Biography

Dr. Xinjun Du is a Professor and Vice Dean of the college of Food Engineering and Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology. Dr. Du completed Bachelor and PhD Degrees from Shandong University at 2001 and 2007, respectively. On the completion of his Ph.D, Dr. Du was employed by Tianjin University of Science & Technology as a lecturer. At 2009, he was employed as an associate professor. Four years after that, he was employed as a professor at 2013. He published over 40 scientific papers.

Research Interests

Bacterial foodborne pathogens greatly threaten peoples’ health and are becoming one of the most important food safety problems all over the world. Bacterial foodborne pathogens have an outstanding feature of multiplying rapidly under certain conditions during food storage, and therefore cause some unpredictable damage to peoples. Dr. Du has interest in understanding how the bacterial foodborne pathogens survive in the environment, contaminate food and damage human beings. In his recent work, random mutation, genome sequencing, transcriptome sequencing and proteomics identification techniques were used to screen some factors involved in biofilm formation, desiccation tolerance and pathogenic features. Gene knock-out technique was mainly used to further investigate the roles of the obtained genes or proteins after screening. Up to date, many new functions of different genes were experimentally determined. These studies greatly improve our understanding how the bacterial foodborne pathogens can damage peoples.

   Furthermore, Dr. Du is also interested in rapid detection of bacterial foodborne pathogens. Most standard methods for bacterial foodborne pathogens detection are time-consuming and laborious. These weaknesses greatly limit transportation of food product. Using specific antibodies and isothermal amplification methods, in combination with strips, many rapid detection methods for bacterial foodborne pathogens detection were developed. Most of the methods can be finished within six hours with great sensitivity for real food sample detection. Several bacterial cells contaminated in food samples can be successfully identified. Some methods can be used to quantitatively detect bacterial foodborne pathogens in food samples. These studies are greatly helpful to develop and apply rapid detection methods for bacterial pathogens detection.

Recent Publications

[1] Liu HB, Du XJ, Zang YX, Li P, Wang S. SERS-Based Lateral Flow Strip Biosensor for Simultaneous Detection of Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella enterica Serotype Enteritidis. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2017, 65(47): 10290-10299.

[2] Gao JX, Li P, Du XJ, Han ZH, Xue R, Liang B, Wang S. A negative regulator of cellulose biosynthesis, bcsR, affects biofilm formation and adhesion/invasion ability of Cronobacter sakazakii. Frontiers in Microbiology, 2017, 8: 1839.

[3] Liang B, Du XJ, Li P, Guo H, Sun C, Gao J, Wang S. Orf6 gene encoded glyoxalase involved in mycotoxin citrinin biosynthesis in Monascus purpureus YY-1. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. 2017, 101(19): 7281-7292.

[4] Liu HB, Zang YX, Du XJ, Li P, Wang S. Development of an isothermal amplification-based assay for the rapid visual detection of Salmonella bacteria. Journal of Dairy Science. 2017, 100(9): 7016-7025.

[5] Liu HB, Li P, Sun C, Du XJ, Zhang Y, Wang S. Inhibitor-Assisted High-Pressure Inactivation of Bacteria in Skim Milk. J Food Sci. 2017, 82(7):1672-1681.

[6] Du XJ, Zhou TJ, Li P, Wang S. A rapid Salmonella detection method involving thermophilic helicase-dependent amplification and a lateral flow assay. Molecular & Cellular Probes, 2017, 34: 37-44.

[7] Du XJ, Zhang X, Wang XY, Su YL, Li P, Wang S. Isolation and characterization of Listeria monocytogenes in Chinese food obtained from the central area of China. Food Control, 2017 74, 9-16.

[8] Du XJ, Zhang X, Li P, Xue R, Wang S. Screening of genes involved in interactions with intestinal epithelial cells in Cronobacter sakazakii. AMB Express. 2016, 6(1):74.

[9] Du XJ, Zhou XN, Li P, Sheng W, Ducancel F, Wang S. Development of an Immunoassay for Chloramphenicol Based on the Preparation of a Specific Single-Chain Variable Fragment Antibody. Jurnal of Agricultural & Food Chememistry. 2016, 64(14): 2971-2979.

[10]     He K, Du XJ, Sheng W, Zhou X, Wang J, Wang S. Crystal Structure of the Fab Fragment of an Anti-ofloxacin Antibody and Exploration of Its Specific Binding. Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemestry. 2016, 64(12): 2627-2634.

[11]     Jing CE, Du XJ, Li P, Wang S. Transcriptome analysis of Cronobacter sakazakii ATCC BAA-894 after interaction with human intestinal epithelial cell line HCT-8. Applied Microbiology Biotechnology, 2016, 100(1): 311-322.

[12]     Du XJ, Han R, Li P, Wang S. Comparative proteomic analysis of Cronobacter sakazakii isolates with different virulences. Journal of Proteomics. 2015, 128: 344-351.

[13]     Yang Y, Liu B, Du XJ, Li P, Liang B, Cheng XZ, Du LC, Huang D, Wang L, Wang S. Complete genome sequence and transcriptomics analyses reveal pigment biosynthesis and regulatory mechanisms in an industrial strain, Monascus purpureus YY-1. Scientific Reports, 2015.9(5): 8331 (co first author)

[14]     Zhang X, Du XJ, Guan C, Li P, Zheng WJ, Wang S. Detection of Vibrio cholerae by isothermal cross-priming amplification combined with nucleic acid detection strip analysis. Molecular & Cellular Probes. 2015, 29(4): 208-214.

Teaching

 Food Safety for undergraduate and graduate students

Microorganism Detection in Food for undergraduate students