My lab asks how evolution builds new forms, or morphological novelty. One spectacular yet surprisingly understudied example is the “Chinese lantern,” or Inflated Calyx Syndrome (ICS), a trait that arose independently in multiple angiosperm families but is best known in Physalis within the Solanaceae (nightshade) family. In ICS, sepals, the outermost floral whorl, undergo an extraordinary burst of dynamic growth after anthesis, expanding into balloon-like, papery husks that encapsulate the developing fruit. This dramatic transformation provides a powerful entry point into two core questions that motivate our work: how organisms coordinate rapid yet highly precise morphogenesis at the molecular and cellular levels, and how developmental programs are rewired across evolution to generate innovation.
Building on our foundational efforts to establish Physalis as a modern reference system for studying ICS, we have assembled the genomic and experimental toolkit to dissect this trait with precision. Using transcriptomics, we are creating a molecular roadmap of calyx development that captures the rapid shifts leading into and sustaining lantern inflation. We then pair these data with fast, scalable gene editing to test candidate regulators in the relevant tissues and time windows. In parallel, we are extending beyond Physalis to additional ICS-bearing lineages, using comparative developmental genomics to identify shared regulatory logic, lineage-specific solutions, and the evolutionary routes by which this remarkable novelty repeatedly emerges.
The lab is grounded in the belief that passion fuels deep, creative ideas, and rigor is what makes those ideas real. We cultivate a culture where curiosity is encouraged, hypotheses are sharpened through open discussion, and conclusions are earned through careful, reproducible work.
He J, Van Eck J, Lippman ZB. (2024) Blooming balloons: Searching for mechanisms of the inflated calyx. Curr Opin Plant Biol 81, 102595. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102595.
Satterlee JW, Alonso D, Gramazio P, Jenike KM, He J et al. (2024) Convergent evolution of plant prickles by repeated gene co-option over deep time. Science 385(6708). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ado1663.
He J, Alonge M, Ramakrishnan S, et al. (2023) Establishing Physalis as a Solanaceae model system enables genetic reevaluation of the inflated calyx syndrome. Plant Cell 35(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac305.
Fouracre JP, He J, Chen VJ, et al. (2021) VAL genes regulate vegetative phase change via miR156-dependent and independent mechanisms. PLoS Genetics 17(6). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1009626.
He J, Xu M, Willmann MR, et al. (2018) Threshold-dependent repression of SPL gene expression by miR156/miR157 controls vegetative phase change in Arabidopsis thaliana. PLoS Genetics 14(4). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1007337.
