Hailing Jin

National Academy of Sciences elects members and international members

tomwt — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 15:32:49 +0000

National Academy of Sciences elects members and international members tomwt Wed, 04/30/2025 - 08:32 More CNAS in the Media Molly Galvin | National Academy of Sciences April 29, 2025

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES - The National Academy of Sciences announced today the election of 120 members and 30 international members in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

Those elected today bring the total number of active members to 2,662 and the total number of international members to 556. International members are nonvoting members of the Academy, with citizenship outside the United States.

Newly elected members of the UC Riverside College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences and their affiliations at the time of election are:

Mary L. Droser: Professor and department chair, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Riverside

Hailing Jin: Professor and plant molecular geneticist biology and Cy Mouradick Endowed Chair, Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, University of California, Riverside

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Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences

Mary Droser

Department of Microbiology & Plant Pathology

Hailing Jin

Cells Across the Tree of Life Exchange ‘Text Messages’ Using RNA

tomwt — Tue, 17 Sep 2024 16:52:26 +0000

Cells Across the Tree of Life Exchange ‘Text Messages’ Using RNA tomwt Tue, 09/17/2024 - 09:52 More CNAS in the Media Annie Melchor | Quanta Magazine September 16, 2024

QUANTA MAGAZINE - For a molecule of RNA, the world is a dangerous place. Unlike DNA, which can persist for millions of years in its remarkably stable, double-stranded form, RNA isn’t built to last — not even within the cell that made it. Unless it’s protectively tethered to a larger molecule, RNA can degrade in minutes or less(opens a new tab). And outside a cell? Forget about it. Voracious, RNA-destroying enzymes are everywhere, secreted by all forms of life as a defense against viruses that spell out their genetic identity in RNA code.

There is one way RNA can survive outside a cell unscathed: in a tiny, protective bubble. For decades, researchers have noticed cells releasing these bubbles of cell membrane, called extracellular vesicles (EVs), packed with degraded RNA, proteins and other molecules. But these sacs were considered little more than trash bags that whisk broken-down molecular junk out of a cell during routine decluttering.

...

About 10 years ago, the molecular geneticist Hailing Jin and her lab at the University of California, Riverside discovered that two organisms from different kingdoms — a plant and a fungus — exchange RNA as a form of warfare. Jin was studying Botrytis cinerea, a fuzzy gray mold that ravages crops such as strawberries and tomatoes, when she saw it swap RNA with the plant Arabidopsis (thale-cress) during infection. The Botrytis fungus delivered RNA that interfered with the plant’s ability to fight the infection. Later work showed that the plant cells could respond with their own volley of RNA that damaged the fungus.

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Department of Microbiology & Plant Pathology

Hailing Jin

Exotic Australian fruit may help save Florida's citrus industry

ilseu — Tue, 28 Jul 2020 01:38:09 +0000

Exotic Australian fruit may help save Florida's citrus industry ilseu Mon, 07/27/2020 - 18:38 More CNAS in the Media Greg Allen | NPR July 27, 2020

NPR - There's some good news in the long-running battle against a disease that's devastated Florida's signature crop, oranges. Researchers are developing tools to help control citrus greening, a disease that has killed thousands of acres of orange and grapefruit trees.

One of the most promising treatments was recently developed in a fruit most people have never heard of, the Australian finger lime. The finger lime, native to rainforests in Australia, looks a little like a pickle. It's just a couple inches long, grows on small trees and is gaining popularity as an exotic fruit.

Researcher Hailing Jin became interested in the fruit because it is related to oranges, but it isn't affected by citrus greening. Jin, a molecular geneticist at the University of California Riverside says, "When I heard that there are some wild citrus close relatives that show tolerance or partial resistance, then I (felt) like there must be some genes responsible for it."

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A UC Riverside researcher may have discovered a way to save our citrus trees

ilseu — Fri, 17 Jul 2020 16:03:45 +0000

A UC Riverside researcher may have discovered a way to save our citrus trees ilseu Fri, 07/17/2020 - 09:03 More CNAS in the Media Jeanette Marantos | Los Angeles Times July 15, 2020

LOS ANGELES TIMES - Attention home gardeners: Our beloved citrus trees may yet be saved from the incurable huanglongbing, a.k.a. HLB or citrus greening disease, thanks to natural immunities found in a rare and flavorful relative known as the Australian finger lime.

After five years of study, a team of UC Riverside researchers led by Hailing Jin, professor of plant genetics, identified which gene in the finger lime causes that immunity and extracted it to create an antibiotic that has killed the disease in young trees raised in laboratories and controlled environment greenhouses.

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Department of Microbiology & Plant Pathology

Hailing Jin

Huanglongbing

Plant vesicles inspire methods to protect crops

Site Factory admin — Sat, 27 Jun 2020 00:16:58 +0000

Plant vesicles inspire methods to protect crops Site Factory admin Fri, 06/26/2020 - 17:16 More CNAS in the Media Roxanne Khamsi | Nature Outlook: Extracellular RNA June 17, 2020

NATURE OUTLOOK - Biologists studying extracellular RNA (exRNA) — and the tiny spherical structures known as exosomes that shuttle this genetic information from cell to cell — typically focus on mammals. As long ago as the 1960s, however, scientists found that plant cells also generate vesicles that carry cargo out of the cell membrane. But for decades, these botanical observations were largely forgotten.

Plant biologist Hailing Jin at the University of California, Riverside, is trying to revive the field to work out how plants send cellular messages. She has found evidence that plants do this, in part, to thwart their fungal enemies. She is now designing fungicides that are based on exRNA.

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Department of Microbiology & Plant Pathology

Hailing Jin