Wenyang Zhang

Dr. Zhang pursued his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry at Central China Normal University from September 2013 to June 2020, during which he also undertook joint doctoral training in Analytical Chemistry at York University, Canada, from March 2018 to September 2019. Since July 2020, he has been an Assistant Research Fellow at the Agricultural Bio‑gene Research Center, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Since 2020, Dr. Zhang has been dedicated to technological innovation in proteomics and mechanistic studies of crop agronomic quality, achieving a series of distinctive results in both technology development and agricultural applications. In terms of technological innovation, he (1) established an electrophoretic technique for distinguishing differential phosphoprotein variants; (2) developed an automated online phosphoproteomic analysis technology; and (3) constructed a combined analytical method enabling simultaneous profiling of phosphorylation and S‑nitrosylation. In applied research, he (4) utilized his self‑developed technologies to reveal the dynamic phosphorylation and S‑nitrosylation modification maps during maize germination, confirming the cross‑talk mechanism of the key protein SnRK1α; and (5) employed thermal proteome profiling (TPP) to identify target proteins of small‑molecule inhibitors against aflatoxin production in Aspergillus flavus and elucidate the functional pathways. His related findings have been published in journals including Analytical Chemistry, Green Chemistry, aBIOTECH, Plant Journal, and Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Selected publications:
1. Zhang W, Leng X, Qi Y, Yang X, Jiang R, Yang X, Hu X, Tan Y, Zhong H*. Electrophoresis of Phosphoproteins on a Tandem Polymerized Gel. Analytical Chemistry, 2022, 94(21): 7466‑7474.
2. Zhang W, Lai CK, Huang W, Li W, Wu S, Kong Q, Hopkinson AC, Fernie AR, Siu KWM, Yan S. An eco‑friendly, low‑cost, and automated strategy for phosphoproteome profiling. Green Chemistry, 2022, 24(24): 9697‑9708.
3. Zhang W, Wang Y, Li W, Wu S, Chen Y, Ye M, Huang W, Fernie AR, Yan S*. A novel proteomics workflow for simultaneous analysis of protein phosphorylation and S‑nitrosylation. aBIOTECH, 2025, 6(3): 452‑465.
4. Zhang W, Wang Y, Li W, Wei Y, Wu S, Zhuo D, Ye M, Chen Y, Huang W, Li Y, Xu K, Lai J, Fernie AR, Yan S*. Temporal dynamics of protein phosphorylation and S‑nitrosylation direct maize seed germination programs. Plant Journal, 2026, doi: 10.1111/tpj.70835.
5. Wu S#, Zhang Q#, Zhang W#, Huang W, Kong Q, Liu Q, Li W, Zou X, Liu CM, Yan S*. Linolenic Acid‑Derived Oxylipins Inhibit Aflatoxin Biosynthesis in Aspergillus flavus through Activation of Imizoquin Biosynthesis. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2022, 70(50): 15928‑15944.