CAHNRS > People Directory > Zhihua Jiang

Zhihua Jiang

  1. Professor
Email Addressjiangz@wsu.edu
LocationVBR 151
Phone509-335-8761

Biography

Animal Phenomics.  Phenomics is defined as an independent discipline to study a full set of phenotypes as phenome during the life span of an organism, thus providing a basis to fully characterize the genome. As such, my research focuses on development of the central dogma of phenomics and creation of the genomically optimized livestock farming (GOLF) systems with goals to promote healthy products from healthy animals for healthy people under healthy environments. Specifically, we will find answers to this biological question: how dynamic and diverse phenomes are orchestrated by the same genome during an animal’s life span. Our basic approach is to use RNA variants to bridge the genome and phenome. RNA molecules are either protein coding or non-coding, so they can produce either “hardware” or serve as “software” with diverse functions to achieve the goal-driven phenotypes. Our Animal Phenomics research will provide a solid foundation to design genomes for desirable and superior phenomes, thus sustaining future animal production and food security locally and globally.

Specific Research Areas

  • Bulk and single cell profiling of RNA variants.
  • RNA bridged maps of complex phenotypes.
  • Pan-transcritpome assemblies and functional annotation of animal genomes.
  • Development of the central dogma of phenomics.

Most Recent Publications

For a complete list of publications, please visit Google Scholar

  1. Bhowmik P, Zinski A, Wu Q, Du W, Michal JJ, Kasimanickam RK, Jiang Z. From genome to phenome: genotype × environment interactions in organic and conventional dairy systems and the emergence of genomically optimized organic dairy (GOOD). Genes. 2026;17: 990.
  2. Kasimanickam RK, Bhowmik P, Jiang Z. Postpartum uterine diseases in dairy cattle: integrating microbiology, immunology, and reproductive physiology. Microorganisms. 2026;14:1645.
  3. Chae SA, Riddle RC, Jiang Z, Shin CY, Du M, Son JS. Maternal exercise rescues embryonic osteogenesis impaired due to POLG mutation through a potential apelin-ATF4 axis. Advanced Science. 2026:e77029.
  4. Jiang Z, van Rooyen M, Michal JJ, Khaerunnisa I, Anwar S, Fu X, Yang J, Miller SP. RNA variation as the driver of genomic efficiency and phenotypic complexity. Int J Biol Sci. 2026;22(11): 5969-5987.
  5. Shen Y, Su QJ, Yuan J, Yang QH, Fu M, Liu ZH, Michal JJ, Jiang Z, Liu B, Zhou Z. Integrating GWAS and RNA-seq Reveals QTLs and Candidate Genes for Fat Deposition in Large White × Tongcheng Crossbred Pigs. Animal Genetics, 2026; 57:e70110.
  6. Jiang Z, Michal JJ, Sharma A, Kasimanickam RK, Wang Y, Abouefhag H, Hakim A, Effat M, Ibrahim A, Sallam A, AbdelMaksoud A, Hassan M, Gao Y, Fragomeni B, Miller LC, Sayme S. The phenomics landscape of major diseases in cattle – a comprehensive review. Animal Advances, 2026;3:e015.
  7. Son JS, Chae SA, Chun YH, Wang H, Jiang Z, Du M. High-Calorie Diet During Pregnancy Leads to Muscular Fibrosis and Neuromuscular Damage in Offspring Mice. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2025;16(5):e70027.
  8. Yang X, Jiang Z. Yang S, Cheng ZM. Editorial: A framework for challenges and solutions in biodesign research. BioDesign Research 2025;7:100029.
  9. Fang L, Teng J, Lin Q, Bai Z, Liu S, Guan D, Li B, Gao Y, Hou Y, Gong M, Pan Z, Yu Y, Clark EL, Smith J, Rawlik K, Xiang R, Chamberlain AJ, Goddard ME, Littlejohn M, Larson G, MacHugh DE, O’Grady JF, Sørensen P, Sahana G, Lund MS, Jiang Z, Pan X, Gong W, Zhang H, He X, Zhang Y, Gao N, He J, Yi G, Liu Y, Tang Z, Zhao P, Zhou Y, Fu L, Wang X, Hao D, Liu L, Chen S, Young RS, Shen X, Xia C, Cheng H, Ma L, Cole JB, Baldwin RL 6th, Li CJ, Van Tassell CP, Rosen BD, Bhowmik N, Lunney J, Liu W, Guan L, Zhao X, Ibeagha-Awemu EM, Luo Y, Lin L, Canela-Xandri O, Derks MFL, Crooijmans RPMA, Gòdia M, Madsen O, Groenen MAM, Koltes JE, Tuggle CK, McCarthy FM, Rocha D, Giuffra E, Amills M, Clop A, Ballester M, Tosser-Klopp G, Li J, Fang C, Fang M, Wang Q, Hou Z, Wang Q, Zhao F, Jiang L, Zhao G, Zhou Z, Zhou R, Liu H, Deng J, Jin L, Li M, Mo D, Liu X, Chen Y, Yuan X, Li J, Zhao S, Zhang Y, Ding X, Sun D, Sun HZ, Li C, Wang Y, Jiang Y, Wu D, Wang W, Fan X, Zhang Q, Li K, Zhang H, Yang N, Hu X, Huang W, Song J, Wu Y, Yang J, Wu W, Kasper C, Liu X, Yu X, Cui L, Zhou X, Kim S, Li W, Im HK, Buckler ES, Ren B, Schatz MC, Li JJ, Palmer AA, Frantz L, Zhou H, Zhang Z, Liu GE; FarmGTEx Consortium. The Farm Animal Genotype-Tissue Expression (FarmGTEx) Project. Nat Genet. 2025;57(4):786-796.
  10. Wang G, Zhang X, Zhao X, Ren X, Chen A, Dai W, Zhang L, Lu Y, Jiang Z, Wang H, Liu Y, Zhao X, Wen J, Cheng X, Zhang Y, Ning Z, Ban L, Qu L. Genomic evidence for hybridization and introgression between blue peafowl and endangered green peafowl and molecular foundation of leucistic plumage of blue peafowl. Gigascience. 2025 Jan 6;14:giae124.