In the past years, our key interest is the adaptive evolution of plants. Under the principles of biogeography and population genetics, we studied the molecular evolution of plants during the processes such as adaptation into extreme habitats, i.e. mangrove species; domestication, i.e. rice; and invasion, i.e. Mikania micrantha. Our comprehensive investigations into the global patterns of genetic diversity in mangrove species are integrated to develop a new theory of speciation, the Mixing-Isolation-Mixing (MIM) model. We also developed statistical methods to detect natural selection and convergent evolution.

The third part of our work is to build the 'big data' base for mangroves. We started the so-called '100M' project, which aims at sequencing the genomes of about 100 species, including about 70 true mangrove and 30 semi-mangrove species. We are also working on the DNA barcoding of all the life in mangrove ecosystems, including plants, benthic animals and insects.