Jiwei Zhang

Assistant Professor
[email protected]
+1 612 624 1761
108 Kaufert Lab

2004 Folwell Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55108
United States

Zhang Lab
Education
  • Ph.D. - Microbiology, National Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, China. 2013.
  • B.S. - Biotechnology, Guizhou University, China. 2008.

Areas of Interest

System biology; Genome editing and large-scale phenotyping; Genetic engineering; Plant biomass conversion; Wood decay fungi; Bioremediation.

Teaching

  • BBE 4608/5608 - Environmental and Industrial Microbiology
  • BBE 4302/5302 - Biodegradation of Bioproducts

Research

  • Molecular mechanisms of plant biomass degradation by microbes
  • Lignin/aromatics degrading- and metabolizing-pathways
  • Mining and application of genetic resources for renewable biomass conversion
  • Wood structure preservation
  • Stretching of biodegradation mechanisms toward bioremediation and sustainable economies

Professor Zhang's research focuses on understanding the basic molecular mechanisms of plant biomass degradation in microbes, including fungi and bacteria. Microbes in nature evolved many strategies to decompose the recalcitrant plant biomass structures and to convert carbons in lignocellulose to cellular energy, structures and metabolites. These microbial processes therefore harbor the “tool-kits” pursued by human society to 1) preserve artificial structures (e.g., wooden buildings) from microbial decay; and 2) deconstruct lignocellulose to develop the advanced sustainable economies (e.g., biofuels, bioproducts, food and textile industries, etc.). Understanding the fundamentals of these processes would also facilitate one to find the bioremediation solutions for environmental/industrial pollutants such as aromatics and its polymers. Jiwei Zhang's work will integrate system biology and genetic approaches to decode the basic genetics of microbial decomposition of plant biomass, in the purpose of mining and applying these bio-resources to serve the development of bio-economies and to improve environment quality.

DOE - BER - Genomic Sciences research program; "A gene-editing system for large-scale fungal phenotyping in a model wood decomposer";
DOE - PNNL/EMSL - Large-Scale EMSL User Facility Grant; "Carbon signaling cascades that enable the carbohydrate-selective plant biomass degradation by brown-rot fungi";
UMN - MnDRIVE - Seed Grant for Graduate Student; "Mycoremediation of PFAS: Exploiting fungal pathways to tackle the “forever chemicals";
UMN - MnDRIVE - Seed Grant for Postdoc; "Closing the Life Cycle Loop on Adhesives with Biological Remediation".

Select Publications

  • Jiwei Zhang, Dehong Hu, Galya Orr, Jonathan Schilling. (2019) Fluorescence in situ mRNA hybridization for gene expression detection in a wood decay fungus. Int Biodeter Biodegr 143, 104731.
  • Baojun Wu, Jill Gaskell, Jiwei Zhang, Christina Toapanta, Steven Ahrendt, Igor V Grigoriev, Robert A Blanchette, Jonathan S Schilling, Emma Master, Daniel Cullen, David S Hibbett. (2019) Evolution of substrate-specific gene expression and RNA editing in brown rot wood-decaying fungi. Nature ISME 13, 1391-1403.
  • Jiwei Zhang, Hugh D Mitchell, Lye Meng Markillie, Matthew J Gaffrey, Galya Orr, Jonathan Schilling. (2019) Reference genes for accurate normalization of gene expression in wood-decomposing fungi. Fungal Genet Biol 123, 33-40.
  • Jesus David Castaño, Jiwei Zhang, Claire E Anderson, Jonathan S. Schilling. (2018) Oxidative damage control as a brown rot fungus attacks wood using oxygen radicals. Appl Environ Microbiol 84:e01937-18. [Co-first author]
  • Baojun Wu, Jill Gaskell, Benjamin W. Held, Cristina Toapanta, Thu Vuong, Steven Ahrendt, Anna Lipzen, Jiwei Zhang, Jonathan S. Schilling, Emma Master, Igor V. Grigoriev, Robert A. Blanchette, Dan Cullen and David S. Hibbett. (2018) Substrate-Specific Differential Gene Expression and RNA editing in the Brown Rot Fungus Fomitopsis pinicola. Appl Environ Microbiol 84:e00991-18.
  • Gerald N. Presley, Jiwei Zhang, Jonathan S. Schilling (2018) A genomics-informed study of oxalate and cellulase regulation by brown rot wood-degrading fungi. Fungal Genet Biol 112:64-70.
  • Jesus D. Castaño, Jiwei Zhang, Jonathan S. Schilling. (2018) Evaluation of colorimetric assays for determination of H2O2 as brown rot fungus Postia placenta decays wood in solid state cultures. J Microbiol Methods 145:10-13.
  • Jiwei Zhang and Jonathan S. Schilling (2017) Role of carbon source in the shift from oxidative to hydrolytic wood decomposition by Postia placenta. Fungal Genet Biol 106:1-8.
  • Jiwei Zhang, Gerald N. Presley, Kenneth E. Hammel, Jae-San Ryu, Jon R. Menke, Melania Figueroa, Dehong Hu, Galya Orr, Jonathan S. Schilling (2016) Localizing gene regulation reveals a staggered wood decay mechanism for the brown rot fungus Postia placenta. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 113:10968-10973.
  • Sean P. Gordon, Elizabeth Tseng, Asaf Salamov, Jiwei Zhang, Xiandong Meng, Zhiying Zhao, Dongwan Kang, Jason Underwood, Igor V. Grigoriev, Melania Figueroa, Jonathan S. Schilling, Feng Chen, Zhong Wang. (2015) Widespread polycistronic transcripts in fungi revealed by single-molecule mRNA sequencing. PLoS ONE 10(7): e0132628.