Name：Li Zhang
Title： Professor
Tel：+86-10-62816002，+86 13801376685
Email：zhangli07@caas.cn
Major：Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction
Expertise：Sheep breeding and production, sheep resource conservation and evaluation, and core competitiveness enhancement of sheep breeding farms.
Biography:
Li Zhang, Ph.D., joined Institute of Animal Science of CAAS since 1998. Dr.Zhang received her B.S. in Animal Science and Technology from China Agricultural University in 1998. After that, Dr. Zhang worked and studied at Institute of Animal Science of CAAS, and got her M.S, in 2005. From 2005-2008, Dr.Zhang worked in Livestock Production Management at Ministry of Agriculture. And then, Dr.Zhang returned to Institute of Animal Science of CAAS, where she received her Ph.D. in 2013 and was promoted to Professor in 2017. Dr.Zhang was selected in the Yanzhao Talent Plan in Hebei province and Tianchi Talent Plan in Xinjiang provincehas. She has long-term research interest in Sheep breeding and production, sheep resource conservation and evaluation, and core competitiveness enhancement of sheep breeding farms.
Education:
1994.09-1998.07, B.S., Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University
2003.03-2005.07, M.S., Animal Gentics, Breeding and Reproduction, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
2010.09-2013.07, Ph.D. Animal Gentics, Breeding and Reproduction, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Professional Experience
1998.09-2001.12, Research trainee, Institute of Animal Science of CAAS
2002.01-2008.12, Assistant Professor, Institute of Animal Science of CAAS
2005.11-2008.12, Livestock Production Management at Ministry of Agriculture
2009.01-2016.12, Associate Professor, Institute of Animal Science of CAAS
2017.01-present, Professor and Group leader, Institute of Animal Science of CAAS
Research Direction：
In theory, modern breeding methods such as genome-wide association analysis, copy number variation, resequencing, transcriptomics and proteomics were used to explore and verify the functional genes for economic traits in sheep, as well as conducting research on the creation of new germplasm materials. In practice, facing the major needs of the sheep industry, and improves the comprehensive breeding level and core competitiveness of sheep enterprises through the landing of scientific and technological achievements. Formulate and implement technical specifications for performance measurement of sheep, and demonstrate and promote them in core sheep breeding farms across the country. Establishing a platform of sheep genomic selection breeding techniques and methods that can be used for commercial breeding, actively promoting genetic evaluation of breeding sheep, facilitating the implementation of the national sheep genetic improvement programme, and contributing to the scientific and technological support of the industry. Until now, published more than 100 papers (including 18 SCI papers as the first author or corresponding author); participated in the compilation of 10 books.
Honors and Awards:
2023 Science & Technology Department of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Science and Technology Advancement Award
2021 Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Science and Technology Awards Committee, Science and Technology Advancement Award
2014 Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Science and Technology Achievement Award
2013 Tianjin Municipal People's Government, Science and Technology Advancement Award
2012 The People's government of Tianjin Binhai New Area, Tianjin Binhai New Area Science and Technology Advancement Award
Representative Papers and Patents:
Patents:
1 A SNP molecular marker associated with growth and lambing number traits in hu sheep and its application (ZL202411036584.8)
2 A SNP molecular marker associated with growth traits in sheep and its application (ZL202410806128.0)
3 A molecular marker associatedto growth traits in hu sheep and its application (ZL202410805944.X)
4 A molecular marker related to growth traits of hu sheep and its application (ZL202311709297.4)
5 A method of passaging and purifying sheep embryonic-derived myoblasts (ZL202210506931.3).
6 A highly efficient method for primary cell culture of sheep embryonic skeletal muscle (ZL202110740406.3).
7 A method for identification and delineation of Hu sheep families using microsatellites and its application (ZL202010159913.3).
8 A feeding pen for mixed-breeding of lactating lambs and ewes (ZL201920453299.4)
9 A Body weight measuring instrument for sheep (ZL201921107136.7).
10 A Feeding tank for lambs in mixed breeding mode (ZL201920453298.X).
Papers:
1 Bao Jingjing, Xiong Jinke, Huang Jupeng, Yang Peifu, Shang Mingyu, Zhang Li. Genetic Diversity, Selection Signatures, and Genome-Wide Association Study Identify Candidate Genes Related to Litter Size in Hu Sheep. Int J Mol Sci. 2024;25(17):9397. (IF=4.9)
2 Peifu Yang, Mingyu Shang, Jingjing Bao, Tianyi Liu, Jinke Xiong, Jupeng Huang, Jinghua Sun, Li Zhang*. Whole-Genome Resequencing Revealed Selective Signatures for Growth Traits in Hu and Gangba Sheep. Genes (Basel), 2024. 15(5):551. (IF=3.5)
3 Mian Feng, Wenping Hu, Xinyue Wang, Lulu Liu, Yunhui Liu, Li Zhang*. Integration analysis of transcriptome and proteome of Chinese Merino sheep (Ovis aries) embryonic skeletal muscle. Animal Research and One Health, 2023,1–14.
4 Tianyi Liu, Yazhen Bi, Jingjing Bao, Mingyu Shang, Wenping Hu, Li Zhang*. Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the CDH18 gene affect growth traits in Hu sheep. Animal Research and One Health, 2023,1–12.
5 Xinyue Wang#, Mingyu Shang#, Wenping Hu, Li Zhang*. Multi-Omics Analysis Reveals the Potential Effects of Maternal Dietary Restriction on Fetal Muscle Growth and Development. Nutrients 2023, 15, 1051. (IF=5.9)
6 Wenping Hu#, Xinyue Wang#, Yazhen Bi, Jingjing Bao, Mingyu Shang, Li Zhang*. The Molecular Mechanism of the TEAD1 Gene and miR-410-5p Affect Embryonic Skeletal Muscle Development: A miRNA-Mediated ceRNA Network Analysis. Cells 2023,12,943.(IF=6.0)
7 Xinyue Wang, Jingjing Bao, Yazhen Bi, Wenping Hu, Li Zhang*. Polymorphism, Expression, and Structure Analysis of a Key Gene ARNT in Sheep (Ovis aries). Biology 2022, 11, 1795. (IF=5.168)
8 Jinke Xiong, Jingjing Bao, Wenping Hu, Mingyu Shang, Li Zhang*, Whole-genome resequencing reveals genetic diversity and selection characteristics of dairy goat. Frontiers in Genetic, 2022, 13:1044017. (IF=4.772)
9 Xinyue Wang#, Tianpei Shi#, Zhida Zhao, Haobin Hou, Li Zhang*. Proteomic analyses of sheep (ovis aries) embryonic skeletal muscle [J]. Scientific reports, 2020, 10(11): 1750. (IF=4.379)
10 Tianpei Shi#, Wenping Hu#, Haobin Hou, Zhida Zhao, Mingyu Shang, Li Zhang*. Identification and comparative analysis of long non-coding RNA in the skeletal muscle of two Dezhou donkey strains (Equus asinus) [J]. Genes, 2020, 11(5):508. (IF=4.096)
Social Posts
1 Member, Sheep Professional Committee of the National Committee for Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resources
2 Member, National Sheep Improvement Program
3 Expert, Third National Survey of Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resources
4 Deputy secretary-general, China Sheep&Goat Industry Association
5 Member, Standardization Working Group on Sheep and Featured Animal Industry of National Technical Committee on Animal Husbandry of Standardization Administration of China
Research Projects
1 The Science and Technology Innovation 2030- Biological Breeding Major Projects “Breeding New varieties of High-efficiency, High-propagation and Disease-resistant Meat Sheep" (No. 2022ZD0401308).
2 "Breeding and Optimal Dissemination of New Breeds of Sheep" , funded by the 14th Five-Year Plan of National Key R&D Program (No. 2021YFD1300902).
3 Government-purchased services of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (livestock and poultry genetic resources census, facility animal husbandry, etc.).
4 Inner Mongolia Major Scientific and Technological Special Project (2020ZD0003-3).
5 Institution-enterprise cooperation and Meat Sheep Science and Technology Center (Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Hebei, Henan, etc.).
6 Tianchi Talent Plan in Xinjiang province (2023-68).
7 Yanzhao Talent Plan Hebei province.