2004年获四川大学学士学位；2008年获华盛顿大学（西雅图）博士学位；2009-2013年先后在佐治亚大学和华盛顿大学从事博士后研究； 2013-2025年在康涅狄格大学生态进化系任教， 历任助理教授、副教授、教授。现任中国科学院植物研究所研究员。主要成果发表于 Annual Review of Plant Biology、Cell Reports、Current Biology、Genetics、New Phytologist、Plant Cell、PNAS、Science、Science Advances、Trends in Genetics 等国际期刊。担任Genetics、Horticulture Research、Journal of Systematics and Evolution等学术期刊编委。

主要研究方向：

1. 新型区域性特色饲草的发掘与利用

针对我国不同气候区域对饲草生物学特性的不同要求，在已经适应当地环境的野生物种中，选择有潜力驯化成饲草作物的禾豆类植物，研究其基本生物学属性，快速驯化成有区域性特色的饲草品种。

2. 饲草作物多性状耦合与协同改良

    鉴定同时调控多种农艺性状的核心“节点”基因，并依此设计最简基因回路对饲草作物的光合特性、营养品质、生物量及抗逆性进行协同改良来创制新的饲草品种。

3. 植物整合性状的遗传、发育、进化、与改良

生物体的功能单元大都是由多个基本性状整合而成。自然物种的“传粉综合症”和很多作物表现的“驯化综合症”均是植物整合性状的典型代表。对这两类整合性状的组装与解构进行深度遗传解析，既为理解自然界整合性状的快速演化提供理论基础，也为分子设计育种提供新路径。

主持和参加的科研项目：

"Genomic and molecular bases of pollination syndrome evolution in monkeyflowers", U.S. National Science Foundation (2023-2025); 主持

"Development and evolution of self-organizing pigmentation patterns", U.S. National Institute of Health (2020-2025); 主持

"Genetic origin, developmental mechanism, and evolutionary process of a novel phenotype in Mimulus", U.S. National Institute of Health (2019-2025); 主持

"Enabling functional genomics in monkeyflowers", U.S. National Science Foundation (2018-2023); 课题负责人

"Developmental genetics of corolla tube formation, a key morphological innovation during angiosperm evolution", U.S. National Science Foundation (2018-2023); 主持

"Identification and characterization of transcription factors regulating carotenoid pigmentation during Mimulus flower development", U.S. National Science Foundation (2016-2019); 主持

代表性论文(^#共同第一作者，*标记为通讯作者)：

2025

Min Y*, Ferreira BT, Yuan YW*. 2025. Spatiotemporal dynamics of CYCLOIDEA expression during early floral development in monkeyflower. Current Biology. 35: 5868–5880.

Chen H, Berg CS, Samuli M, Sotola VA, Sweigart AL, Yuan YW*, Fishman L*. 2025. The genetic architecture of floral trait divergence between hummingbird- and self-pollinated monkeyflower (Mimulus) species. New Phytologist. 245: 2255–2267

2024

LaFountain AM*, Lin QS, McMahon HE, Min Y, Ding BQ, Gurung V, Seemann JR, Yuan YW*. 2024. A distinct foliar pigmentation pattern in monkeyflower formed by activator-repressor gradients upstream of an anthocyanin-activating R2R3-MYB. Cell Reports. 43: 114444.

Lin RC*, Ferreira BT, Yuan YW*. 2024. The molecular basis of phenotypic evolution: beyond the usual suspects. Trends in Genetics. 40: 668-680.

Chen H*, Yuan YW*. 2024. Genetic basis of nectar guide trichome variation between bumblebee- and self-pollinated monkeyflowers (Mimulus): role of the MIXTA-like gene GUIDELESS. BMC Plant Biology. 24: 62.

2023

Liang M*, Chen W, LaFountain AM, Liu Y, Peng F, Xia R, Bradshaw HD, Yuan YW*. 2023. Taxon-specific, phased siRNAs underlie a speciation locus in monkeyflowers. Science. 379: 576-582. 

LaFountain AM, McMahon HE, Reid NM*, Yuan YW*. 2023. To stripe or not to stripe: The origin of a novel foliar pigmentation pattern in monkeyflowers (Mimulus). New Phytologist. 237: 310-322.

2022

Liang M*, Foster CE, Yuan YW*. 2022. Lost in translation: molecular basis of reduced flower coloration in a self-pollinated monkeyflower (Mimulus) species. Science Advances. 8: eabo1113

Chen H^#, Xiao Z^# Ding B, Diggle PK, Yuan YW*. 2022. Modular regulation of floral traits by a PRE1 homolog in Mimulus verbenaceus: implications for the role of pleiotropy in floral integration. Horticulture Research. 9: uhac168

2021

LaFountain AM*, Yuan YW*. 2021. Repressors of anthocyanin biosynthesis. New Phytologist. 231: 917-932.

Ding B^#, Li J^#, Gurung V, Lin Q, Sun X, Yuan YW*. 2021. The leaf polarity factors SGS3 and YABBYs regulate style elongation through auxin signaling in Mimulus lewisii. New Phytologist. 232: 2191–2206.

2020

Ding B*, Xia R, Lin Q, Gurung V, Sagawa JM, Stanley LE, Strobel M, Diggle PK, Meyers BC, Yuan YW*. 2020. Developmental genetics of corolla tube formation: role of the tasiRNA-ARF pathway and a conceptual model. Plant Cell. 32: 3452-3468.

Stanley LE*, Ding B, Sun W, Mou F, Hill C, Chen S, Yuan YW*. 2020. A tetratricopeptide repeat protein regulates carotenoid biosynthesis and chromoplast development in monkeyflowers (Mimulus). Plant Cell. 32: 1536–1555.

Ding B^#, Patterson EL^#, Holalu SV^#, Li J, Johnson GA, Stanley LE, Greenlee AB, Peng F, Bradshaw HD, Blinov ML, Blackman BK*, Yuan YW*. 2020. Two MYB proteins in a self-organizing activator-inhibitor system produce spotted pigmentation patterns. Current Biology. 30: 802–814.

2019

Yuan YW*. 2019. Monkeyflowers (Mimulus): new model for plant developmental genetics and evo-devo. New Phytologist. 222: 694-700.

Stanley L*, Yuan YW*. 2019. Transcriptional regulation of carotenoid biosynthesis in plants: So many potential regulators, so little consensus. Frontiers in Plant Science. 10: 1017.

2017

Ding B*, Mou F, Sun W, Chen S, Peng F, Bradshaw HD, Yuan YW*. 2017. A dominant-negative actin mutation alters corolla tube width and pollinator visitation in Mimulus lewisii. New Phytologist. 213: 1936-1944.

LaFountain AM^#, Chen W^#, Sun W, Chen S, Frank HA, Ding B, Yuan YW*. 2017. Molecular basis of overdominance at a flower color locus. G3: GENES, GENOMES, GENETICS. 7: 3947-3954

2016

Sagawa JM^#, Stanley LE^#, LaFountain AM, Frank HA, Liu C, Yuan YW*. 2016. An R2R3-MYB transcription factor regulates carotenoid pigmentation in Mimulus lewisii flowers. New Phytologist. 209: 1049-1057.

Ding B*, Yuan YW*. 2016. Testing the utility of fluorescent proteins in Mimulus lewisii by an Agrobacterium-mediated transient assay. Plant Cell Reports. 35: 771-777.

Yuan YW*, Rebocho AB, Sagawa JM, Stanley LE, Bradshaw HD*. 2016. Competition between anthocyanin and flavonol biosynthesis produces spatial pattern variation of floral pigments between Mimulus species. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A. 113: 2448–2453.

2015及以前

Yuan YW*, Sagawa JM, Frost L, Vela JP, Bradshaw HD*. 2014. The transcriptional control of anthocyanin pigmentation in monkeyflowers (Mimulus). New Phytologist. 204: 1013–1027.

Yuan YW, Byers KJ, Bradshaw HD*. 2013. The genetic control of flower-pollinator specificity. Current Opinion in Plant Biology. 16: 422-428.

Yuan YW*, Sagawa JM, Di Stilio VS, Bradshaw HD*. 2013. Bulk segregant analysis of an induced floral mutant identifies a MIXTA-like R2R3 MYB controlling nectar guide formation in Mimulus lewisii. Genetics. 194: 523-528. 

Yuan YW*, Sagawa JM, Young RC, Christensen BJ, Bradshaw HD*. 2013. Genetic dissection of a major anthocyanin QTL contributing to pollinator-mediated reproductive isolation between sister species of Mimulus. Genetics. 194: 255-263.

Yuan YW, Wessler SR*. 2011. The catalytic domain of all eukaryotic cut-and-paste transposase superfamilies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A. 108: 7884-7889.

Yuan YW*, Liu C, Marx HE, Olmstead RG. 2010. Further disintegration and redefinition of Clerodendrum (Lamiaceae): Implications for the understanding of the evolution of an intriguing breeding strategy. Taxon 59: 125-133. 

Yuan YW*, Mabberley DJ, Steane DA, Olmstead RG. 2010. An empirical demonstration of using pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) genes as plant phylogenetics tools: Phylogeny of Verbenaceae and the Verbena complex. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 54: 23–35.

Yuan YW*, Liu C, Marx HE, Olmstead RG. 2009. The pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) gene family, a tremendous resource for plant phylogenetic studies. New Phytologist 182: 272–283.

Yuan YW*, Olmstead RG. 2008. Evolution and phylogenetic utility of the PHOT gene duplicates in the Verbena complex (Verbenaceae): dramatic intron size variation and footprint of ancestral recombination. American Journal of Botany. 95: 1166–1176.

Yuan YW*, Olmstead RG. 2008. A species-level phylogenetic study of the Verbena complex (Verbenaceae) indicates two independent Intergeneric chloroplast transfers. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 48: 23–33.

Yuan YW, Zhang ZY*, Chen ZD, Olmstead RG. 2006. Tracking ancient polyploids: A retroposon insertion reveals an extinct diploid ancestor in the polyploid origin of Belladonna. Molecular Biology and Evolution 23: 2263–2267.