Vector-borne disease & microbiome control

2008-2014 Yale University, USA, Postdoctoral Associate;
2014-2019 Institute of Microbiology, CAS, Associate Professor;
2019-Present Institute of Microbiology, CAS, Professor.

1. Liying Chen, Han Bao, Jie Yang, Yan Huo, Jiabin Zhang, Rongxiang Fang* and Lili Zhang*. Dynamics of rice seed-borne bacteria from acquisition to seedling colonization. Microbiome. 2024, 12:253.
2. Qing Liu, Xiangyi Meng, Zhiyu Song, Ying Shao, Yao Zhao, Rongxiang Fang, Yan Huo* and Lili Zhang*. Insect-transmitted plant virus balances its vertical transmission through regulating Rab1-mediated receptor localization, Cell Reports. 2024, 43(8): 114571.
3. Ying Shao, Qian You, Wenhui Zhao, Lili Zhang and Yan Huo. Study of the acquisition, replication and transmission of rice stripe virus in the vector and non-vector planthoppers based on hemocoel-microinjection. Pest Management Science, 2025, accepted.
4. Jing Zhao, Jie Yang, Xiangyi Meng, Rongxiang Fang, Yan Huo and Lili Zhang. Plant arbovirus mobilizes a vector salivary protein to initiate plant infection. eLife, 2023,12:RP88132.
5. Yan Huo, Jing Zhao, Xiangyi Meng, Jie Yang, Ziyu Zhang, Zhiwei Liu, Rongxiang Fang and Lili Zhang. Laodelphax striatellus saliva mucin enables the formation of stylet sheathes to facilitate its feeding and rice stripe virus transmission. Pest Management Science, 2022, 78(8): 3498-3507.
6. Liying Chen#, Mengting Zhang#, Da Liu, Hongbo Sun, Jianxiang Wu, Yan Huo, Xiaoying Chen, Rongxiang Fang* and Lili Zhang*. Design specific bacterial 16S primers to sequence and quantitate plant endo-bacteriome. Science China Life Sciences, 2022, 65(5): 1000-1013
7. Jianye*#, Lili Zhang#, Xuan Zhang, Xiujuan Wu, Rongxiang Fang*, Plant defense networks against insect-borne pathogens. Trends in Plant Science, 2021, 26(3): 272-287.
8. Yan Huo, Yuanling Yu, Qing Liu, Da Liu, Mengting Zhang, Jingnan Liang, Xiaoying Chen, Lili Zhang* and Rongxiang Fang*. Rice stripe virus hitchhikes the vector insect Vitellogenin ligand-receptor pathway for ovary entry. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 2019, 374(1767):20180312.
9. Yan Huo#, Yuanling Yu#, Liying Chen, Qiong Li, Mengting Zhang, Zhiyu Song, Xiaoying Chen, Rongxiang Fang*, Lili Zhang*. Insect tissue-specific vitellogenin facilitates transmission of plant virus. PLoS Pathogens, 2018, 14(2): e1006909.
10. Lili Zhang, Yue Zhang, Sarojini Adusumilli, Lei Liu, Sukanya Narasimhan, Jianfeng Dai, Yang O. Zhao, Erol Fikrig*, Molecular interactions that enable movement of the Lyme disease agent from the tick gut into the hemolymph, PLoS Pathog, 2011, 7(6): e1002079.
11. Huiying Ji, Tianhao Zhang, Han Li, Chunyu Wang, Rongxiang Fang, Lili Zhang* and Yan Huo*. Apoplast-Extraction Based Method to Improve the Purity of Plant Produced Recombinant Protein. JoVE. 2024, 209: e66852.
12. Yan Huo#, Zhiyu Song#, Haiting Wang, Ziyu Zhang, Na Xiao, Rongxiang, Fang, Yuman Zhang* and Lili Zhang*. GrpE is involved in mitochondrial function and is an effective target for RNAi-mediated pest and arbovirus control. Insect Mol Biol, 2022, 31(3): 377-390.
13. Yuanling Yu, Mengting Zhang, Yan Huo, Jiliang Tang, Qing Liu, Xiaoying Chen, Rongxiang Fang* and Lili Zhang*. Laodelphax striatellus Atg8 facilitates Rice stripe virus infection in an autophagy-independent manner. Insect Science, 2021, 28: 315-329.
14. Yan Huo#, Liying Chen#, Lei Su, Yao Wu, Xiaoying Chen, Rongxiang Fang* and Lili Zhang*. Artificial feeding Rice stripe virus enables efficient virus infection of Laodelphax striatellus. J Virol Methods, 2016, 235: 139-143.
15. Fujie Zhang, Qiong Li, Xiaoying Chen, Yan Huo, Hongyan Guo, Zhiyu Song, Feng Cui, Lili Zhang*, Rongxiang Fang*, Roles of the Laodelphax striatellus Down Syndrome Cell Adhesion Molecule in Rice Stripe Virus Infection of Its Insect Vector, Insect Mol Biol, 2016, 25(4): 413-421.
16. Lili Zhang, Yantao Jia, Li Wang, Rongxiang Fang, A Proline Iminopeptidase Gene Upregulated in planta by a LuxR Homologue is Essential for Pathogenicity of Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris, Mol Microbiol, 2007, 65, 121-136.
17. Wu, J., Zhang, Y., Li, F., Zhang, X., Ye, J., Wei, T., Li, Z., Tao, X., Cui, F., Wang, X., Zhang, L., Yan, F., Li, S., Liu, Y., Li, D., Zhou, X., & Li, Y. Plant virology in the 21st century in China: Recent advances and future directions. Journal of Integrative Plant Biology. 2024, 66(3): 579–622.
18.Zhang L. Chinese Terms in Agronomy (Second Edition): Agricultural Biotechnology. China National Committee for Terminology in Science and Technology, Science Press, 2025, ISBN: 978-7-03-082732-6..
19. Lili Zhang* and Sanping Li*. Artificial intelligence/machine learning tools for single molecule data analysis in biomedicine. In: Jeong-Yeol Yoon, Chenxu Yu, editors. Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in Chemical and Biological Sensing. Amsterdam: ELSEVIER; 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-22001-2.00014-7.
20. Zhang LL. Gut microecology of vector insects and pathogen transmission. In: Kang L (Ed.), Ecological Genomics，Science Press，2019，ISBN：978-7-03-062082-8.