Jian-Jiang Zhong obtained his BS degree in Chemical Engineering from East China Institute of Chemical Technology (Now: ECUST, Shanghai, China) in July 1986, and Ph.D. degree in Fermentation Technology/Biotechnology from Osaka University (Osaka, Japan) in March 1993. Dr. Zhong was promoted to full professorship at ECUST in November 1996. He was the director of the State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering (ECUST) during 1998-2006. In September 2006, he established the Molecular Biochemical Engineering lab at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). Now he is SJTU Distinguished Professor.
Professor Zhong’s major research interest includes molecular biochemical engineering, advanced fermentation technology, and synthetic biology, covering the application areas of biopharmaceuticals, biorefinery and bioenergy, agriculture, environmental protenction and bioremediation, food and fermentation industries.
The major scientific contribution made by Dr. Zhong and his group includes:
- A new centrifugal impeller bioreactor for shear-sensitive biological systems by developing a new reactor-designing concept, which was adopted by his national and international colleagues;
- Pioneering work on quantitative studies on effects of light irradiation, shear stress, oxygen supply, and mixing on secondary metabolite production by plant cell cultures, which were well referencened by international groups;
- A novel two-stage fermentation process by integrating static and agitation modes for enhanced production of secondary metabolites by liquid cultutivation of higher fungi, whose concept was successfully applied to other higher fungi fermentation by other groups;
- Signal transduction engineering of plant cells and higher fungi fermentations for hyper-production of secondary metabolites, whose methodologies and new elicitors were also adopted by his peers in different cultivation systems; and
- Enhanced production of validamycin A (an important agri-antibiotic) and ganoderic acid (an important anti-tumor and anti-metastatic triterpenoid) by metabolic engineering of Streptomyces hygroscopicus 5008 (actinomycete) and Ganoderma lucidum (medicinal mushroom), respectively.
Until January 2015, Professor Zhong has published 215 papers in peer-reviewed international journals (cited by Science Citation Index) and 5 international books (by Springer), with Google Scholar citation of 6700 and h-index of 44. He was an invited and plenary lecturer in >50 international conferences. He holds 20 patents. Dr. Zhong has received numerous awards from home and abroad, such as the Cheung Kong Scholar Professorship (1999), National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars by NSFC (2002), Young Asian Biotechnologist Prize by the Society for Biotechnology, Japan (2002), Research Exchange Award from Korean Society for Biotechnology and Bioengineering (2009), and 1st-Class Award for the Advancement of Science and Technology by Ministry of Education of China for twice (2004, 2014).
Dr. Zhong is the Secretary General (2012-2016) of Asian Federation of Biotechnology (AFOB) and also on the executive board of AFOB. He has been on the editorial board of 9 internationally-renowned SCI journals for many years, including as Editor-in-Chief of Process Biochemistry (Elsevier), Editor-in-Chief of Biotechnology & Applied Biochemistry (Wiley), Associate Editor of Biotechnology & Bioengineering (Wiley), and Assiciate Editor of Bioprocess & Biosystems Engineering (Springer).
Recent Publications (partial list)
- Gao-Yi Tan, Yao Peng, Chenyang Lu, Linquan Bai*, Jian-Jiang Zhong*. Engineering validamycin production by tandem deletion of γ-butyrolactone receptor genes in Streptomyces hygroscopicus 5008. Metabolic Engineering 28: 74-81, 2015.
- Yi-Ning Xu, Xiao-Xia Xia, and Jian-Jiang Zhong*. Induction of ganoderic acid biosynthesis by Mn2+ in static liquid cultivation of Ganoderma lucidum. Biotechnology and Bioengineering 111: 2358-2365, 2014.
- Jia-Le Yu, Xiao-Xia Xia, Jian-Jiang Zhong*, Zhi-Gang Qian*. Direct biosynthesis of adipic acid from a synthetic pathway in recombinant Escherichia coli. Biotechnology and Bioengineering 111(12): 2580-2586, 2014.
- Kai Qi, Jian-Jiang Zhong*, and Xiao-Xia Xia*. Triggering respiro-fermentative metabolism in a Crabtree negative yeast Pichia guilliermondii by disrupting the CAT8 gene. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 80: 3879-3887, 2014.
- Yi-Ning Xu, Xiao-Xia Xia, and Jian-Jiang Zhong*. Induced effect of Na+ on ganoderic acid biosynthesis in static liquid culture of Ganoderma lucidum via calcineurin signal transduction. Biotechnology and Bioengineering 110: 1913-1923, 2013.
- Gao-Yi Tan, Linquan Bai*, Jian-Jiang Zhong*. Exogenous 1,4-butyrolactone stimulates A-factor cascade and validamycin biosynthesis in Streptomyces hygroscopicus 5008. Biotechnology and Bioengineering 110(11): 2984-2993, 2013.
- Jia-Le Wang, Tingyue Gu, Jian-Jiang Zhong*. Enhanced recovery of antitumor ganoderic acid T from Ganoderma lucidum mycelia by novel chemical conversion strategy. Biotechnology & Bioengineering 109(3): 754-762, 2012.
- Yi-Ning Xu, Jian-Jiang Zhong*. Impacts of calcium signal transduction on the fermentation production of antitumor ganoderic acids by medicinal mushroom Ganoderma lucidum. Biotechnology Advances 30: 1301-1308, 2012.
- Jun-Wei Xu, Yi-Ning Xu and Jian-Jiang Zhong*. Enhancement of ganoderic acid accumulation by overexpression of an N5 terminal truncated 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA reductase gene in basidiomycete Ganoderma lucidum. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 78(22): 7968-7976, 2012.
- Xin Zhou, Jian-Jiang Zhong*. Quantitative influence of endogenous salicylic acid level on taxuyunnanine C biosynthesis in suspension cultures of Taxus chinensis. Biotechnology and Bioengineering 108(1): 216-221, 2011.
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