Yingqi Cai

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Research Assistant Professor

LIFB B428

yingqi.cai@unt.edu

Yingqi Cai photo

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Yingqi Cai earned her Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at University of North Texas under the supervision of Dr. Kent Chapman, focusing on the functions and applications of lipogenic factors in plants. After completing her doctoral degree, she joined Brookhaven National Laboratory as a postdoctoral researcher with Dr. John Shanklin, where she investigated the regulatory mechanism of plant lipid metabolism and developed strategies to enhance lipid production in plant vegetative tissues. Her research interests include plant lipid metabolism, storage lipid compartmentation and metabolic engineering in plants. Her current research focuses on understanding the cellular mechanisms underlying the biogenesis and modulation of lipid droplets, subcellular organelles that store neutral lipids in the aqueous cytoplasm and play an important role in plant development, stress responses and energy storage. The knowledge gained from her research can be applied to the engineering of valuable bioproducts in plants and the improvement of plant growth, adaptation, and productivity.

CURRENT RESEARCH INTERESTS

  • Lipid droplet biogenesis, function and regulation

  • Lipid metabolism and homeostasis

  • Metabolic engineering in plants

  • Ultrastructural imaging

FOR PROSPECTIVE GRADUATE STUDENTS

Apply to the Graduate Program in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

CURRENT GRANT-FUNDED PROJECTS

  • Brookhaven National Laboratory, Laboratory for BioMolecular Structure. General User Proposal for Cryo-Electron Microscope. Deciphering the structural organization of plant Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolases and the core protein complex for lipid compartmentalization. (Yingqi Cai PI, Kent Chapman Co-PI). Approved, 7/1/2024-6/29/2026. (#315777)

  • United States Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Physical Biosciences program. Elucidating the Cellular Machinery for Storage Lipids in Plants. (Kent Chapman PI, Yingqi Cai Co-PI). $635,026 Funded, 9/1/2023 - 8/31/2026. (DE-SC0016536)

RECENT SIGNIFICANT PUBLICATIONS

  1. *Cai Y., *Horn P. (2025) Packaging “Vegetable Oils”: Insights into Plant Lipid Droplet Proteins. Plant Physiol. doi:10.1093/plphys/kiae533. (*Co-corresponding author) Cover of Issue.
  2. Anaokar S., Liang Y., Yu X.-H., Cai Y., Cai Y. and Shanklin J. (2024) The expression of genes encoding novel sesame oleosin variants facilitates enhanced triacylglycerol accumulation in Arabidopsis leaves and seeds. New Phytologist doi:10.1111/nph.19548.
  3. Zhai Z.*, Blanford J.*, Cai Y.*, Sun J., Liu H., Shi H., Schwender J., Shanklin J. (2023) CYCLIN-DEPENDENT KINASE 8 positively regulates oil synthesis by activating WRINKLED1 transcription. New Phytologist 238, 724-736. (* equal contribution)
  4. Liang Y., Yu X.-H., Anaokar S., Shi H., Dahl W., Cai Y., Luo G., Chai J., Cai Y., Ernst E., Altpeter F., Martienssen R., Schwender J. and Shanklin J. (2023) Engineering triacylglycerol accumulation in duckweed (Lemna japonica). Plant Biotechnol. J. 21, 317-330. Cover of Issue.
  5. Cai Y., Yu X.-H., Shanklin J. (2022) A toolkit for plant lipid engineering: surveying the efficacies of lipogenic factors for accumulating specialty lipids. Front. Plant Sci. 13, 1064176.
  6. Cai Y., Zhai Z., Blanford J., Liu H., Shi H., Schwender J., Xu C., Shanklin J. (2022). Purple acid phosphatase2 increases fatty acid synthesis and offsets yield drag associated with triacylglycerol hyperaccumulation in vegetative tissues. New Phytologist 236, 1128–1139.
  7. Pyc M., Gidda S.K., Seay D., Esnay N., Kretzschmar F.K., Cai Y., Doner N.M., Greer M.S., Hull J.J., Coulon D., Bréhélin C., Yurchenko O., De Vries J., Valerius O., Braus G.H., Ischebeck T., Chapman K.D., Dyer J.M., Mullen R.T. (2021). LDIP cooperates with SEIPIN and LDAP to facilitate lipid droplet biogenesis in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 33, 3076-3103. Cover of Issue.
  8. Greer M.S., Cai Y., Gidda S.K., Esnay N., Kretzschmar F.K., Seay D., McClinchie E., Ischebeck T., Mullen R.T., Dyer J.M., Chapman K.D. (2020). SEIPIN isoforms interact with the membrane-tethering protein VAP27-1 for lipid droplet formation. Plant Cell 32, 2932–2950.
  9. Cai Y. Whitehead P., Chappell J., and Chapman K.D. (2019). Mouse lipogenic proteins promote the co-accumulation of triacylglycerols and sesquiterpenes in plant cells. Planta 250, 79-94.
  10. Stoeckman A.K., Cai Y., and Chapman K.D. (2019). iCURE (iterative course-based undergraduate research experience): A case-study. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education 47, 565-572.
  11. Pyc M., Cai Y., Gidda S.K., Yurchenko O., Park S., Kretzschmar F.K., Ischebeck T., Valerius O., Braus G.H., Chapman K.D., Dyer J.M., and Mullen R.T. (2017). Arabidopsis lipid droplet-associated protein (LDAP) - interacting protein (LDIP) influences lipid droplet size and neutral lipid homeostasis in both leaves and seeds. Plant J. 92, 1182-1201.
  12. Pyc M., Cai Y., Greer M.S., Yurchenko O., Chapman K.D., Dyer J.M., and Mullen R.T. (2017). Turning Over a New Leaf in Lipid Droplet Biology. Trends Plant Sci. 22, 596-609.
  13. Cai Y., McClinchie E., Price A., Nguyen T.N., Gidda S.K., Watt S.C., Yurchenko O., Park S., Sturtevant D., Mullen R.T., Dyer J.M., and Chapman K.D. (2017). Mouse fat storage-inducing transmembrane protein 2 (FIT2) promotes lipid droplet accumulation in plants. Plant Biotechnol. J. 15, 824-836. Cover of Issue.
  14. Gidda S.K., Park S., Pyc M., Yurchenko O., Cai Y., Wu P., Andrews D.W., Chapman K.D., Dyer J.M., and Mullen R.T. (2016). Lipid Droplet-Associated Proteins (LDAPs) Are Required for the Dynamic Regulation of Neutral Lipid Compartmentation in Plant Cells. Plant Physiol. 170, 2052-2071.
  15. Cai Y., Goodman J.M., Pyc M., Mullen R.T., Dyer J.M., and Chapman K.D. (2015). Arabidopsis SEIPIN Proteins Modulate Triacylglycerol Accumulation and Influence Lipid Droplet Proliferation. Plant Cell 27, 2616-2636. Faculty of 1000 Recommended.