Michigan Technological University

Dean position filled

Dr. Terry Sharik will become the next Dean beginning in July 2012.

Our Forestry undergraduate and MF in Forestry programs are SAF accredited.

Facebook   Flickr

School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

Hairong Wei

Contact

 

Hairong Wei

Assistant Professor—SFRES

Adjunct Assistant Professor—CS

  • PhD, Plant Molecular Biology, University of Hawaii at Manoa
  • MS, Computer Science, University of Chicago
  • MS, Forest Genetics, Beijing Forestry University
  • BS, Agricultural Sciences, Beijing Forestry University
"We are doing excellent job in describing how an individual gene functions, but not how life functions. Systems biology is to fill this gap." —Can we identify genes regulating traits? --- Yes, we can.

Yes, we can.

I am exploring the possibility of identifying genes regulating biological traits via systems biology approaches. We achieve this goal through combinatorial approaches: (1) Designing very efficient biological experiments to yield information-enriched gene expression data sets. (2) Performing gene reduction to identify major regulators controlling traits via complex data analysis. (3) Construction of local regulatory networks controlling a trait. We have developed the algorithms and software pipelines for accurately identifying transcription factors controlling a trait with 50-100 % accuracy. I am in general interested in identifying genes regulating the following traits: (1) Wood productivity and quality. (2) Resistance to disease and pest. (3) Biomass production. However, identification of genes regulating any of agriculturally important traits interests me.

Recent Publications

  • Nie, J., R. Stewart, F. Ruan, J. Thomson, H. Zhang, X. Cui and H. Wei. 2011. TF-cluster: a pipeline for identifying functionally coordinated transcription factors via network decomposition of the shared coexpression connectivity matrix (SCCM). BMC Systems Biology, 5:53
  • Cui, X, T. Wang, H.S. Chen, V. Busov and H. Wei. 2010. TF-finder: A software package for identifying transcription factors involved in biological processes using microarray data and existing knowledge base. BMC Bioinformatics, 11:425
  • Wei, H., P. F. Kuan, S. Tian, C. Yang, J. Nie, S. Sengupta, V. Ruotti, G. Jonsdottir, S. Keles, J. Thomson and R. Stewart. 2008. A study of the relationships between oligonucleotide properties and hybridization intensities in NimbleGen platform. Nucleic Acids Research, Vol. 36, No. 9:2926-2938
  • Ming, R., S. Hou, Y. Feng, Q. Yu, A. Dionne-Laporte, J. Saw, P. Senin, W. Wang, S. Salzberg, X. Wang, E. Lyons, D. Rice, M. Riley, R. Skelton, J. Murray, C. Chen, M. Eustice, E. Tong, H. Albert, R. E. Paull, M.-L. Wang, Y. Zhu, M. Schatz, N. Nagarajan, R. Agbayani, P. Guan, A. Blas, J. Wang, J.-K. Na, T. Michael, E. V. Shakirov, B. Haas, J. Thimmapuram, D. Nelson, H. Tang, J. E. Bowers, J. Suzuki, S. Tripathi, K. Neupane, H. Wei, R. Singh, B. Irikura, N. Jiang, W. Zhang, K. Wall, G. Presting, A. Gschwend, Y. Li, A. Windsor, R. N. Pérez, M. J. Torres, F. A. Feltus, B. Porter, M. Paidi, M.-C. Luo, L. Liu, D. Christopher, P. H. Moore, T. Sugimura, C. dePamphilis, J. Jiang, M. Schuler, T. Mitchell-Olds, D. Shippen, J. Palmer, M. R. Freeling, A. H. Paterson, D. Gonsalves, L. Wang and M. Alam. 2008. The genome sequence of transgenic papaya, Carica papaya. Nature, Vol. 452, No. 7190:991-996
  • Pan, P., S. Tian, J. Nie, C. Yang, V. Ruotti, H. Wei, G. Jonsdottir, R. Stewart, and J. Thomson. 2007. Whole genome analysis of Histone H3 lysine 4 and lysine 27 methylation in human embryonic stem cells. Cell Stem Cell, Vol. 1, No 3:299~312.
  • Wei, H , S. Persson, T. Mehta, V. Srinivasasainagendra, L. Chen, G. Page, C. Somerville, A. Loraine. 2006. Transcriptional coordination of the metabolic network in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Physiology. 142(2):762-74.
  • Persson, S., H. Wei, J. Milne, G. Page, C. Somerville. 2005. Identification of genes required fro cellulose synthesis by regression analysis of public microarray data sets. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 102: 8633-8638. (Faculty 1000 evaluation)
  • Wei, H., Y. Kaznessis. 2005. Inferring gene regulatory relationships by combining target-target pattern recognition and regulator-specific motif examination. Biotechnology and Bioengineering. Vol. 89, No1: 53-77
  • Albert, H and H. Wei. Sugarcane Ubi9 gene promoter and methods of use thereof. 2004, U.S. Patent No. 6706948

Recent Funding

  • Co-PI: USDA-DOE: A Systems Biology Approach to Elucidate Regulation of Root Development in Populus, $900,000, from 2009 to 2012

Research Projects

  • A system biology approach to elucidate root development in Populus
Michigan Technological University is an equal opportunity educational institution/equal opportunity employer.

School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

Forestry and Wood Products Building
1400 Townsend Dr.
Houghton, Michigan 49931-1295

Ph. 906-487-2454
Toll-Free: 800-WOODS-MI
   (800-966-3764)
Email: forest@mtu.edu

Michigan Technological University

1400 Townsend Drive
Houghton, Michigan 49931-1295
906-487-1885

See a Problem?

Email the Webmaster