Wei Zhang PhD

Professor of Entomology

Master’s Supervisor

State Key Laboratory of Green Pesticides 

Contact details

416 Science Building, East Campus, Guizhou University

Email wzhang9@gzu.edu.cn; zhangwei976@126.com

Phone +86 15523270198

Qualifications

BSc – Hainan University, China 2010

MSc – Chongqing University, China 2013

PhD – Chongqing University, China 2016 (University of Florida, USA,2014-2016)

Positions held

2016-2017 Postdoc – University of Florida, USA

2017-2020 Lecturer, Chongqing University, China

2021 – present Professor – Guizhou University, China

Profile

Wei Zhang has long been engaged in research on pest infestation mechanisms, green pest prevention and biocontrol, and integrated pest management. In the field of basic research, he focuses on mechanisms of behavioral and immune interactions between insects and biocontrol agents, especially entomopathogenic fungi. In the field of application, he has selectedor bred some high efficiency entomopathogenic fungal strains for pest control, studied synergistic effects of fungi pesticides with chemical pesticides, sex attractants and parasitic wasps, etc.  He has also worked on pest control using modern biotechnology. He has served on editorial boards in some international journals, such as Integrative Zoology, and Frontiers in Physiology. He has published more than 20 scientific works.

Selected recent publications (*corresponding authors)

1. Zhang, W., Chen, X., Eleftherianos, I.*, Mohamed, A., Bastin, A., & Keyhani, N. O.* (2024). Crosstalk between immunity and behavior: insights from entomopathogenic fungi and their insect hosts. FEMS Microbiology Reviews, fuae003.

2. Zhang, W.*, Xie, M., Eleftherianos, I., Mohamed, A., Cao, Y., Song, B., Keyhani, N. O.* & Xia, Y.* (2023). An odorant binding protein is involved in counteracting detection-avoidance and Toll-pathway innate immunity. Journal of Advanced Research 48, 1-16.

3. Gu, M., Tian, J., Lou, Y., Ran, J., Mohamed, A., Keyhani N., Jaronski S., Wang G., Chen X., Zang, L., Zhang, W.* (2023) Efficacy of Metarhizium rileyi granules for the control of Spodoptera frugiperda and its synergistic effects with chemical pesticide, sex pheromone and parasitoid. Entomologia Generalis43 (6).

4. Zhang, W.*, Jia, C., Zang, L. S., Gu, M., Zhang, R., Eleftherianos, I.*, & Mohamed, A. A.* (2023). Entomopathogenic fungal-derived metabolites alter innate immunity and gut microbiota in the migratory locust. Journal of Pest Science 97(2): 853-872.

5. Jia, C., Mohamed, A., Cattaneo, A. M., Huang, X., Keyhani, N. O., Gu, M., ... & Zhang, W*. (2023). Odorant-Binding Proteins and Chemosensory Proteins in Spodoptera frugiperda: From Genome-Wide Identification and Developmental Stage-Related Expression Analysis to the Perception of Host Plant Odors, Sex Pheromones, and Insecticides. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 24(6), 5595.

6. Ma, M., Luo, J., Li, C., Zhang, W.^*, & Xu, L^*. (2023) A life-and-death struggle: interaction of insects with entomopathogenic fungi across various infection stages. Frontiers in Immunology 14, 1329843.

7. Zhang, W., Tettamanti, G., Bassal, T., Heryanto, C., Eleftherianos, I.*, & Mohamed, A.* (2021). Regulators and signalling in insect antimicrobial innate immunity: functional molecules and cellular pathways. Cellular Signalling 83, 110003.

8. Zhang, W., Ortiz-Urquiza, A., & Keyhani, N. O.* (2021). Altered expression of chemosensory and odorant binding proteins in response to fungal infection in the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta. Frontiers in Physiology 12, 596571.

9. Zhang, W.*, Keyhani, N. O., Zhang, H., Cai, K., & Xia, Y.* (2020). Inhibitor of apoptosis‐1 gene as a potential target for pest control and its involvement in immune regulation during fungal infection. Pest Management Science 76(5), 1831-1840.

10. Zhang, W., Zheng, X., Chen, J., Keyhani, N. O., Cai, K., & Xia, Y.* (2020). Spatial and temporal transcriptomic analyses reveal locust initiation of immune responses to Metarhizium acridum at the pre-penetration stage. Developmental & Comparative Immunology 104, 103524.