Chenyang
Xu
Sponsor: Charlie Brummer, Ph.D. Plant Sciences Alfalfa yield improvement mostly relies on recurrent phenotypic selection and has plateaued in the last three decades. Alternative breeding strategies such as molecular marker assisted breeding are being adopted, but genomic tools connecting phenotype to genotype are still needed. Thus, alfalfa plant architectural traits potentially affecting yield need to be studied. To explore architectural traits in diploid alfalfa, this study uses segregating F2 mapping populations derived from phenotypically divergent parents in traits like presence of pubescence, stem erectness, leaf size, leaf quantity, and internode length. Parents were selected from existing diploid alfalfa research germplasm at UC Davis and F1 plants were self-pollinated to create F2 populations. Currently, the F2 mapping populations are growing in the greenhouse for phenotyping and have been sampled along with the F1 and parents for genotyping. DArTseq technology will be used to obtain genotype data and traits will be measured to obtain phenotype data. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) molecular markers will be used to develop a genetic linkage map for associating genomic regions with phenotypes. The results of this study will identify genetic markers linked to major genes controlling plant architecture. These markers can be directly used in marker assisted selection to accelerate alfalfa breeding programs. PTPN14 Regulates Hippo-TAZ Signaling to Maintain Endothelial Homeostasis and Prevent Vascular Malformations
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Chenyang Xu
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Vascular malformations arise from abnormal development of arteries, veins, capillaries, and lymphatic vessels and can cause significant morbidity and mortality. The Hippo signaling pathway is a key regulator of organ development and tissue homeostasis through its control of angiogenesis. Hippo signaling regulates cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis, largely via contact inhibition in epithelial and endothelial cells. YAP and TAZ are transcriptional co-activators of Hippo signaling with tissue-specific expression patterns. TAZ is highly expressed in vascular endothelial cells. Hippo pathway activity is modulated by genetic regulators, including Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase Non-Receptor Type 14 (PTPN14), which interacts with YAP in epithelial cells and has been implicated in cancer. However, its role in endothelial Hippo signaling remains defined. Here, we show that PTPN14 maintains Hippo pathway activity in endothelial cells by sequestering TAZ in the cytoplasm and promoting its degradation under physiological conditions. Loss of PTPN14 results in increased nuclear localization of TAZ, endothelial proliferation, and vascular malformations. To link human genetic variation to mechanism, we generated a PTPN14 variant map and used AlphaFold-based structural modeling to predict how disease- associated variants disrupt PTPN14-mediated regulation. Together, these findings identify PTPN14 as a critical regulator of endothelial Hippo-TAZ signaling in normal vascular development and disease. A Multilevel Moderated Mediation Analysis: Big Five Personality Traits as Moderators of Stress Appraisal Pathways in Daily Life Jenny Xu
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UC Davis / MED: Pediatrics / 2026
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Chenyang Xu