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Principal Investigator
Researcher
Email:mrfan@cemps.ac.cn
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Research Direction

Molecular mechanisms of proteins involved in plant carbon and nitrogen metabolism


Research Unit

Key Laboratory of Plant Carbon Capture, CAS

Minrui Fan

Personal Profile

•  Education:

    Sep 2005 – Jul 2009  B.S. in Bioengineering, Department of Bioengineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University

    Sep 2009 – Jan 2016  Ph.D., Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences


•  Working experience:

    Mar 2016 – Aug 2022  Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University, USA

    Sep 2022 – present  Professor / Principal Investigator, Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences



Research Work

We have elucidated the structures and mechanisms of three important proteins associated with starch biosynthesis, including plastid ATP/ADP translocator NTT (Nature 2025), heterotetrameric ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (the rate-limiting enzyme of starch biosynthesis pathway) (Sci. Adv. 2026) and heteromultimeric isoamylase complex essential for starch granule biogenesis (Mol. Plant 2026).


Main Achievements

Our laboratory aims to elucidate the structural basis and molecular mechanisms of key proteins involved in plant carbon and nitrogen metabolism, particularly those associated with starch biosynthesis. Through structural and functional studies, we seek to advance our understanding of plant metabolism and contribute to the development of crops with improved yield potential and nitrogen use efficiency. 


Publications

1. Wu, Y., Lin, H., Li, W., Wang, X., Shen, X., Lin, X., Zhu, L., Wang, R., Yang, T., Yi, S., Ye, R., Yang, H.*, Zhang, Y.*, Zhang, J.*, Fan, M.* Structure and mechanism of the heterotetrameric ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase essential for starch synthesis in plants. Science Advances 12, eaeb6384 (2026).

2. Wang, R., Li, W., Wu, Y., Lin, H., Lin, X., Zhu, L., Ye, R., Zhang, J.*, Fan, M.* Cryo-EM structures of Arabidopsis heteromultimeric isoamylase complex essential for starch granule biogenesis. Molecular Plant 19, 31-35 (2026).

3. Wang, Y., Green, M.N., Lin, H., Sander, A.M., Mazurek, C., Lin, X., Li, T., Wang, R., Li, W., Davis, G.V., Zhao, X., Zhu, L., Feng, P., Frommer, W.B.*, Zhang, J.*, Wudick, M.M.*, Fan, M.* Structure and mechanism of plant urea transporter DUR3. New Phytologist 250, 15-20 (2026).

4. Mao, L., Wang, Y., Yu, R., Lin, Y., Zhou, P., Ruan, M., Zheng, H., Li, N., Weng, Y., Fan, M.*, Zhu, X.G.* Residue P132 of PsbS plays an important role in regulating the dynamics of non-photochemical quenching in Arabidopsis. Plant Communications 7, 101582 (2026).

5. Lin, H., Huang, J., Li, T., Li, W., Wu, Y., Yang, T., Nian, Y., Lin, X., Wang, J., Wang, R., Zhao, X., Su, N.*, Zhang, J.*, Wu, X.*, Fan, M.* Structure and mechanism of the plastid/parasite ATP/ADP translocator. Nature 641, 797-804 (2025).

6. Fan, M.#, Tsai, C.-W.#, Zhang, J.#, Zhang, J.#, Krishnan, A. R.#, Liu, T.-Y., Huang, Y.-L., Aydin, D., Du, S., Sobecks, B. L., Rodriguez, M. X., Reiter, A. H., Bertozzi, C. R., Dror, R. O., Tsai, M.-F., Feng, L. Structure and mechanism of the mitochondrial calcium transporter NCLX. Nature 646, 1272-1280 (2025).

7. Fan, M.#, Zhang, J.#, Lee, C.-L.#, Zhang, J.#, Feng, L. Structure and thiazide inhibition mechanism of the human Na–Cl cotransporter. Nature 614, 788-793 (2023).

8. Fan, M.#, Zhang, J.#, Tsai, C.-W.#, Orlando, B. J., Rodriguez, M., Xu, Y., Liao, M., Tsai, M.-F., Feng, L. Structure and mechanism of the mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter holocomplex. Nature 582, 129-133 (2020).

9. Fan, C.#, Fan, M.#, Orlando, B. J.#, Fastman, N. M.#, Zhang, J., Xu, Y., Chambers, M. G., Xu, X., Perry, K., Liao, M., Feng, L. X-ray and cryo-EM structures of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter. Nature 559, 575-579 (2018).

10. Fan, M. #, Xiao, Y. #, Li, M., Chang, W. Crystal structures of Arabidopsis thaliana oxalyl-CoA synthetase essential for oxalate degradation. Molecular Plant 9, 1349-1352 (2016).

11. Fan, M., Li, M., Liu, Z., Cao, P., Pan, X., Zhang, H., Zhao, X., Zhang, J. & Chang, W. Crystal structures of the PsbS protein essential for photoprotection in plants. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology 22, 729-735 (2015). (Cover story)