Qifei Gao

2009.09- 2015.07 Ph.D., Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology & Ecology, Chinese Academy of Science, China

2005.09- 2009.06 B.S., Nanjing Agricultural University, China

2026.04-present Principal Investigator, School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China

2022.09-2026.03 Associate Professor (tenure-track), School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

2017.09- 2022.08 Postdoctoral Researcher, University of California, Berkeley, USA

2015.12- 2017.03 Postdoctoral Researcher, Shaanxi Normal University, China

Qifei Gao received his Ph. D. from the Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology & Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China, and completed postdoctoral training in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. He was selected for the Outstanding Young Talents Program (Overseas) of the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Currently, he serves as a Principal Investigator at the School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.

As a ubiquitous second messenger, calcium ion regulates numerous aspects of physiology and development in both animals and plants. The specificity of calcium signals is determined by a two-step process (encoding and decoding) with the encoding mechanism involving a complex array of calcium channels and transporters. Qifei Gao's research primarily focuses on the discovery and characterization of calcium channels in plants, and he has identified several kinds of calcium channels that play critical roles in plant reproduction and plant-microbe interactions.

1. Calcium Signaling in plant male and female interaction

2. Calcium Signaling in Plant-Microbe Interactions

1. Gao, Q., Wang, C., Xi, Y., Shao, Q., Li, L., and Luan, S. (2022). A receptor-channel trio conducts Ca2+ signaling for pollen tube reception. Nature 607, 534-539.

2. Gao, Q., C. Wang, Y. Xi, Q. Shao, C. Hou, L. Li and S. Luan (2023). RALF signaling pathway activates MLO calcium channels to maintain pollen tube integrity. Cell Res 33(1): 71-79.

3. Gao, Q.*, Gu, L.L.*, Wang, H.Q., Fei, C.F., Fang, X., Hussain, J., Sun, S.J., Dong, J.Y., Liu, H., and Wang, Y.F. (2016). CNGC18 is an essential Ca2+ channel in pollen tube tips for pollen tube guidance to ovules in Arabidopsis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 15;113(11):3096-101. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1524629113. (*co-first author)

4. Gao, Q., Fei, C., Dong, J, Gu, L., and Wang, Y. (2014). Arabidopsis CNGC18 is a Ca2+-permeable channel. Mol Plant 7(4):739-43. doi: 10.1093/mp/sst174.

5. Ma, B.*, Zhang, L.*, Gao, Q.*, Wang, J.*, Li, X., Wang, H., Liu, Y., Lin. H., Liu, J., Wang, X., Li, Q., Deng, Y., Tang, W., Luan, S. and He, Z. (2021) A plasma membrane transporter coordinates phosphate reallocation and grain filling in cereals. Nature Genetics 53(6), 906-915. (*co-first author)

6. Shao, Q.*, Gao, Q.*, Lhamo, D., Zhang, H., Luan, S., (2020) Two glutamate- and pH-regulated Ca2+ channels are required for systemic wound signaling in Arabidopsis. Sci Signal 13. (*co-first author)

7. Yan, C.*, Gao Q.*, Yang M., Shao Q., Xu X., Zhang Y. and Luan S. (2024). Ca2+/calmodulin-mediated desensitization of glutamate receptors shapes plant systemic wound signalling and anti-herbivore defence. Nature Plants 10(1): 145-160. (*co-first author)

8. Pan, Y.*, Chai, X.*, Gao, Q.*, Zhou, L., Zhang, S., Li, L., and Luan, S. (2019). Dynamic interactions of plant CNGC subunits and calmodulins drive oscillatory Ca2+ channel activities. Dev Cell, 1-16.(*co-first author)

9. Tian, W., Wang, C., Gao, Q., Li, L., and Luan, S. (2020). Calcium spikes, waves and oscillations in plant development and biotic interactions. Nat Plants 6, 750-759.

10. Ren, Z., Liu, Z., Xi, Y., Dong, Y., Gao, L., Gao, Q., Hou, C., Luan, S., Li, L., and Tian, W. (2026). Arabidopsis IONIC CURRENT FAMILY A proteins facilitate environmental calcium acquisition essential for stress tolerance. Nature Plants 12, 125-139.

2023 Outstanding Young Talents Program (Overseas) of the National Natural Science Foundation of China

2023 High-level Talents in Shanghai

2026 East China Normal University Purple River Outstanding Youth Scholar