Fruit Dormancy Physiology Lab
Research Field
Dr. Lin is a pomologist with a strong research focus on low-chill fruit crops, particularly peach, blackberry, and raspberry. His published works, featured in renowned journals such as Plant Growth Regulation, HortScience, and PLoS One, highlight his expertise in budbreak mechanisms, phytohormone dynamics, and exogenous plant growth regulator and biostimulant treatments to improve fruit quality under subtropical conditions. Dr. Lin leads several research projects funded by national agencies, focusing on flowering prediction models, heat tolerance techniques, and substrate formulations. He also actively contributes to the academic community as a reviewer for multiple high-impact journals. His work is at the forefront of improving deciduous fruit production under climate challenges.
Syuan-You's primary research interest is in dormancy physiology in deciduous fruit crops. His research team is currently focused on improving our understanding of dormancy regulation under global warming scenarios. To achieve this, they are utilizing a range of physiological and biochemical techniques, such as phytohormone profiling, transcriptome analysis, and minirhizotron, to evaluate dormancy behavior in temperate fruits grown in subtropical Taiwan.
Additionally, he is dedicated to developing highly effective and less harmful budbreaking chemicals as an alternative to hydrogen cyanamide, using plant growth regulators, defoliants, and biostimulants. A special interest of his lies in berry crop production—strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries—due to their health benefits and aesthetic appeal. Despite the challenges in Taiwan, he is determined to improve subtropical berry production through comprehensive research on crop management and stress and flowering physiology.
Furthermore, our short-term goal is to collect native wild Rubus germplasm, to evaluate their heat tolerance and horticultural traits. The medium-term goal is to hybridize wild species with commercial cultivars and employ molecular marker-assisted selection. The long-term objective is to develop heat-tolerant and low-chill raspberry/blackberry cultivars.
Dormancy physiology in deciduous fruit crops
Plant growth regulators
Small fruit production and physiology
- 1st Place in Student Best Paper Competition in Annual Conference of the Florida State Horticultural Society (2019/09)
- 1st Place in Student Oral Presentation Competition in Plant Growth Regulator session in Annual meeting of the American Society for Horticultural Science (2020/08)
- 1st Place in Student Best Paper Competition in Annual Conference of the Florida State Horticultural Society (2019/06)
- 3rd Place in Student Best Paper Competition in Annual Conference of the Florida State Horticultural Society (2018/05)
- Award of Academic Research Thesis in Bachelor in College of Bioresources and Agriculture, National Taiwan University (2014/06)
- Fellowship for excellent students based on my written research proposal, National Science Council, Taiwan (2013/05)
Ph.D., Department of Horticultural Science, University of Florida, U.S.A (2021)
B.S., Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan (2014)
Job Description
Activities may include:
- Assisting in the isolation and culture of root-associated endophytic and ericoid mycorrhizal fungi (EMF) from Vaccinium spp.
- Conducting microbial inoculation experiments and monitoring plant growth responses
- Performing physiological measurements (e.g., chlorophyll content, stress indicators)
- Participating in experimental design, data collection, and basic statistical analysis
- Contributing to lab discussions and interdisciplinary collaborations
This position offers hands-on experience in applied plant-microbe interactions and sustainable crop production within a dynamic research environment.
Preferred Intern Educational Level
- Senior undergraduate or early-stage graduate student
- Major in Plant Science, Microbiology, Biotechnology, Horticulture, or related fields
Skill sets or Qualities
- Basic laboratory skills in molecular biology and microbiology (e.g., PCR, microbial culture)
- Familiarity with statistical tools (e.g., R, SPSS, or Python) is a plus
- Interest in sustainable agriculture and biostimulant technologies
- Ability to work independently, with a proactive and collaborative mindset
- Strong communication skills and willingness to learn in a multicultural environment
Job Description
Under the supervisor’s and collaborator's guidance, the intern will:
- Use existing Rubus genome and pan-genome datasets to identify SVP/DAM-like MADS-box genes (BLAST, HMMER, domain search).
- Perform phylogenetic and comparative analyses to place Rubus candidates in the broader Rosaceae SVP/DAM clade.
- Map candidate genes onto pan-genome orthogroups and explore presence/absence variation (PAV) across species or cultivars.
- If time allows, assist in designing primers or simple expression assays (qPCR / RT-PCR) for selected candidate genes related to bud dormancy.
- Summarize findings in an internship report and a short oral presentation to the lab group.
The intern will gain hands-on experience in plant comparative genomics, gene family mining, and data analysis, and will be exposed to ongoing projects on Rubus heat tolerance and perennial fruit crop physiology under climate change.
Preferred Intern Educational Level
- Senior undergraduate (3rd–4th year) or Master’s student
- Major in Plant Science, Horticulture, Agronomy, Biology, Biotechnology, Bioinformatics, or related fields
(Highly motivated PhD students with interest in plant genomics are also welcome.)
Skill sets or Qualities
Technical skills (preferred, not all strictly required):
- Basic knowledge of plant molecular biology / genetics (genes, transcription factors, MADS-box, etc.).
- Familiarity with genomics / bioinformatics concepts (FASTA/GFF, BLAST, multiple sequence alignment, phylogenetic trees).
- Experience with at least one of the following:
- R or Python for data handling and plotting
- Genome browsers or tools (e.g., NCBI, EnsemblPlants, GDR, IGV).
Soft skills & personal qualities:
- Strong interest in perennial crops, dormancy, and climate adaptation.
- Willingness to learn new tools and ask questions when needed.
- Able to work carefully with datasets and keep good records of analyses.
- Good English communication (reading scientific articles, discussing results in meetings).
- Open-minded, collaborative attitude and respect for a multicultural lab environment.