, Lesot Agnès, Bihel Frédéric, Schmitt Martine, Werck-Reichhart Danièle*, Ehlting Juergen*. Evolution of coumaroyl conjugate 3-hydroxylases in land plants: Lignin biosynthesis and defense. The Plant Journal. (5):924-936 (2019)

-Zhenhua Liu^#, Raquel Tavarez, Evan S. Forsythe, Francois André, Raphaël Lugan, Gabriella Jonasson, Stéphanie Boutet Mercey, Takayuki Tohge, Mark Beilstein, Danièle Werck-Reichhart*, Hugues Renault. Evolutionary interplay between sister cytochrome P450 genes shapes plasticity in plant metabolism. Nature Communications. 7, 13026 doi: 10.1038/ncomms13026 (2016).

-Zhenhua Liu^#, Benoît Boachon, Raphaël Lugan, Raquel Tavares, Mathieu Erhardt, Jérôme Mutterer, Valérie Demais, Stéphanie Pateyron, Véronique Brunaud, Toshiyuki Ohnishi, Ales Pencik, Patrick Achard, Fan Gong, Peter Hedden, Danièle Werck-Reichhart*, Hugues Renault. A conserved cytochrome P450 evolved in seed plants regulates flower maturation. Molecular Plant. 10.1016/j.molp.2015.09.002 (2015).

-Zhenhua Liu^#, Wenjie Bao, Wanqi Liang, Jingyuan Yin, Dabing Zhang*. Identification of gamyb-4 and analysis of the regulatory role of GAMYB in rice anther development. Journal of Integrative Plant Biology. 52, 670-678. (2010).

-Huifeng Shen^#, Binjun Qian, Litao Yang, Wanqi Liang, Weiwei Chen, Zhenhua Liu, Dabing Zhang*. Estimation of the homoplasmy degree for transplastomic tobacco using quantitative real-time PCR. European Food Research and Technology. 231, 143. (2010).

-Huifeng Shen^#, Binjun Qian, Weiwei Chen, Zhenhua Liu, Litao Yang, Dabing Zhang, Wanqi Liang. Immunogenicity of recombinant F4 (K88) fimbrial adhesin FaeG expressed in tobacco chloroplast. Acta Biochim Biophys Sin (Shanghai). 42,558-567. (2010).