Plant genomicist · University of Georgia

Ziliang Luo 罗子良

I develop and apply spatial and single-cell omics to understand how plant cells regulate development, symbiosis, and stress response.

ExpertisePlant spatial omics · Single-cell genomics · Cis-regulatory biology · Crop engineering

Future directionBuilding spatially resolved regulatory maps that enable precise engineering of resilient, resource-efficient crops.

Explore my research ↓ Download CV ↗
Google Scholar ↗ ORCID ↗ GitHub ↗ LinkedIn ↗
Portrait of Ziliang Luo Ziliang Luo, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow in Genetics
Schmitz Lab · University of Georgia

01 / Research vision

From cellular maps to more resilient crops.

My research connects technology development, cis-regulatory biology, and crop improvement. The long-term goal is to reveal where agronomically important programs operate—and use that knowledge to engineer sustainable traits with cellular precision.

01

Build

Adapt accessible, high-resolution spatial-omics technologies for challenging plant tissues.

02

Discover

Resolve cell-type-specific regulatory programs across development and environmental response.

03

Engineer

Translate regulatory maps into strategies for symbiosis, resilience, and reduced agricultural inputs.

02 / Selected research

Research at the intersection of atlases, mechanisms, and applications.

Spatial transcriptomic map of soybean tissueSpatial omics

01 — Soybean

A spatially resolved multi-omic atlas of development

We integrated single-cell and spatial transcriptomic and epigenomic data to reconstruct soybean development, linking cell states to regulatory programs across organs and stages.

Spatial transcriptomicsSingle-cell multi-omicsCis-regulation
Read the Cell paper ↗
GFP-expressing CRISPR transformed peanut hairy rootsPlant engineering

02 — Peanut

Engineering and decoding root nodule symbiosis

My doctoral work combined transcriptomics, methylomics, genetics, and CRISPR/Cas9 hairy-root transformation to study the unusual “crack-entry” infection route used by peanut.

SymbiosisCRISPR/Cas9Epigenomics
View related work ↗
Sugarcane leaf affected by orange rustPlant-microbe interactions

03 — Sugarcane

Cellular mechanisms of orange rust resistance

I use spatial and single-cell transcriptomics to identify the cell types and regulatory programs that distinguish resistant and susceptible sugarcane—moving from resistance QTLs toward causal genes.

Host–pathogen responseCrop resilienceTranscriptomics
03 / Publications

Selected work

View all on Google Scholar ↗

Selected from 30+ peer-reviewed publications. Ziliang Luo is highlighted; * denotes co-first authorship.

04 / Academic profile

Teaching & mentorship

Teaching in plant genetics-related courses

  • Co-instructor · 2021GeneticsUndergraduate · University of Florida
  • Teaching assistant · 2020Plant Chromosomes and GenomicsGraduate · University of Florida
  • Teaching assistant · 2018–2020GeneticsUndergraduate · University of Florida
  • Teaching assistant · 2013Seed Industrialization and TechnologyUndergraduate · Huazhong Agricultural University

Undergraduate mentorship: supervised three student projects in CRISPR/Cas9 hairy-root gene editing and transcriptome analysis of peanut nodulation.

30+

peer-reviewed publications

3

undergraduate researchers mentored

Awards

  • 2025UGA Plant Center Retreat Poster Award, 2nd place
  • 2024UGA Plant Center Retreat Poster Award, 1st place
  • 2020UF CALS Outstanding Achievement Award
  • 2019Travel Award, Summer Institute in Statistical Genetics, University of Washington
  • 2017–19Grinter Fellowship, University of Florida
05 / Talks

Invited seminars, workshops, and conferences

Workshop · Kanagawa, Japan

Adapting a high-resolution, cost-efficient spatial platform for plant research

Workshop on Spatial Omics in Plants

Seminar talk · Gordon Research Seminar

Spatially resolved chromatin profiling for plant tissues using spatial ATAC-seq

Single-Cell Approaches in Plant Biology

Invited seminar · University of Minnesota

The spatially resolved multi-omic single-cell atlas of soybean

Informatics Interest Group, Minnesota Supercomputing Institute

Conference talk · ASSCT Annual Meeting

Identifying sugarcane orange rust resistance genes by single-cell and spatial transcriptomics

American Society of Sugarcane Technologists

Three Minute Thesis · University of Florida

Utilize symbiosis to improve agricultural sustainability

3MT presentation

Ziliang Luo presenting a single-cell genomics seminar at the University of Florida
Single-cell seminar · University of Florida
Ziliang Luo presenting research at a Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory meeting
Plant Genomes, Systems Biology & Engineering · CSHL
Ziliang Luo giving a Three Minute Thesis presentation
Three Minute Thesis · University of Florida

Let’s connect

Interested in plant spatial biology, collaboration, or my future research program?

kennyluo4@gmail.com ↗

Department of Genetics
University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia

Curriculum vitae ↗
Schmitz Lab ↗