Personal Information

Dr. Zhenfeng Zhang

Associate Professor
State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
No. 1 West Beichen Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China.
Tel: +86-10-64806988
Fax: +86-10-64807429
E-mail: zhangzf@im.ac.cn
ORCID: 0000-0002-0557-5730
Web pages: 

   https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/K-3563-2016

   https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Zhenfeng_Zhang2

   https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/749215/overview


Research Areas

Archaea represents the third form of life, in addition to Bacteria and Eukarya. Most archaea that have been studied inhabit extreme environments. In recent decades, biochemical, molecular biological and genomic studies have revealed a number of fascinating features of this newly discovered group of prokaryotic organisms. Chief among them is the apparent similarity between Archaea and Eukarya in genetic mechanisms. Sulfolobus belongs to the kingdom Crenarchaeota, which is one of the two kingdoms of culturable archaea. Sulfolobus species live in acidic hot springs around the globe with optimal growth temperatures of ~80 oC and pH’s of ~3. Because Sulfolobus is aerobic and relatively easy to grow and handle in the lab, it has been widely used as a model system for the study of Archaea. The intense interest in Sulfolobus is evidenced by the completion of multiple Sulfolobus (meta)genome projects. It is believed that knowledge gained from the study of Sulfolobus will increase the understanding of the biology of Archaea and their adaptation to living in extreme environments, and facilitate the biotechnological exploitation of this unique group of organisms. Moreover, Sulfolobus offers a prokaryotic model for analyzing the genetic mechanisms in more complex eukaryotic systems.

      Dr. Zhang’s research interests are the molecular mechanisms of chromosomal organization and DNA replication in the hyperthermophilic archaea, especially the genus Sulfolobus. The following projects are currently ongoing in his laboratory: 

Ø   Mechanisms of chromosomal DNA organization in hyperthermophilic archaea;

Ø   Structures and functions of the key enzymes/complexes involved in DNA replication of archaea;

Ø   Functions of post-translational modifications of archaeal proteins

Ø   Archaeal virus-host interactions;

Ø   Synthetic biology of hyperthermophilic archaea.




Education

2001–2006 Ph.D., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, China. 

                   Ph.D. thesis: Studies on the unusual topological structures of plasmid DNA from Escherichia coli; 

                   Supervisor: Prof. Xitai Huang.

1997–2001 B.Sc., Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, China. 

                   Thesis supervisor: Prof. Tianhong Wang.



Experience

07.2010–present Associate Professor, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.

03.2007–06.2010 Assistant Professor, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.


Publications

   
Papers

  1. Tian, L.#, Ding, N.#, Liu, X., Chen, Y. and Zhang, Z.* (2022) Essentiality of core hydrophobicity to the structure and function of archaeal chromatin protein Cren7. Int J Biol Macromol, 214, 381-390.

  2. Ding, N., Chen, Y., Chu, Y., Zhong, C., Huang, L.* and Zhang, Z.* (2022) Lysine Methylation Modulates the Interaction of Archaeal Chromatin Protein Cren7 With DNA. Front Microbiol, 13, DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.837737.

  3. Huang, C.#, Liu, X.#, Chen, Y., Zhou, J., Li, W., Ding, N., Huang, L., Chen, J.* and Zhang, Z.* (2022) A Novel Family of Winged-Helix Single-Stranded DNA-Binding Proteins from Archaea. Int J Mol Sci, 23, 3455.

  4. Tian, L.#, Zhu, K.#, Chen, Y.#, Zheng, X., Zhang, H., Geng, Z., Li, W., Ding, N., Chen, J., Dong, Y., Cao, P.*, Gong, Y.* and Zhang, Z.* (2022) Biochemical and structural characterization of a KTSC family single-stranded DNA-binding protein from Euryarchaea. Int J Biol Macromol, 216, 618-628.

  5. Liu, W., Zheng, X., Dai, X., Zhang, Z., Zhang, W., Xiao, T. and Huang, L.* (2022) Isolation and Characterization of the First Temperate Virus Infecting Psychrobacillus from Marine Sediments. Viruses, 14, 108.

  6. Huang, L.#, *, Zhang, Z.# and McMacken, R. (2021) Interaction of the Escherichia coli HU Protein with Various Topological Forms of DNA. Biomolecules, 11, 1724. 1.

  7. Zhang, Z.#, Zhan, Z.#, Wang, B., Chen, Y., Chen, X., Wan, C., Fu, Y.* and Huang, L.* (2020) Archaeal Chromatin Proteins Cren7 and Sul7d Compact DNA by Bending and Bridging. mBio, 11, e00804-00820.

  8. Li, F.-Y., Zhang, Z.-F., Voss, S., Wu, Y.-W., Zhao, Y.-F., Li, Y.-M. and Chen, Y.-X. (2020) Inhibition of K-Ras4B-plasma membrane association with a membrane microdomain-targeting peptide. Chemical Science, 11, 826-832.

  9. Zhang, Z.#, Zhao, M.#, Chen, Y., Wang, L., Liu, Q., Dong, Y., Gong, Y.* and Huang, L.* (2019) Architectural roles of Cren7 in folding crenarchaeal chromatin filament. Mol Microbiol, 111, 556-569.

  10. Wang, H., Guo, Z., Feng, H., Chen, Y., Chen, X., Li, Z., Hernandez-Ascencio, W., Dai, X., Zhang, Z., Zheng, X. et al. (2018) Novel Sulfolobus virus with an exceptional capsid architecture. J Virol92, e01727-17.

  11. Zhang, Z.#,, Zhao, M.#, Wang, L., Chen, Y., Dong, Y., Gong, Y.* and Huang, L.* (2017) Roles of Leu28 side chain intercalation in the interaction between Cren7 and DNA. Biochemical Journal, 474, 1727-1739.

  12. Tian, L., Zhang, Z.F., Wang, H.Q., Zhao, M.H., Dong, Y.H. and Gong, Y. (2016) Sequence-dependent T:G base pair opening in DNA Double helix bound by Cren7, a chromatin protein conserved among Crenarchaea. PLoS One, 11.

  13. Tian, L., Su, X.Y., Zhang, Z.F.* and Huang, X.T. (2016) Cleavage of the double-strand region in alkali-denatured supercoiled plasmid pBR322 leads to DNA nodes. Prog Biochem Biophys, 43, 778-786.

  14. Dai, X., Wang, H., Zhang, Z., Li, K., Zhang, X., Mora-Lopez, M., Jiang, C., Liu, C., Wang, L., Zhu, Y. et al. (2016) Genome sequencing of Sulfolobus sp. A20 from Costa Rica and comparative analyses of the putative pathways of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur metabolism in various Sulfolobus strains. Front Microbiol, 7, 1902.

  15. Chu, Y., Zhu, Y., Chen, Y., Li, W., Zhang, Z., Liu, D., Wang, T., Ma, J., Deng, H., Liu, Z.-J. et al. (2016) aKMT catalyzes extensive protein lysine methylation in the hyperthermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus islandicus but is dispensable for the growth of the organism. Mol Cell Proteomics, 15, 2908-2923.

  16. Zhang, Z., Gong, Y., Chen, Y., Li, H. and Huang, L.* (2015) Insights into the interaction between Cren7 and DNA: the role of loop beta3-beta4. Extremophiles, 19, 395-406.

  17. Zhang, Z., Guo, L. and Huang, L. (2012) Archaeal chromatin proteins. Sci China Life Sci, 55, 377-385.

  18. Zhan, Z., Ouyang, S., Liang, W., Zhang, Z., Liu, Z.J. and Huang, L. (2012) Structural and functional characterization of the C-terminal catalytic domain of SSV1 integrase. Acta Crystallogr D Biol Crystallogr, 68, 659-670.

  19. Chu, Y., Zhang, Z., Wang, Q., Luo, Y. and Huang, L. (2012) Identification and characterization of a highly conserved crenarchaeal protein lysine methyltransferase with broad substrate specificity. J Bacteriol, 194, 6917-6926.

  20. Huang, X.*, Yu, J., Zhang, Z. and Cao, K. (2011) DNA Spiral supercoiling and intramolecular topological interlink. Journal of Microbial & Biochemical Technology, S3.

  21. Zhang, Z.#, Gong, Y.#, Guo, L., Jiang, T.* and Huang, L.* (2010) Structural insights into the interaction of the crenarchaeal chromatin protein Cren7 with DNA. Mol Microbiol, 76, 749-759.

  22. Yu, J.#, Zhang, Z.F.#, Cao, K. and Huang, X.T. (2008) Visualization of alkali-denatured supercoiled plasmid DNA by atomic force microscopy. Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 374, 415-418.

  23. Guo, L., Feng, Y., Zhang, Z., Yao, H., Luo, Y., Wang, J. and Huang, L. (2008) Biochemical and structural characterization of Cren7, a novel chromatin protein conserved among Crenarchaea. Nucleic Acids Res, 36, 1129-1137.


Professional Activities

Editorial duties:

Review Editor, Frontiers in Microbiology (2019-present).

Guest Associate Editor, Frontiers in Microbiology (2020-2022).

Invited reviewer for:

Scientific journals:

Frontiers in Microbiology, Bioscience Reports, Journal of Genetics and Genomics, Science China Life Sciences.

Grant proposals:

National Natural Science Foundation of China (2014-present).


Conferences

  1. Organization of Crenarchaeal Chromosomal DNA by Cren7 and Sso7d: DNA Bending and Bridging; 15th International Congress on Thermophiles, 2019-09-02.
  2. Chromosomal DNA Organization in Sulfolobus: Roles of Cren7 and Sul7d; 11th International Congress on Extremophiles, 2016-09-12.
  3. Structural analysis of DNA binding by Cren7 monomers adjacently located on the DNA (Poster Award); 12th International Conference on Thermophiles, 2013-09-08.
  4. Crenarchaeal chromatin protein – Cren7 (Invited Speech); Sino-Danish archaea biology and biotechnology symposium, 2011-09-22.
  5. Insights into the interaction between Cren7 from Sulfolobus slfataricus with dsDNA: the role of Lβ3β4 (Poster Award); 10th International Conference on Thermophiles Research, 2009-09-08.


Honors & Distinctions

2021, Outstanding Editor Award 2021 of Frontiers in Microbiology.  

2013, 12th International Meeting of Thermophiles, Poster Award 2013.

2009, 10th International Meeting of Thermophiles, The Award for the best Poster.