Dr. Xin Li elected as a Fellow to the Royal Society of Canada

We are delighted to share that Dr. Xin Li has been named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC).

Dr. Li is a world-leading expert in plant-microbe interactions. Her lab focuses on two interconnected research directions – plant immunity and biology of plant pathogenic fungi – to understand more about how plants defend themselves against pathogens, and how fungal pathogens develop and negatively impact plants.

Dr. Xin Li (MSL, Botany) is one of nine UBC faculty members newly elected as Fellows to the Royal Society of Canada in 2026.

Dr. Li first became interested in studying plants, and specifically those used in agriculture, from seeing farmers hard at work planting rice while she rode the train home from school. Further studies in biology reinforced her interest in studying plants and microorganisms, as well as her enjoyment of experimental design, all of which led to her starting her research program at UBC with the MSL and Department of Botany in 2001.

While her earlier work focused on the genetics of plant immune responses to pathogens, in the last few years her focus has shifted to investigating the pathogens themselves. This is an approach that’s especially helpful when some of these pathogens can infect diverse host species.

“The fungi we study are very bad pathogens for plants. This includes the worst soil-borne pathogen, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, as well as Botrytis cinerea, which is also a dangerous pathogen because of how quickly it can mutate and evolve,” shares Dr. Li. “Botrytis might be familiar to many as the mold that grows on fruits like grapes and strawberries.”

These pathogens haven’t been well-studied in the past because they present some challenges when being grown in the lab, and there is no good model organism representing them. The Li lab has been able to adapt to these challenges, using their skills from working on model plants like Arabidopsis while also learning how to take advantage of new genomics technologies.

“One of the challenges for us was that our lab wasn’t a cell biology lab – we didn’t know how to use the higher resolution tools to study nuclear dynamics,” explains Dr. Li. “In recent years, I’ve been sending my students to collaborators’ labs to learn modern cell biology.”

Studying the genetics and cell dynamics that allow these pathogens to infect plants means the lab can identify potential targets for controlling these pathogens. Those targets can then be shared with labs working to develop delivery methods and treatments to protect agricultural crops, helping improve crop yield and quality in the future.

To explore which genes are responsible for which biological processes, the Li lab grows many plates of fungi with different genes knocked out.

An unexpected finding the Li lab came across is that S. sclerotiorum split their haploid chromosomes across two nuclei – something that hadn’t been observed before in any eukaryotic (multi-cellular) organism. Breaking the ‘one nucleus, one full genome’ theory, this finding opens the fields of cell biology and genetics up to many important questions and areas for exploration. Dr. Li hopes within the next few years that her lab will be able to map out how these fungi organize their chromosomes into different nuclei, which could unlock new levels of genetic engineering.

As she continues to push forward into these unexplored areas, Dr. Li is thankful for the award from the RSC.

“This recognition from the Royal Society is helpful to our research team, showing us that our work is important both scientifically and to society,” reflects Dr. Li. “I also joke that it shows my kids that my research is important. They were very happy for me when I told them I was being elected.”

The RSC “recognizes leaders in order to help them build a better future in Canada and around the world”, a goal that Dr. Li will contribute towards as she discovers more about these significant plant pathogens and their unique genetics. We’re thrilled to see her acknowledged through election to the RSC, and look forward to seeing where her work leads next.

Quick links

• Learn more about the Li lab
• Read the announcement from the Royal Society of Canada
• Learn more about the nine new Fellows and three new College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists members at UBC