Junzeng Zhang

Roles and responsibilities

Senior research officer, Natural Products and Analytical Technologies, Aquatic and Crop Resource Development Research Centre

Current research and/or projects

My current research focus is on plant metabolomics, particularly in characterizing secondary metabolites as signaling molecules in plant-microbe interactions. I also work on natural products chemistry projects related to development of natural health products, nutraceutical or functional food ingredients, as well as new extraction and processing technologies for bioactive natural products.  

Research and/or project statements

  • Natural products isolation, characterization and quantitation
  • Plant metabolomics and characterization of secondary metabolites with signaling roles in plant-microbe interactions
  • Natural health products, nutraceuticals, functional food
  • Edible/medicinal plants, dietary herbs, berries
  • New extraction and processing technologies

Education

MBA, Saint Mary’s University, 2006

Ph.D. Natural Products Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, 1994

M.Sc. Natural Products Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, 1991

B.Sc. Pharmaceutical Science, Henan University of Traditional Chinese medicine, 1984

Affiliations

Adjunct professor, Department of Process Engineering and Applied Science, Dalhousie University 

Key publications

Cook, J., Hui, J. P. M., Zhang, J., Kember, M., Berrue, F., Zhang, J., Cheng, Z. Production of quorum sensing-related metabolites and phytoalexins during Pseudomonas aeruginosa-Brassica napus interaction, Microbiology 2022, 168:001212. https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.001212.

Chong, K. Y., Stefanova, R., Zhang, J., Brooks, M. S.-L. Extraction of bioactive compounds from haskap leaves (Lonicera caerulea) using salt/etanol aqueous two-phase flotation, Food and Bioprocess Technology 2020, https://doi.org/10.1007/211947-020-02553-3.

Rathor, P., Borza, T., Liu, Y., Qin, Y., Stone, S., Zhang, J., Hui, J. P. M., Berrue, F., Groisillier, A., Tonon, T., Yurgel, S., Potin, P., and Prithiviraj, B. Low mannitol concentrations in Arabidopsis thaliana expressing Ectocarpus genes improve salt tolerance, Plants 2020, 9, 1508; doi:10.3390/plants9111508.

Gao, X., Locke, S., Zhang, J., Joshi, J., Wang-Pruski, G. Metabolomics profile of potato tubers after phosphite treatment. American Journal of Plant Sciences 2018, 9, 845-864.

Chen, H., Deng, Q., Ji, X., Zhou, X., Kelly, G. and Zhang, J. Glucose oxidase-assisted extraction of resveratrol from Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica). New Journal of Chemistry 2016, DOI: 10.1039/C6NJ01294A.

Ma, Y.-C., Mnai, A., Cai, Y., Thomson, J., Ma, J., Peudru, F., Chen, S., Luo, M., Zhang, J., Chapman, R. G., Shi, Z.-T. An effective identification and quantification method for Ginkgo biloba flavonol glycosides with targeted evaluation of adulterated products. Phytomedicine 2016, DOI: 10.1016/j.phymed.2016.02.003.

Ravichandran, S., Stone, S., Benkel, B., Zhang, J., Berrue, F., and Prithiviraj, B. Optimal level of purple acid phosphatase 5 is required for maintaining complete resistance to Pseudomonas syringae, Frontiers in Plant Science: Plant Biotic Interactions 2015, http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2015.00568.

Jiao, G., Hui, J. P. M., Burton, I. W., Thibault, M.-H., Pelletier, C., Boudreau, J., Tchoukanova, N., Subramanian, B., Djaoued, Y., Ewart, S., Gagnon, J., Ewart, K. V., and Zhang, J. Characterization of shrimp oil from Pandalus borealis by high performance liquid chromatography and high resolution mass spectrometry, Marine Drugs 2015, 13, 3849-3876.

Wang, G., Zhang, J., Kulka, M., Guo, F., and Li, Y. Eremophilane glucosides from Petasites japonicas, Helvetica Chimica Acta 2014, 97, 985-990.

Kandasamy, S., Khan, W., Evans, F. D., Critchley, A. T., Zhang, J., Fitton, J. H., Stringer, D. N., Gardine, V.-A. G., and Balakrishan, P. A fucose containing polymer-rich fraction from the brown alga Ascophyllum nodosum mediates lifespan increase and thermo-tolerance in Caenorhabditis elegans, by differential effect on gene and protein expression, Food & Function 2013, DOI: 10.1039/C3FO60050E.

Chen, H., Tuck, T., Ji, X., Zhou, X., Kelly, G., Cuerrier, A., and Zhang, J. Quality assessment of Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) grown on Prince Edward Island as a source of resveratrol, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2013, DOI: 10.1021/jf4019239.

Junzeng Zhang

Senior Research Officer
Aquatic and Crop Resource Development
1411 Oxford Street
Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 3Z1
Preferred language: English
Other(s): Chinese (Mandarin)
Telephone: 902-426-7408

Expertise

Agriculture, Agri-Food, Aquatic Science, Algal Technologies, Food, Chemistry, Health, Food, Nutrition, Fortification, Natural Products, Natural products chemistry, Plant, Cereals and pulses, Sciences, Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Technology, Chemical analysis