2005年获山东师范大学学士学位；2012年获中国科学院植物研究所博士学位。2012-2015年任中国科学院遗传与发育生物学研究所助理研究员职务，2015-2019年在美国加州大学河滨分校从事博士后研究。2019年到植物所工作。

主要研究工作：

1. 植物侧生分生组织发育的表观遗传调控

植物侧生器官是形态建成的重要组分，直接影响产量。本课题组主要以拟南芥为材料，利用遗传、细胞、分子生化和生物信息学手段，着重研究小RNA 在侧生干细胞起始和分化过程中的生物学功能，并致力于解析侧生分生组织发育过程中的表观遗传调控网络。

2. 玉米果穗发育的分子调控网络

以玉米经典关联群体为材料，利用GWAS方法，挖掘影响果穗起始和发育相关的关键位点，并试图解析这些关键位点调控果穗分生组织发育的机制。

主持和参加的科研项目：

[1] 中国科学院人才计划（2021.01-2023.12）；主持人 

[2] “种子精准设计的分子基础”， 中国科学院先导A项目（2019.11-2024.10）；任务负责人 

研究论文：

2022

Fan, L., Zhang, C., Gao, B., Zhang, Y., Stewart, E., Jez, J., Nakajima, K., Chen, X. 2022. Microtubules promote the non-cell autonomous action of microRNAs by inhibiting their cytoplasmic loading onto ARGONAUTE1 in Arabidopsis. Developmental Cell, 57 (8): 995–1008.

Dong, Q; Hu, B; Zhang, C#. 2022. MicroRNAs and their roles in plant development, Frontiers in Plant Science, 13:824240

Dong, Q; Zhang, C#. 2022. The roles of transcription factors in the development of plant meristems. Plant Transcription Factors, 2 (4): 77-92. (Book)

Liu, L., Guo, S., Duan, B., Zhang, C#. 2022. Axillary Meristem Development in Plants. Current Chinese Science, 3(1): 32-41

2021

胡滨滨, 薛治慧, 张翠#. 2021. 植物小RNA荧光原位杂交实验方法. 植物学报, 56(3): 330-338.

2020

Zhang, C., Fan, L., Le, B., Ye P., Mo, B., Chen X. 2020. Regulation of ARGONAUTE10 expression enables temporal and spatial precision in axillary meristem initiation in Arabidopsis. Developmental Cell, 55, 603–616.

Xue, Z., Liu, L., Zhang, C^#. 2020. Regulation of Shoot Apical Meristem and Axillary Meristem Development in Plants. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 21(8), 2917. (^#Corresponding author)

2018

Zhang, C.#, Wang, J., Wenkel, S., Chandler, J., Werr, W., and Jiao, Y. 2018. Spatiotemporal control of axillary meristem formation by interacting transcriptional regulators. Development 145, dev158352. (Corresponding author).

Peng, T., Qiao, M., Liu, H., Teotia, S., Zhang, Z., Zhao, Y., Wang, B., Zhao, D., Shi, L., Zhang, C., Le, B., Rogers, K., Gunasekara, C., Duan, H., Gu, Y., Tian, L., Nie, J., Qi, J., Meng, F., Huang, L., Chen, Q., Wang, Z., Tang, J., Tang, X., Wei, H., Chen, X., Zhao, Q., Tang, Q#. 2018. A resource for inactivation of microRNAs using short tandem target mimic technology in model and crop plants. Molecular Plant 11, 1400–1417.

2017

Wang, J., Tian, C., Zhang, C., Shi, B., Cao, X., Zhang, T.Q., Zhao, Z., Wang, J.W., and Jiao, Y^#. 2017. Cytokinin signaling activates WUSCHEL expression during axillary meristem initiation. Plant Cell 29, 1373-1387.

2016

Shi, B.*, Zhang, C.*, Tian, C., Wang, J., Wang, Q., Xu, T., Xu, Y., Ohno, C., Sablowski, R., Heisler, M.G., Theres, K., Wang, Y., and Jiao, Y^#. 2016. Two-Step regulation of a meristematic cell population acting in shoot branching in Arabidopsis. PLoS Genet 12, e1006168. (*Co-first author)

2014

Zhang, C*., Bai, M.Y., and Chong, K^#. 2014. Brassinosteroid-mediated regulation of agronomic traits in rice. Plant Cell Rep 33, 683-696. (First author)

Han, Y., Zhang, C., Yang, H., and Jiao, Y^#. 2014. Cytokinin pathway mediates APETALA1 function in the establishment of determinate floral meristems in Arabidopsis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111, 6840-6845.

Liu, H., Guo, S., Xu, Y., Li, C., Zhang, Z., Zhang, D., Xu, S., Zhang, C., and Chong, K^#. 2014. OsmiR396d-regulated OsGRFs function in floral organogenesis in rice through binding to their targets OsJMJ706 and OsCR4. Plant Physiol 165, 160-174.

Tian, C., Zhang, X., He, J., Yu, H., Wang, Y., Shi, B., Han, Y., Wang, G., Feng, X., Zhang, C., Wang, J., Qi, J., Yu, R., and Jiao, Y^#. 2014. An organ boundary-enriched gene regulatory network uncovers regulatory hierarchies underlying axillary meristem initiation. Mol Syst Biol 10, 755.

2013

Guo, S., Xu, Y., Liu, H., Mao, Z., Zhang, C., Ma, Y., Zhang, Q., Meng, Z., and Chong, K^#. 2013. The interaction between OsMADS57 and OsTB1 modulates rice tillering via DWARF14. Nat Commun 4, 1566.

2012

Zhang, C*., Xu, Y., Guo, S., Zhu, J., Huan, Q., Liu, H., Wang, L., Luo, G., Wang, X., and Chong, K^#. 2012. Dynamics of brassinosteroid response modulated by negative regulator LIC in rice. PLoS Genet 8, e1002686. (First author)

2010及以前

Li, J., Jiang, J., Qian, Q., Xu, Y., Zhang, C., Xiao, J., Du, C., Luo, W., Zou, G., Chen, M., Huang, Y., Feng, Y., Cheng, Z., Yuan, M., and Chong, K^#. 2011. Mutation of rice BC12/GDD1, which encodes a kinesin-like protein that binds to a GA biosynthesis gene promoter, leads to dwarfism with impaired cell elongation. Plant Cell 23, 628-640.  

Wang, L., Xu, Y., Zhang, C., Ma, Q., Joo, S.H., Kim, S.K., Xu, Z., and Chong, K^#. 2008. OsLIC, a novel CCCH-Type zinc finger protein with transcription activation, mediates rice architecture via brassinosteroids signaling. PLoS One 3, e3521.