Jianzhong Sun

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Verified

Jianzhong verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

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• PhD
• Honor Director, Biofuels Institute at Jiangsu University

Plant-derived bioactive compounds and essential oils (EOs) have garnered significant attention in pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and nutraceutical industries due to their broad-spectrum therapeutic activities. These natural compounds exhibit antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer, neuroprotective, and immunomodulatory properties, maki...

Lignocellulosic biomass is a renewable resource with significant potential for sustainable energy production. Termites, as natural bioreactors, offer a unique model for efficient lignocellulose degradation, driven by their gut microbiota composed of bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotic symbionts. This microbial symbiosis enables termites to ferment li...

The advancement of lignocellulosic biofuels in developed countries is crucial for achieving a sustainable energy transition, particularly in light of increasing energy demands and environmental issues. Lignocellulosic biomass, including agricultural residues and forestry byproducts, presents a renewable substitute for fossil fuels, significantly lo...

Fungus-farming termites efficiently degrade recalcitrant lignocellulose through a symbiotic relationship with Termitomyces and the gut microbiome, making them successful key decomposers in (sub)tropical ecosystems. Despite extensive research on plant biomass decomposition, the mechanisms of lignin degradation in fungus-farming termites remain elusi...

The increasing global demand for sustainable protein sources necessitates the exploration of alternative solutions beyond traditional livestock and crop-based proteins. Microalgae present a promising alternative due to their high protein content, rapid biomass accumulation, and minimal land and water requirements. Furthermore, their ability to thri...

Nanocellulose-based biomaterials are at the forefront of biomedicine, presenting innovative solutions to longstanding challenges in tissue engineering and wound repair. These advanced materials demonstrate enhanced mechanical properties and improved biocompatibility while allowing for precise tuning of drug release profiles. Recent progress in the...

Currently, wood-based panels are mainly made from wood and adhesives containing formaldehyde. With the growing demand for raw materials and increasing concern for human health, the use of residues from annual crops to manufacture binder-free biodegradable biomass boards has attracted increasing interest. The aim of this study was to develop a biode...

The pervasiveness of microplastics (MPs) in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems has become a significant environmental concern in recent years. Because of their slow rate of disposal, MPs are ubiquitous in the environment. As a consequence of indiscriminate use, landfill deposits, and inadequate recycling methods, MP production and environmental acc...

Some essential information on gut bacterial profiles and their unique contributions to food digestion in wood-feeding termites (WFT) and soil-feeding termites (SFT) is still inadequate. The feeding type of termites is hypothesized to influence their gut bacterial composition and its functionality in degrading lignocellulose or other organic chemica...

The quest for sustainable and alternative fuels has spurred investigations into the enzymatic breakdown of lignocellulosic biomass to generate biofuels such as biohydrogen. Within the realm of invertebrates, termites have emerged as a distinctive and conveniently accessible model system for lignocellulose digestion. Termites have gained attention d...

Interest in biofuels has prompted exploration into insect lignocellulolytic systems, leading to the discovery of novel biocatalysts and representative genes with distinct mechanisms employed for the efficient bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass. Accumulating evidence has suggested that the optimization and enhancement of bioconversion technolo...

In the 20th century, the scientific community recognized global climate change as a preeminent challenge facing our planet. The primary driver of this predicament was identified as the substantial reliance on fossil fuels, constituting approximately 80% of the world's energy consumption. The combustion of these fossil fuels, particularly those rich...

The presence of diverse carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) is crucial for the direct bioconversion of lignocellulose. In this study, various anaerobic microbial consortia were employed for the degradation of 10 g/L of minimally pretreated corncob. The involvement of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and a CAZyme-rich bacterium (Bacteroides cellulosilyt...

The ubiquitous incorporation of plastics into daily life, coupled with inefficient recycling practices, has resulted in the accumulation of millions of metric tons of plastic waste, that poses a serious threat to the Earth's sustainability. Plastic pollution, a global problem, disrupts the ecological balance and endangers various life forms. Effort...

As a unique natural resource, fungi are a sustainable source of lipids, polysaccharides, vitamins, proteins, and other nutrients. As a result, they have beneficial medicinal and nutritional properties. Polysaccharides are among the most significant bioactive components found in fungi. Increasing research has revealed that fungal polysaccharides (FP...

Halo-alkali soil threatens agriculture, reducing growth and crop yield worldwide. In this study, physicochemical and molecular techniques were employed to explore the potential of halo-alkali-tolerant endophytic bacteria strains Sphingomonas sp. pp01, Bacillus sp. pp02, Pantoea sp. pp04, and Enterobacter sp. pp06 to enhance the growth of hybrid Pen...

The wood-feeding termite, Coptotermes formosanus, presents an efficient lignocellulolytic system, offering a distinctive model for the exploration of host-microbial symbiosis towards lignocellulose degradation. Despite decades of investigation, understanding the diversity, community structure, and functional profiles of bacterial symbionts within s...

Lignin, the largest non-carbohydrate component of lignocellulosic biomass, is also a recalcitrant component of the plant cell wall. While the aerobic degradation mechanism of lignin has been well-documented, the anaerobic degradation mechanism is still largely elusive. In this work, a versatile facultative anaerobic lignin-degrading bacterium, Kleb...

Plastic waste discarded into aquatic environments gradually degrades into smaller fragments, known as microplastics (MPs), which range in size from 0.05 to 5 mm. The ubiquity of MPs poses a significant threat to aquatic ecosystems and, by extension, human health, as these particles are ingested by various marine organisms including zooplankton, cru...

Cellulose is a sustainable biopolymer with potential to reduce the adverse environmental impact of non-biodegradable plastics and promote a circular economy. Nanocellulose, a representative biobased nano-material, is considered as a promising material in biomedical applications due to its outstanding biocompatibility and low toxicity. However, the...

Citation: Dar, M.A.; Xie, R.; Zabed, H.M.; Ali, S.; Zhu, D.; Sun, J. Termite Microbial Symbiosis as a Model for Innovative Design of Lignocellulosic Future Biorefinery: Current Paradigms and Future Perspectives. Abstract: The hunt for renewable and alternative fuels has driven research towards the biological conversion of lignocellulosic biomass (L...

The sustainable extraction of natural compounds has recently attracted significant attention. The extraction of high-quality natural vanillin in active form is crucial for its efficient use in various industries, but conventional solvents are not suitable for this purpose. The flammability, volatility, and toxicity of organic solvents can harm extr...

An annual reduction in processing expenses results in the direct discharge of millions of litters of diverse wastewater into the environment, which causes eutrophication and depletes pure water sources. Traditional physicochemical treatment are widely employed for wastewater treatment (WWT). However, the optimal functioning of these systems necessi...

Vanillin is one of the world's most extensively used flavoring compounds. Plant-based vanillin can no longer meet the annual global demand for bio-vanillin, thus chemical synthesis is commonly used to manufacture vanillin. Considering the environmental impact of chemical synthesis, the possibility of utilizing microbial genetic and metabolic engine...

The anticipated increase in the influx of plastic waste into aquatic environments has propelled the identification and elimination of plastic waste into the global agenda. The plastics sector generates a significant volume of materials, which, due to their extended durability, accumulate rapidly in natural ecosystems. Consequently, this indiscrimin...

This study aimed to determine the effect of the structural properties of acetylated bacterial cellulose (ABC) on its in vitro biological performance. Acetylation resulted in several improvements to the ABC, including relaxed fiber arrangement, increased optical transparency (95.5%), and enhanced hydrophobicity, mechanical strength, and thermal stab...

The presence of high salinity levels in textile wastewater poses a significant obstacle to the process of decolor-izing azo dyes. The present study involved the construction of a yeast consortium HYC, which is halotolerant and was recently isolated from wood-feeding termites. The consortium HYC was mainly comprised of Sterigmatomyces halophilus SSA...

Antibiotics are necessary medications for fighting infection; however, they have a variety of side effects, some of which can be fatal such as anaphylactic shock. The strategy to avoid the potentially harmful effects of antibiotics in relation to associated risk factors will reduce the magnitude of the problem. As a result, health care providers mu...

The current transition to sustainability and the circular economy can be viewed as a socio-technical response to environmental impacts and the need to enhance the overall performance of the linear production and consumption paradigm. The concept of biowaste refineries as a feasible alternative to petroleum refineries has gained popularity. Biowaste...

This study involved the extraction of an exopolysaccharide (EPS) from Azotobacter salinestris AZ-6, which was isolated from soil cultivated with leguminous plants. In a medium devoid of nitrogen, the AZ-6 strain displayed a maximum EPS yield of 1.1 g/l and the highest relative viscosity value of 3.4. The homogeneity of the polymer was demonstrated...

Nanocellulose, as a native renewable material extracted from cellulosic biomass, has gained increased attention in biomedical applications due to its unique physical features, biocompatibility, low toxicity, and modifiable surface chemistry. However, as a candidate for biomedical uses, native nanocellulose still has some limitations, including mech...

Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) contaminated in soil or water system poses a serious threat to human health. Developing an efficient remediation strategy and treatment method towards Cr(VI) in situ from wastewater is truly under an urgent demand in many countries or regions suffered from this heavy metal threaten. Converting Cr(VI) to Cr(III) with les...

The advent of modern technologies has inspired biotechnologists to shift towards in vitro approaches that utilize cell-free environments for the generation of biochemicals and biomaterials. Despite several challenges, the development of cell-free systems (CFSs) is believed to open new venues in the production of biologically significant molecules a...

This study was designed to develop a cellulase-producing bacterial consortium (CBC) from wood-feeding termites that could effectively degrade willow sawdust (WSD) and consequently enhance methane production. The bacterial strains Shewanella sp. SSA-1557, Bacillus cereus SSA-1558, and Pseudomonas mosselii SSA-1568 exhibited significant cellulolytic...

Bacterial infections are the major inhibitory factors for natural wound healing. 3D bioprinted nanocellulose-based composite scaffold with a desirable porous and shape specificity is highly effective for antibacterial applications. However, the slow self-healing and lack of antibacterial activities of cellulose cause bacterial infection. In this wo...

Simple Summary Termites represent a unique and highly efficient system for lignocellulose bioconversion. The highly efficient lignocellulolytic systems are achieved through contributions from gut bacterial symbionts. Despite extensive research, the complete picture of bacterial diversity and their associated functions towards lignocellulose digesti...

The advent of pesticides has significantly increased the growth and yield of the crop plant. However, the extensive application of pesticides leads to environmental pollution and reported to harm both both flora and fauna. The continuous accumulation of synthetic chemicals (pesticides)also poses serious risk to human. Farmers who are continuously e...

Polyethylene (PE) is one of the most common synthetic polymers, and PE waste pollution has been an environmental and health concern for decades. Biodegradation is the most eco-friendly and effective approach for plastic waste management. Recently, an emphasis has been placed on novel symbiotic yeasts isolated from termite guts as promising microbio...

Polylactic acid (PLA) has been used in fused deposition method (FDM) based 3D printing for many years. Alkali lignin is an undervalued industrial by-product that could upgrade PLA's poor mechanical properties. This work presents a biotechnological approach consisting of a partial degradation of alkali lignin using Bacillus ligniniphilus laccase (La...

Ulva prolifera macroalgae blooming caused by water eutrophication seriously affects the marine ecological environment. Exploring an efficient approach to turning algae biomass waste into high-value-added products is significant. The present work aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of the bioactive polysaccharide extraction from Ulva prolifera and...

Dye effluents from various industries, particularly the textile industry, are hazardous to the environment and can cause significant damage. As a result, treating and detoxifying these hazardous dyes is critical for meeting environmental regulations. Several physicochemical dye-removal methods have been proposed so far. A few studies have been publ...

Polyethylene (PE) has been regarded as non-biodegradable for decades, and the evidence for its degradation by bacteria remains unclear in the literature. Waxworms have recently gained the attention to degrade natural long-chain polymers and synthetic plastic. This study aims to explore the potential of low-density polyethylene (LDPE)-degrading bact...

Plastic are among the most popular products in the modern era due to their distinct properties, which compels their use in all aspects of life. Plastics are made from petroleum-based materials, despite the depletion and scarcity of fossil fuels. Massive amounts of plastic waste have accumulated, contaminating various ecosystems. As a result, a nove...

The anisotropic features play indispensable roles in regulating various life activities in different organisms. Increasing efforts have been made to learn and mimic various tissues' intrinsic anisotropic structure or functionality for broad applications in different areas, especially in biomedicine and pharmacy. This paper discusses the strategies...

This study investigated the effect of cobalt oxide nanoparticles (Co3O4-NPs) supplementation on anaerobic microbial population changes and anaerobic digestion (AD) performance and production. Co3O4-NPs (3 mg/L) showed the maximum enhancement of biogas yield over the cow dung (CD) as control and the co-digestion process of CD with water hyacinth (WH...

The production of lactic acid (LA) from lignocellulosic biomass is an important route for the exploitation of renewable resources; nevertheless, effective LA production from this feedstock is challenged by several limitations, such as pentose and oligosaccharide utilization. In this study, a new strain, Lactococcus sp. X1, which is capable of ferme...

The abundance of synthetic polymers has become an ever-increasing environmental threat in the world. The excessive utilization of plastics leads to the accumulation of such recalcitrant pollutants in the environment. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, unprecedented demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, face masks, and gloves...

Lignin is the most abundant heterogeneous aromatic polymer present on planet Earth and is recalcitrant to degradation due to its complex structure, therefore, imposing a challenge to biorefinery procedures. Identifying new microbial strains with the potential to valorize lignin into useful compounds is indispensable to achieving green sustainable c...

Non-woven disposable masks play a unique role in reducing the COVID-19 pandemic threat in transmission between people, but the huge amount of disposable non-woven masks generated every day are currently posing a serious challenge to our environment on a global-wide scale. In line with this emerging problem, a series of recycling processes were desi...

The rapid expansion of both the global economy and the human population has led to a shortage of water resources suitable for direct human consumption. As a result, water remediation will inexorably become the primary focus on a global scale. Microalgae can be grown in various types of wastewaters (WW). They have a high potential to remove contamin...

This study might be the first to explore the techno-economic implications of anaerobic co-digestion of water hyacinth (WH) and cattle dung (CD) to optimize their mixing ratios for enhancing methane (CH4) production. At a mixing ratio of 1:1, the maximum biogas and CH4 content was obtained. The co-digestion technique increased biogas and CH4 product...

Due to global urbanization, industrialization, and economic development, biowastes generation represents negative consequences on the environment and human health. The use of generated biowastes as a feedstock for biodegradable bioplastic production has opened a new avenue for environmental sustainability from the circular (bio)economy standpoint....

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented form of plastic pollution: personal protective equipment (PPE). On the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a tremendous increase in the production of plastic-based PPE. To control the spread of the virus, face masks (FMs) are used as primary PPE. Thus, the production and usage of FM...

Beyond energy crisis, biodiesel offers renewable and unlimited option to the challenges associated with fossil fuels depletion. Biodiesel could reduce the carbon foot print and gas emissions. Therefore, China has set an audacious goal of carbon neutrality by 2060. In order to reduce the cost of biodiesel production, it is critical to look for alter...

Rapidly expanding industrialization and the depletion of non-renewable fossil fuels have necessitated the discovery of feasible renewable alternatives to meet the rising energy demand while reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The present global energy strategy is built on cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternatives; and production...

Glycoside hydrolase family 43 (GH43) represents a major source of arabinan- and arabinoxylan-active enzymes. Interestingly, some microbes remarkably enriched GH genes of this family, with the reason unknown. Hungateiclostridium clariflavum DSM 19,732 is an efficient lignocellulose degrader, which harbors up to 7 GH43 genes in its genome. We cloned...

Naturally derived cellulose nanomaterials (CNMs) with desirable physicochemical properties have drawn tremendous attention for their versatile applications in a broad range of fields. More recently, Janus amphiphilic cellulose nanomaterial particles with asymmetric structures (i.e., reducing and nonreducing ends and crystalline and amorphous domain...

Ensiling is a microbial-driven process used to preserve fresh forage in bio-refinery and animal production. The biochemical changes that ensue during ensiling have aided the search for new silage additives, emphasizing the potential of certain microbial strains that are more efficient in biopreservation. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) species are widel...

Plastic materials compose a wide range of products with small useful lifespans, leading to the production of large quantities of waste. A more easily biodegradable alternative tο fossil-based plastics are bioplastics. Microalgae can produce poly (hydroxy alkanoate) esters (PHAs), which are biodegradable aliphatic polyesters. Poly (3-hydroxy butyrat...

Increase in plastic waste accumulation is considered a growing concern, resulting in white pollution. It is unavoidable that an inventive method to reduce pollution will be required. Increased recycling of plastic waste is not a practical solution. Therefore, reducing petroleum-based polymer utilization is essential for environmental sustainability...

Nanocellulose has great potential in the biomedical field due to its biocompatibility, large specific surface area, and customizable surface chemistry. However, due to the bioinert nature and mismatch of the mechanical strength, nanocellulose itself has no cell adhesion ability and cannot directly promote cell growth and reproduction. Recently, sur...

Microbial communities composed of bacteria, archaea and fungi play a pivotal role in driving the biogeochemical cycles in the marine ecosystem. Despite the vastness of the South Indian Ocean, only a few studies reported the simultaneous analysis of bacterial, archaeal and fungal diversity therein, particularly archaeal and fungal communities in dee...

Endophytic fungi are known to produce bioactive compounds with the potential to be used as promising drugs to treat a wide range of diseases. To the best of our knowledge, the use of bioactive metabolites derived from endophytic fungi, particularly against multidrug resistant (MDR) pathogens inhabiting burn wounds, has been emphasized for the first...

MnP-YC4, a newly constructed manganese peroxidase-producing yeast consortium, has been developed to withstand lignin degradation inhibitors while degrading and detoxifying azo dye. MnP-YC4 tolerance to major biomass-derived inhibitors was promising. MnP induced by lignin was found to be highly related to dye decolorization by MnP-YC4. Simulated azo...

Templated synthesis and assembly for nanostructured materials with tailored properties have received considerable attention. The powerful templates with predefined structures can guide the synthesis and assembly of the nanoparticles. As an abundant and sustainable biopolymer, cellulose nanomaterials (CNMs) can be assembled on various templates. Add...

Biosynthesized silver nanoparticles (Bio-SNPs) were synthesized from the marine actinobacterium strain Streptomyces catenulae M2 and characterized using a variety of techniques, including UV-vis spectrum, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), energy dispersive x-ray (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (...

The diverse thermophilic strains of Thermoanaerobacter, serving as unique platforms with a broad range of application in biofuels and chemicals, have received wide attention from scholars and practitioners. Although biochemical experiments and genome sequences have been reported for a variety of Thermoanaerobacter strains, an efficient genetic mani...

Biodiesel is a renewable fuel that can be produced from a range of organic and renewable feedstock including fresh or vegetable oils, animal fats, and oilseed plants. In recent years, the lignin-based aromatic wastes, such as various aromatic waste polymers from agriculture, or organic dye wastewater from textile industry, have attracted much atten...

Lignin is the most abundant aromatic biopolymer resource in nature. Due to its complexity and highly polymerized aromatic structure, lignin is strenuous to be merely degraded by normal microorganisms. Lignin-degrading microbes from extreme environments are considered suitable candidates for lignin bioprocessing. The heterogeneity of the depolymeriz...

Aromatic compounds are ubiquitous in nature; they are the building blocks of abundant lignin, and constitute a substantial proportion of synthetic chemicals and organic pollutants. Uptake and degradation of aromatic compounds by bacteria have relevance in bioremediation, bio-based plastic recycling, and microbial conversion of lignocellulosic bioma...

The complex chemical and structural arrangement of lignocellulosic biomass demand a pretreatment step to dismantle its coherent nature. The current study was designed to study H2SO4 impregnation before hydrothermal pretreatment (HP) of sugarcane bagasse for biogas production using response surface methodology based on defining factors: temperature...

Continuous and increasing demands for bioenergy have prompted the discovery of novel routes for effective bioconversion of lignocellulose into commodity chemicals. To this end, cellulolytic bacteria were isolated and screened from the gut system of oriental leafworm, Spodoptera litura. The plate-based screening revealed maximum cellulolytic activit...

Thermophiles, offering an attractive and unique platform for a broad range of applications in biofuels and environment protections, have received a significant attention and growing interest from academy and industry. However, the exploration and exploitation of thermophilic organisms have been hampered by the lack of a powerful genome manipulation...

Thirty-one of sixty dyspeptic patients tested positive for Helicobacter pylori colonization in this study, as determined by histopathology and 16S rRNA. The cytotoxin-associated gene A (cagA) and vacuolating cytotoxin A (vacA) genes were found in 67.7 and 93.5% of H. pylori patients, respectively. The cagA gene was found to be associated with 100%...