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Becoming a Golden Hawk means more than just cheering on our (really good) varsity teams – it means being a student who cares about your community, who works hard in the classroom, and who takes advantage of all the learning opportunities that can happen outside the classroom, too.
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I received my PhD degree (Plant Breeding and Genetics) from Tohoku University in Japan, under the supervision of Professor Takeshi Nishio. I completed my BSc and MSc degrees at Anhui Agricultural University and Nanjing Agricultural University from China, respectively.
After completing PhD, I spent one year working on oil palm breeding and genetics in Temasek Lifesciences Laboratory, at National University of Singapore, Singapore. Before joining Laurier, I was a Research Associate and Sessional Instructor in Department of Plant Science at University of Manitoba. There, I worked on canola-blackleg interaction, manipulation of fungal pathogen, CRISPR/Cas9 multiplex genome editing on Brassica napus for functional gene characterization, and integrated pest management strategies in Brassica crops.
My lab is working on how the canola crop adapts the climate change as rising CO2 and economically important plant diseases such as blackleg, verticillium stripe using CRISPR/Cas9 multiplex genome editing system. The aim of my research program is to take the advantage of new technology/knowledge (genome editing, exosomes) to improve canola resilience to biotic and abiotic stress, and therefore, to maintain our food safety, security, and sustainability.
- Editor, BMC Plant Biology
- Associate Editor, New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science
- Guest Editor, Frontiers in Plant Science
- President’s Fellowship of Tohoku University, Japan. (2011-2013)
- Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP)-Ag Action Manitoba Program (2021-2023)
- 2023 Canola Agronomic Research Program (CARP: 2023-2026)
I am open to supervise motivated graduate and undergraduate students interested in the areas of Microbe-Plant interactions, Genome editing, Stress biology, Plant disease breeding, Plant molecular biology, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), in economically important crops. Please contact me for more information.
Zhongwei Zou, Xujun Zhu, Sanjaya Gyawali. 2022. Editorial: Horticultural Crops: Interaction with Fungal Communnity. Frontiers in Plant Science, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.1096201
Justine Cornelsen*, Zhongwei Zou* (Co-first author), Shuanglong Huang, Paula Parks, Ralph Lange, Gary Peng, W.G. Dilantha Fernando. 2021. Validating the strategic deployment of blackleg resistance gene groups in commercial canola fields on the Canadian prairies. Frontiers in Plant Science, 12: 669997.
Aria Dolatabadian*, Justine Cornelsen*, Shuanglong Huang*, Zhongwei Zou* (Co-first author) and W.G. Dilantha Fernando. 2021. Sustainability on the Farm: Breeding for Resistance and Management of Major Canola Diseases in Canada Contributing towards an IPM approach. (Review paper), Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology
Zhongwei Zou, Fei Liu, Shuanglong Huang, W.G.D. Fernando. 2021. Genome-Wide Identification and Analysis of the Valine-Glutamine Motif Containing Gene Family in Brassica napus and Functional Characterization of BnMKS1 in Response to Leptosphaeria maculans. Phytopathology, 111, 281-292.
Zhongwei Zou, Carrie Selin, Fei Liu, W.G. Dilantha Fernando. 2020. Generation and characterisation of a virulent Leptosphaeria maculans isolate carrying a mutated AvrLm7 gene using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. Frontiers in Microbiology, 11, 1969.
Zhongwei Zou, Vikram Bisht, W. G. Dilantha Fernando. 2020. Identification and Characterization of Verticillium longisporum lineage A1/D1 from Brassica Crops in Manitoba, Canada. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 21, 3499.
Zhongwei Zou, Xuehua Zhang, Paula Parks, Lindsey, J. du Toit, Angela P. Van de Wouw. 2019. A new subclade of Leptosphaeria biglobosa identified from Brassica rapa. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 20, 1668.
Zhongwei Zou, Fei Liu, Changqin Chen, W. G. Dilantha Fernando. 2019. Effect of Elevated CO2 on the Disease Severity of Compatible and Incompatible Interactions of Brassica napus-Leptospheria maculans Pathosystem. Plants, 8, 484.
Zhongwei Zou, Fei Liu, W. G. Dilantha Fernando. 2018. Rapid detection of Leptosphaeria maculans avirulence gene AvrLm4-7 conferring the avirulence/virulence specificity on canola using a tetra primer ARMS-PCR. European Journal of Plant Pathology
Zhongwei Zou, Xuehua Zhang, and W. G. Dilantha Fernando. 2018. Distribution of mating-type alleles and genetic variability in field populations of Leptosphaeria maculans in western Canada. Journal of Phytopathology, 00:1-10.
Zhongwei Zou, Masahiko Ishida, Feng Li, Tomohiro Kakizaki, Sho Suzuki, Hiroyasu Kitashiba, Takeshi Nishio. 2013. QTL analysis using SNP markers developed by next-generation sequencing for identification of candidate genes controlling 4-methylthio-3-butenyl glucosinolate contents in roots of radish, Raphanus sativus L. PLos One, 8 (1), e53541.
- BI369: Plant Physiology
- BI441: Adv Molecular Biotechnology
Contact Info:
E: zzou@wlu.ca
Office location: BA432, Bricker Academic
Office hours: By appointment.
Languages spoken: English, Chinese, Japanese