(1) Phylogenomics and diversification study of plant lineages in tropical and subtropical Asia, including Apocynaceae and Aquifoliaceae

(2) Interpretation of the spatial pattern of species diversity in tropical and subtropical Asia

2013 – 2017, Ph.D. in botany, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
2010 – 2013, M.Sc. in agriculture, Yunnan Agricultural University/Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
​2006 – 2010, B.Sc. in agriculture, Nanchang Business College of Jiangxi Agricultural University

   

2024 – present, Associate Professor, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences

2017 – 2024, Assistant Professor, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences

   

• Chen L-Q, Li X, Yao X, Li D-Z, Barrett C, dePamphilis CW, Yu W-B. 2024. Variations and reduction of plastome are associated with the evolution of parasitism in Convolvulaceae. Plant Molecular Biology, 114:40.

• Chen H-Y, Zhang Z-R, Yao X, Ya J-D, Jin X-H, Wang L, Lu L, Li D-Z, Yang J-B, Yu W-B. 2024. Plastid phylogenomics provides new insights into the systematics, diversification, and biogeography of Cymbidium (Orchidaceae). Plant Diversity, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pld.2024.03.001.

• Song Y, Xia S-W, Tan Y-H, Yu W-B, Yao X#, Xing Y-W#, Corlett RT#. 2023. Phylogeny and biogeography of the Cryptocaryeae (Lauraceae). Taxon, 72(6):1244-1261. (co-corresponding author)

• Pan B, Yao X, Corlett RT, Yu WB. 2023. Pueraria omeiensis (Fabaceae), a new species from Southwest China. Taiwania, 68(1):31-38.

• Yao X, Lu Z, Song Y, Hu X, Corlett RT. 2022. A chromosome-scale genome assembly for the holly, Ilex polyneura, provides insights into genomic adaptations to elevation in Southwest China. Horticulture Research, 9:uhab049.

• Yao X, Zhang F, Corlett RT. 2022. Utilization of the hollies (Ilex L. spp.): a review. Forests, 13(1):94.

• Yao X, Song Y, Yang JB, Tan YH, Corlett RT. 2021. Phylogeny and biogeography of the hollies (Ilex L., Aquifoliaceae). Journal of Systematics and Evolution, 59(1):73-82.

• Armani M, Goodale UM, Charles-Dominique T, Barton KE, Yao X, Tomlinson KW. 2020. Structural defence is coupled with the leaf economic spectrum across saplings of spiny species. Oikos, 129(5):740-762.

• Yao X, Tan YH, Yang JB, Wang Y, Corlett RT, Manen JF. 2019. Exceptionally high rates of positive selection on the rbcL gene in the genus Ilex (Aquifoliaceae). BMC Evolutionary Biology, 19:192.

• Song Y. Yu WB, Tan Y, Liu B, Yao X, Jin J, Padmanaba M, Yang JB, Corlett RT. 2017. Evolutionary comparisons of the chloroplast genome in Lauraceae and insights into loss events in the Magnoliids. Genome Biology and Evolution, 9(9):2354-2364.

• Yao X, Tan YH, Liu YY, Song Y, Yang JB, Corlett RT. 2016. Chloroplast genome structure in Ilex (Aquifoliaceae). Scientific Reports, 6: 28559.

• Yao X, Liu YY, Tan YH, Song Y, Corlett RT. 2016. The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Helwingia himalaica (Helwingiaceae, Aquifoliales) and a chloroplast phylogenomic analysis of the Campanulidae. PeerJ, 4: e2734.