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Plants have evolved sophisticated immune systems to detect pathogens and mount effective defense responses. Central to this immunity are intracellular nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat receptors (NLRs), which recognize pathogen-derived molecules and activate powerful immune responses. Many NLRs operate not as individual receptors, but as interconnected networks in which sensor and helper NLRs cooperate to recognize diverse pathogens and initiate immune signaling.
Dr. Chih-Hang Wu's Lab at the Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica investigates how plant immune systems evolve, function, and can be engineered for improved disease resistance.
植物在演化過程中發展出精密的免疫系統，以偵測病原菌並啟動有效的防禦反應。其中，細胞內的Nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat receptors (NLRs）是植物免疫的重要核心。NLR 能辨識來自病原菌的分子，並啟動強烈的免疫反應。許多 NLR 並非以單一受體獨立作用，而是形成彼此連結的免疫網絡，由感知型 NLR（sensor NLR）與輔助型 NLR（helper NLR）協同作用，以辨識不同的病原菌並啟動免疫訊號傳遞。
中央研究院植物暨微生物學研究所的吳志航博士實驗室致力於探討植物免疫系統如何演化、如何運作，以及如何透過工程化改造提升植物的抗病能力。
Our research spans multiple scales—from the evolution of immune receptor networks to the cellular events that occur within minutes of receptor activation. We investigate how NLRs assemble into active resistosomes, how these complexes trigger calcium signaling, organelle dynamics, and hypersensitive cell death, and how helper–sensor NLR networks diversify across plant lineages.
Beyond understanding natural immune systems, we aim to translate these discoveries into new approaches for crop protection. We explore immune receptor diversity in non-model plants, identify pathogen effectors that activate immunity, and develop new Agrobacterium/Rhizobium strains and transient-expression platforms that enable functional genomics and plant engineering across diverse species.
By combining evolutionary genomics, molecular genetics, quantitative cell biology, pathogen biology, and plant biotechnology, our goal is to uncover fundamental principles of plant immunity and harness them to develop new strategies for disease resistance.
我們的研究橫跨不同的生物學尺度，從免疫受體網絡的演化，到受體活化後數分鐘內所發生的細胞反應。我們探討 NLR 如何組裝形成具活性的抗病小體（resistosome），這些複合體如何引發鈣離子訊號、胞器動態變化及過敏性細胞死亡（hypersensitive cell death），以及輔助型與感知型 NLR 所形成的免疫網絡如何在不同植物類群中演化與多樣化。
除了了解植物天然免疫系統的運作機制之外，我們也致力於將這些研究發現轉化為新的作物保護策略。我們探索非模式植物中的免疫受體多樣性、鑑定能夠活化植物免疫反應的病原菌效應蛋白（effector），並開發新型的 Agrobacterium/Rhizobium 菌株與暫時性基因表現平台，使功能基因體學研究與植物工程能夠拓展至更多不同的植物物種。
透過整合演化基因體學、分子遺傳學、定量細胞生物學、病原生物學與植物生物技術，我們的目標是揭示植物免疫的基本原理，並運用這些知識發展新的植物抗病策略。
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