Publications

Before joining AS-BSCT

RESEARCH ARTICLES

52.   Alice Stra, Juan C. Moreno, Jian You Wang, Ivan Petrik, Cristina Votta, Muhammad Jamil, Kit Xi Liew, Guan-Ting Erica Chen, Yagiz Alagoz, Claudia Stange, Valentina Fiorilli, Ondrej Novak, and Salim Al-Babili. LYCOPENE β-CYCLASE overexpression improves growth, modulates hormone content, and affects rhizospheric interactions in tobacco and tomato roots. (2025) PLANT CELL REPORTS, 44, 240 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-025-03623-6 

51.   Wiam Alsharif, Cristina Andres-Barrao, Sabiha Parween, Abdulrahman Hashim, Kirti Shekhawat, Michael Abrouk, Jian You Wang, Ramona Marasco, Simon G. Krattinger, Daniele Daffonchio, Salim Al-Babili, Maged M. Saad, and Heribert Hirt. Switch from soil to plant host life style is mediated by rpoS mutations in bacterial endophyte. (2025) PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT, https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.70101.

50.     Jian You Wang, Muhammad Jamil, Lamis Berqdar, Ikuo Takahashi, Tsuyoshi Ota,Tadao Asami, and Salim Al-Babili. Structural substitutions on the methoxybenzene ring retain the biological activity of the zaxinone mimics MiZax3. (2025) FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE, 16:1631066. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1631066

49.     Mohamed A. Salem, Muhammad Jamil, Jian You Wang, Lamis Berqdar, Kit Xi Liew, Anggra Paramita, Aparna Balakrishna, and Salim Al-Babili. Disruption of the karrikin receptor DWARF 14 LIKE (D14L) gene leads to distinct effects on root and shoot growth, and reprogramming of central metabolism in rice. (2025) JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY, https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/eraf201

48.     Nouf O. Alshareef, Vanessa Melino, Noha Saber, Annamaria De Rosa, Elodie Rey, Jian You Wang, Salim Al-Babili, Caitlin Byrt, Mark Tester, and Magdalena M. Julkowska. Root Remodeling Mechanisms and Salt Tolerance Trade-Offs: The Roles of HKT1, TMAC2, and TIP2;2 in Arabidopsis. (2025) PLOS GENETICS, 21(6): e1011713. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1011713

47.     Abdullah H. Bukhamsin, Saptami S. Shetty, Esraa Fakeih, Mario Soto Martinez, Cecilia Lerma, Mufeeda Mundummal, Jian You Wang, Jürgen Kosel, Salim Al-Babili1, Ikram Blilou, and Khaled N. Salama. In Vivo Dynamics of Indole and Phenol Derived Plant Hormones: Long-term, Continuous, and Minimally Invasive Phytohormone Sensor. (2025) SCIENCE ADVANCES, 11, eads8733, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ads8733

* Research Highlight in KAUST Discovery

46.     Muhammad Jamil, Sylvia Mutinda, Jian You Wang, Damaris Barminga, Agnes Mwihaki, Lynet Navangi, Teresa O. Okiyo, Rohit H. Patil, Titus Ngatia, Patrick Mudavadi, Steven Runo, and Salim Al-Babili. Evaluation of formulated strigolactone analogs for Striga management in Kenyan agriculture. (2025) JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD RESEARCH, 101921. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2025.101921

45.     Muhammad Jamil, Jian You Wang, Lamis Berqdar, Yagiz Alagoz, Ahmed Behisi, and Salim Al-Babili. Cytokinins as an alternative agent for the suicidal germination Striga control strategy. (2025) WEED RESEARCH, 65(2), e12585.https://doi.org/10.1111/wre.12585

*Top 10 most-cited papers published by the journal in 2023.

44.     Abdugaffor Ablazov, Muhammad Jamil, Imran Haider, Jian You Wang, Vanessa Melino, Moez Maghrebi, Gianpiero Vigani, Kit Xi Liew, Pei-Yu Lin, Guan-Ting Erica Chen, Hendrik NJ Kuijer, Lamis Berqdar, Teresa Mazzarella, Valentina Fiorilli, Luisa Lanfranco, Xiongjie Zheng, Nai-Chiang Dai, Ming-Hsin Lai, Yue-Ie Caroline Hsing, Mark Tester, Ikram Blilou, and Salim Al-Babili. Zaxinone Synthase Overexpression Modulates Rice Physiology and Metabolism, Enhancing Nutrient Uptake, Growth, and Productivity. (2025) PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT, 48(4), 2615-2629. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.15016

43.     Arshad Jalala, Mohamed E. Abdelaziz, Mohamed Salema, Kit Xi Liew, Jian You Wang, Wafa Alrasheed, Talal K. Al-Ateeq, Sahar Althobiti, Muein Qaryouti, Abdulrahman Al-Soqeer, Muhammad Jamil, and Salim Al‐Babili. Mimics of the Growth Regulator Zaxinone Increase Saffron Yield and Improve its Nutritional Value. (2025) JOURNAL OF PLANT GROWTH REGULATION, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-025-11690-y

42.  Sylvia Mutinda, Muhammad Jamil, Jian You Wang, Lamis Berqdar, Elijah Ateka, Emily S. Bellis, Salim Al-Babilli, and Steven Runo. Strigolactone biosynthesis lgs1 mutant alleles mined from the sorghum accession panel are a promising resource of resistance to witchweed (Striga) parasitism. (2025) PLANTS, PEOPLE, PLANET, 7(2), 382-395. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10442

*Top 10 most-cited papers published by the journal in 2023.

41.  Lamis Berqdar, Mohamed A. Salem, Jian You Wang, Amer Alrudayan, Muhammad Jamil, and Salim Al-Babili. Development of Rapid and Efficient Protocol for Seed Germination and Seedling Establishment of Oryza coarctata. (2025) BIO- PROTOCOL, 15(4): e5203. DOI: 10.21769/BioProtoc.5203

40.  Paula Oyarce, Ting Ting Xiao, Corinna Henkel, Signe Frost Frederiksen, Jose Kenyi Gonzalez-Kise, Wouter Smet, Jian You Wang, Salim Al-Babili, and Ikram Blilou. Microscopy and spatial-metabolomics identify tissue-specific metabolic pathways uncovering salinity and drought tolerance mechanisms in Avicennia marina and Phoenix dactylifera roots. (2025) SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 15(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-85416-1

39.  Teresa Mazzarella, Matteo Chialva, Leonardo Perez de Souza, Jian You Wang, Cristina Votta, Rhowell Jr. Tiozon, Patrizia Vaccino, Alessandra Salvioli di Fossalunga, Nese Sreenivasulu, Tadao Asami, Alisdair R. Fernie, Salim Al-Babili, Luisa Lanfranco, and Valentina Fiorilli. Effect of exogenous treatment with zaxinone and its mimics on rice root microbiota across different growth stages. (2024) SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 14(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-82833-6

38.  Muhammad Jamil, Jian You Wang, Kinjal A. Patel, Rajendra M. Nagane, Manish V. Patel, Jalindar Totre, Satish E. Bhoge, and Salim Al-Babili. Assessing the Mutagenic Potential of Methyl Phenlactonoate 3 and Nijmegen-1 in Bacterial Reverse Mutation Assays. (2024) HELIYON, e40526. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e40526

37.  Jian You Wang, Aparna Balakrishna, Claudio Martínez, Guan-Ting Erica Chen, Salim Sioud, Angel R de Lera, and Salim Al-Babili. The rice orobanchol synthase catalyzes the hydroxylation of the non-canonical strigolactone methyl 4-oxo-carlactonoate. (2024) NEW PHYTOLOGIST, 244(6), 2121-2126. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.20135

36.  Changsheng Li, Imran Haider, Jian You Wang, Pierre Quinodoz, Hernando G. Suarez Duran, Lucía Reyes Méndez, Robin Horber, Valentina Fiorilli, Cristina Votta, Luisa Lanfranco, Samara M. Correia de Lemos, Laurence Miesch, Alain de Mesmaeker, Marnix H. Medema, Salim Al-Babili, Lemeng Dong, and Harro J. Bouwmeester. OsCYP706C2 diverts rice strigolactone biosynthesis to a non-canonical pathway branch. (2024) SCIENCE ADVANCES, 10, eadq3942 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adq3942

35.  Hendrik NJ Kuijer†, Jian You Wang†, Salim Bougouffa†, Michael Abrouk, Muhammad Jamil, Roberto Incitti, Intikhab Alam, Aparna Balakrishna, Derry Alvarez, Cristina Votta, Guan-Ting Erica Chen, Claudio Martínez, Andrea Zuccolo, Lamis Berqdar, Salim Sioud, Valentina Fiorilli, Angel R. de Lera, Luisa Lanfranco, Takashi Gojobori, Rod A Wing, Simon Krattinger, Xin Gao, and Salim Al-Babili. Chromosome-scale pearl millet genomes reveal CLAMT1b as key determinant of strigolactone pattern and Striga susceptibility. (2024) NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 15(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51189-w † These authors contributed equally.

* Press release at KAUST NEWS, The Saudi Press Agency (SPA), The Arab News

34.  Muhammad Jamil, Ouedraogo Margueritte, Djibril Yonli, Jian You Wang, Lynet Navangi, Patrick Mudavadi, Rohit H. Patil, Satish Ekanath Bhoge, Steven Runo, and Salim Al-Babili. Evaluation of granular formulated strigolactone analogs for Striga suicidal germination. (2024) PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE, 80(9), 4314-4321. https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.8136

33.  Jian You Wang, Guan-Ting Erica Chen, Aparna Balakrishna, Muhammad Jamil, Lamis Berqdar, and Salim Al-Babili. Strigolactone biosynthesis in rice can occur via a 9-cis-3-OH-10'-apo-β-carotenal intermediate. (2024) FEBS LETTERS, 598(5), 571-578. https://doi.org/10.1002/1873-3468.14828

32.  Cristina Votta†, Jian You Wang†, Nicola Cavallini, Francesco Savorani, Arianna Capparotto, Kit Xi Liew, Marco Giovannetti, Luisa Lanfranco, Salim Al-Babili, and Valentina Fiorilli. Integration of rice apocarotenoid profile and expression pattern of Carotenoid Cleavage Dioxygenases reveals a positive effect of β-ionone on mycorrhization. (2024) PLANT PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY, 207, 108366. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2024.108366 † These authors contributed equally.

31.  Muhammad Jamil†, Yagiz Alagoz†, Jian You Wang†, Guan-Ting Erica Chen, Najeh M. Kharbatia, Hendrik N. J. Kuijer, Juan Camilo Moreno Beltran, and Salim Al-Babili. Abscisic acid inhibits germination of Striga seeds and is released by them likely as a rhizospheric signal supporting host infestation. (2024) PLANT JOURNAL, 117(5), 1305-1316. https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.16610 † These authors contributed equally.

* Cover story of the Plant journal Volume 117, Issue 5, February 2024; TPJ Editor choice and Research Highlight in the Plant journal: 117(5), 1303-1304. https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.16668; This highly cited paper received enough citations to place it in the top 1% of the academic field of Plant & Animal Science based on a highly cited threshold for the field and publication year (March/April 2024; May/June 2024; July/August).

30.  Guan-Ting Erica Chen†, Jian You Wang†, Cristina Votta †, Justine Braguy, Muhammad Jamil, Gwendolyn K Kirschner, Valentina Fiorilli, Lamis Berqdar, Aparna Balakrishna, Ikram Blilou, Luisa Lanfranco, and Salim Al-Babili. Disruption of the rice 4-DEOXYOROBANCHOL HYDROXYLASE unravels specific functions of canonical strigolactones. (2023) PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 120(42), e2306263120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2306263120 † These authors contributed equally.

* Research Highlight in KAUST Discovery

29.  Jian You Wang†, Muhammad Jamil†, Turki S. AlOtaibi, Mohamed E. Abdelaziz, Tsuyoshi Ota, Omer H. Ibrahim, Lamis Berqdar, Tadao Asami, Magdi Ali Ahmed Mousa†, and Salim Al-Babili. Zaxinone Mimics (MiZax) Efficiently Promote Growth and Production of Potato and Strawberry Plants under Desert Climate Conditions. (2023) SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 13(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-42478-3 † These authors contributed equally.

28.  Jian You Wang, Lamis Berqdar, and Salim Al-Babili. Protocol for abscisic acid (ABA) extraction from plant seeds. (2023) protocols.io https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/p rotocols.io.81wgbxnnqlpk/v1

27.  Muhammad Jamil, Pei-Yu Lin, Lamis Berqdar, Jian You Wang, Ikuo Takahashi, Tsuyoshi Ota, Noor Al-Hammad, Guan-Ting Erica Chen, Tadao Asami, and Salim Al-Babili. New series of zaxinone mimics (MiZax) for fundamental and applied research. (2023) BIOMOLECULES-BASEL, 13(8), 1206. https://doi.org/10.3390/biom13081206

26.  Jian You Wang†, Guan-Ting Erica Chen†, Justine Braguy, Muhammad Jamil, Lamis Berqdar, and Salim Al-Babili. Disruption of the Cytochrome CYP711A5 Gene Reveals MAX1 Redundancy in Rice Strigolactone Biosynthesis. (2023) JOURNAL OF PLANT PHYSIOLOGY, 287, 154057 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jplph.2023.154057 † These authors contributed equally.

25.  Katya M. Aguliar Perez, Yagiz Alagoz, Batoul Maatouk, Jian You Wang, Lamis Berqdar, Somayah Qutub, Muhammad Jamil, Sara Al-Nasser, Nouf Bin Saleh, Pei-Yu Lin, Lamyaa Almarwaey, Tadao Asami, Salim Al-Babili, and Niveen M. Khashab. Biomimetic mineralization for smart biosimulant delivery and crop micronutrients fortification. (2023) NANO LETTERS, 23, 11, 4732–4740 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c04506

* Research Highlight in KAUST Discovery; Research Highlight in SCIENCE 381 (6654) DOI: 10.1126/science.adj6795

24.  Jian You Wang, Justine Braguy, and Salim Al-Babili. Does zaxinone counteract strigolactones in shaping rice architecture? (2023) PLANT SIGNALING & BEHAVIOR, 18:1, 2184127, https://doi.org/10.1080/15592324.2023.2184127 #Invited article.

23.  Yu Yang, Haneen Abuauf, Shanshan Song, Jian You Wang, Yagiz Alagoz, Juan Camilo Moreno Beltran, Jianing Mi, Abdugaffor Ablazov, Muhammad Jamil, Shawkat Ali, Xiongjie Zheng, Aparna Balakrishna, Ikram Blilou, and Salim Al-Babili. The Arabidopsis D27-LIKE1 is a cis/cis/trans-β-carotene Isomerase that Contributes to Strigolactone Biosynthesis and Negatively Impacts Abscisic Acid Level. (2023) PLANT JOURNAL, 113, 986–1003, https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.16095

22.  Abdugaffor Ablazov, Cristina Votta, Valentina Fiorilli, Jian You Wang, Fatimah Aljedaani, Muhammad Jamil, Aparna Balakrishna, Kit Xi Liew, Chakravarthy Rajan, Lamis Berqdar, Ikram Blilou, Luisa Lanfranco, and Salim Al-Babili. ZAXINONE SYNTHASE 2 regulates growth and arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis in rice. (2023) PLANT PHYSIOLOGY, 191, 382–399 https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiac472

21.  Jian You Wang†, Justine Braguy†, Guan-Ting Erica Chen, Muhammad Jamil, Aparna Balakrishna, Lamis Berqdar, and Salim Al-Babili. Perspectives on the Metabolism of Strigolactones Rhizosphere Signals. (2022) FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE, 13:1062107. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1062107 † These authors contributed equally.

20.  Shinsaku Ito†, Justine Braguy†, Jian You Wang†, Akiyoshi Yoda, Valentina Fiorilli, Ikuo Takahashi, Muhammad Jamil, Abrar Felemban, Sho Miyazaki, Teresa Mazzarella, Guan-Ting Erica Chen, Akihisa Shinozawa, Aparna Balakrishna, Lamis Berqdar, Chakravarty Rajan, Shawkat Ali, Imran Haider, Yasuyuki Sasaki, Shunsuke Yajima, Kohki Akiyama, Luisa Lanfranco, Matias Zurbriggen, Takahito Nomura, Tadao Asami, and Salim Al-Babili. Canonical Strigolactones Are Not the Major Determinant of Tillering but Important Rhizospheric Signals in Rice. (2022) SCIENCE ADVANCES, 8, eadd1278, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.add1278 † These authors contributed equally.

*Fearuted Image Article on Science/Science Advances website publuhsing on 04/Nov/2022; Research Highlight in KAUST Discovery and University of Tokyo; This hot paper was published in the past two years and received enough citations in (May/June 2023) to place it in the top 0.1% of papers in the academic field of Plant & Animal Science; This highly cited paper received enough citations to place it in the top 1% of the academic field of Plant & Animal Science based on a highly cited threshold for the field and publication year (May/June 2023; July/August 2023; September/October 2023; November/December 2023; January/February 2024; March/April 2024; May/June 2024; July/August; September/October 2024; November/December 2024; January/February 2025; March/April 2025; May/June 2025)

19.  Guan-Ting Erica Chen†, Jian You Wang†, Muhammad Jamil, Justine Braguy, and Salim Al-Babili. 9-cis-β-apo-10'-carotenal is the precursor of strigolactones in planta. (2022) PLANTA, 256:88 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-022-03999-9 † These authors contributed equally.

18.  Cristina Votta, Valentina Fiorilli, Imran Haider, Jian You Wang, Raffaella Balestrini, Ivan Petřík, Danuše Tarkowská, Ondřej Novák, Akmaral Serikbayeva, Paola Bonfante, Salim Al-Babili, and Luisa Lanfranco. Zaxinone synthase controls arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization level in rice. (2022) PLANT JOURNAL, 111,1688–1700 https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.15917

17.  Jian You Wang†, Muhammad Jami†, Md. Golap Hossain†, Guan-Ting Erica Chen, Lamis Berqdar, Tsuyoshi Ota, Ikram Blilou, Tadao Asami, Samir Jamil Al-Solimani, Magdi Ali Ahmed Mousa†, and Salim Al-Babili. Evaluation of the Biostimulant Activity of Zaxinone Mimics (MiZax) in Crop Plants. (2022) FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE, 13:874858 Doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.874858 † These authors contributed equally.

16.  Jian You Wang#, Guan-Ting Erica Chen, Muhammad Jamil, Justine Braguy, Salim Sioud, Kit Xi Liew, Aparna Balakrishna, and Salim Al-Babili. Protocol for characterizing strigolactones released by plant roots. (2022) STAR PROTOCOLS, 3 (2) 101352, doi:10.1016/j.xpro.2022.101352 #Technical Correspondence

15.  Muhammad Jamil, Jian You Wang, Djibril Yonli, Tsuyoshi Ota, Lamis Berqdar, Hamidou Traore, Ouedraogo Marguerite, Binne Zwanenburg, Tadao Asami, and Salim Al-Babili. Striga hermonthica Suicidal Germination Activity of Potent Strigolactone Analogs: Evaluation from Laboratory Bioassays to Field Trials. (2022) PLANTS-BASEL, 11(8), 1045, https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11081045

14.  Muhammad Jamil, Jian You Wang, Djibril Yonli, Mohammed Riyazaddin, Prakash Gangashetty, Lamis Berqdar, Guan-Ting Erica Chen, Hamidou Traore, Ouedraogo Marguerite, Binne Zwanenburg, Satish Eknath Bhoge, and Salim Al-Babili. A New Formulation for Strigolactone Suicidal Germination Agents, Towards Successful Striga Management. (2022) PLANTS-BASEL, 11(6), 808, https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11060808

13.  Randa Zarban, Umar Farook Shahul Hameed, Muhammad Jamil, Tsuyoshi Ota, Jian You Wang, Stefan Arold, Tadao Asami, and Salim Al-Babili. Rational design of Striga hermonthica-specific seed germination inhibitors. (2022) PLANT PHYSIOLOGY, 188, 1369–1384, https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiab547

12.  Jian You Wang†, Saleh Alseekh†, Tingting Xiao, Abdugaffor Ablazov, Leonardo Perez de, Valentina Fiorilli, Marita Anggarani, Pei-Yu Lin, Cristina Votta, Mara Novero, Muhammad Jamil, Luisa Lanfranco, Yue-Ie C. Hsing, Ikram Blilou, Alisdair R. Fernie, and Salim Al-Babili. Multi-Omics Approaches Explain the Growth-Promoting Effect of the Apocarotenoid Growth Regulator Zaxinone in Rice. (2021) COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY, 4, 1222 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02740-8 † These authors contributed equally.

11.  Justine Braguy, Merey Ramazanova, Silvio Giancola, Muhammad Jamil, Boubacar Kountche, Randa Zarban, Abrar Felemban, Jian You Wang, Pei-Yu Lin, Imran Haider, Matias Zurbriggen, Bernard Ghanem, and Salim Al-Babili. SeedQuant: A Deep Learning-based tool for assessing stimulants and inhibitors activity on root parasitic seeds. (2021) PLANT PHYSIOLOGY, 186, 1632–1644

10.  Jian You Wang, Muhammad Jamil, Pei-Yu Lin, Tsuyoshi Ota, Valentina Fiorilli, Mara Novero, Randa A. Zarban, Boubacar A. Kountche, Ikuo Takahashi, Claudio Martínez, Luisa Lanfranco, Paola Bonfante, Angel R. de Lera, Tadao Asami, and Salim Al-Babili. Efficient Mimics for Elucidating Zaxinone Biology and Sustaining Agricultural Applications. (2020) MOLECULAR PLANT, 13, 1654–1661 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molp.2020.08.009

*Research Highlight in KAUST Discovery and University of Tokyo

9.  Abdugaffor Ablazov, Jianing Mi, Muhammad Jamil, Kun-Peng Jia, Jian You Wang, Qitong Feng, and Salim Al-Babili. The Apocarotenoid Zaxinone is a Positive Regulator of Strigolactone and Abscisic Acid Biosynthesis in Arabidopsis Roots. (2020) FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE, 11:578 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.00578

8.  Muhammad Jamil, Boubacar A. Kountche, Jian You Wang, Imran Haider, Kun-Peng Jia, Ikuo Takahashi, Tsuyoshi Ota, Tadao Asami, and Salim Al-Babili. A New Series of Carlactonoic Acid Based Strigolactone Analogs for Fundamental and Applied Research. (2020) FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE, 11:434 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.00434

7.  Ting Ting Xiao, Alejandro Aragón Raygoza, Juan Caballero Pérez, Gwendolyn Kirschner, Yanming Deng, Brian Atkinson, Craig Sturrock, Vinicius Lube, Jian You Wang, Gilles Lubineau, Salim Al-Babili, Alfredo Cruz Ramírez, Malcolm Bennett, and Ikram Blilou. Emergent protective organogenesis in date palm: A Morpho-devo-dynamic adaptive strategy during early development. (2019) PLANT CELL, 31: 1751–1766 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00008

*Cover story of The Plant Cell (Vol. 31, Issue 8 Aug 2019); Research Highlight in KAUST Discovery; A contribution to financial reward of One million AED by Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation for First Category: Distinguished Innovative Studies and Modern Technology (12th Session/2020)

6.  Nouf O. Alshareef, Jian You Wang, Shawkat Ali,Salim Al-Babili, Mark Tester, and Sandra M. Schmoeckel. Overexpression of the NAC transcription factor JUNGBRUNNEN1 (JUB1) increases salinity tolerance in tomato. (2019) PLANT PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY, 140, 113-121 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2019.04.038

5.  Muhammad Jamil, Boubacar A. Kountche, Imran Haider, Jian You Wang, Faisal Aldossary, Randa A Zarban, Kun-Peng Jia, Djibril Yonli, Umar F Shahul Hameed, Ikuo Takahashi, Tsuyoshi Ota, Stefan T Arold, Tadao Asami, and Salim Al-Babili. Methylation at the C-3' in D-Ring of Strigolactone Analogs Reduces Biological Activity in Root Parasitic Plants and Rice. (2019) FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE, 10:353 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2019.00353

4.  Jian You Wang†, Imran Haider†, Muhammad Jamil†, Valentina Fiorilli†, Yoshimoto Saito† , Jianing Mi, Lina Baz, Boubacar A. Kountche, Kun-Peng Jia, Xiujie Guo, Aparna Balakrishna, Valentine O. Ntui, Beate Reinke, Veronica Volpe, Takashi Gojobori, Ikram Blilou, Luisa Lanfranco, Paola Bonfante, and Salim Al-Babili. The apocarotenoid metabolite zaxinone regulates growth and strigolactone biosynthesis in rice. (2019) NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 10, 810 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-08461-1 † These authors contributed equally.

*Recommended by Faculty1000; Research Highlight in KAUST Discovery; This highly cited paper received enough citations to place it in the top 1% of the academic field of Plant & Animal Science based on a highly cited threshold for the field and publication year (January/February 2021; March/April 2021; May/June 2021; July/August 2021; September/October 2021; November/December 2021; January/February 2022; March/April 2022; May/June 2022; July/August 2022; September/October 2022; November/December 2022; January/February 2023; March/April 2023; May/June 2023; July/August 2023; September/October 2023; November/December 2023; January/February 2024; March/April 2024; May/June 2024; July/August; September/October 2024; November/December 2024; January/February 2025; March/April 2025; May/June 2025)

3.  Jianing Mi, Kun-Peng Jia, Aparna Balakrishna, Jian You Wang, and Salim Al-Babili. An LC-MS profiling method reveals a route for apocarotenes glycosylation and shows its induction by high light stress in Arabidopsis. (2019) ANALYST, 144, 1197 DOI: 10.1039/c8an02143k

2.  Jianing Mi, Kun-Peng Jia, Jian You Wang, and Salim Al-Babili. A rapid LC-MS method for qualitative and quantitative profiling of plant apocarotenoids. (2018) ANALYTICA CHIMICA ACTA, 1035, 87-95 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aca.2018.07.002

1.  Haroon Butt, Muhammad Jamil, Jian You Wang, Salim Al-Babili, and Magdy Mahfouz. Engineering plant architecture via CRISPR/Cas9-mediated alteration of strigolactone biosynthesis. (2018) BMC PLANT BIOLOGY, 18,174 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-018-1387-1

REVIEW ARTICLES

6. Kawthar F. Alashoor†, Jian You Wang †, and Salim Al-Babili. The role of hydrolysis in perceiving and degrading the plant hormone strigolactones. (2024) TRENDS IN BIOCHEMICAL SCIENCES, 49(12), 1039-1041. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibs.2024.09.006 † These authors contributed equally. #Invited spotlight article.

5. Jian You Wang†, Guan-Ting Erica Chen†, Justine Braguy, and Salim Al-Babili. Distinguishing the Functions of Canonical Strigolactones as Rhizospheric Signals. (2024) TRENDS IN PLANT SCIENCE, 29(8), 925-936. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2024.02.013 † These authors contributed equally. # Invited review article.

*This highly cited paper received enough citations to place it in the top 1% of the academic field of Plant & Animal Science based on a highly cited threshold for the field and publication year (September/October 2024; November/December 2024; January/February 2025)

4. Jian You Wang, Valentina Fiorilli, Luisa Lanfranco, Tadao Asami, and Salim Al-Babili. Editorial: Specialized Metabolites Manipulating Organismal Behaviors and Establishing Rhizospheric Communications. (2023) FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE, 14:1197058. DOI:10.3389/fpls.2023.1197058

3. Mohamed A. Salema, Jian You Wang, and Salim Al-Babili. Metabolomics of plant root exudates: From sample preparation to data analysis. (2022) FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE, 13:1062982. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1062982 #review article.

2. Jian You Wang†, Pei-Yu Lin†, and Salim Al-Babili. On the Biosynthesis and Evolution of Apocarotenoid Plant Growth Regulators. (2021) SEMINARS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY, 109, 3-11 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semcdb.2020.07.007 † These authors contributed equally. #review article

1.     Valentina Fiorilli†, Jian You Wang†, Paola Bonfante, Luisa Lanfranco, and Salim Al-Babili. Apocarotenoids: old and new mediators of the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis. (2019) FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE, 10:1186 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2019.01186 † These authors contributed equally. #review article