Prof. Fuyong Li is currently appointed as an Assistant Professor of Animal Nutrition at the Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health. He received his bachelor degree in Animal Science from Northwest A&F University (2005-2009; China). After that, he conducted his master program in Europe and obtained double-master degrees in Animal Breeding and Genetics from University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (2010-2011; Austria) and Wageningen University (2011-2012, the Netherlands). In 2012, he joined University of Alberta for his PhD program and then achieved his PhD degree in Animal Science in 2017. Before joining City University of Hong Kong, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at University of Alberta from Sept 2017 to Dec 2021, investigating the interactions between probiotics/prebiotics and the human host.
Prof. Li’s long-term research goal is to understand the host-microbiome interactions and how these interactions contribute to the host phenotypes in both genetic and nutritional contexts. Over the years, he has uniquely positioned himself through multidisciplinary research to be successful in this area: he is investigating the evolutionary relationships of the symbiont Limosilactobacillus reuteri with vertebrate hosts; he is evaluating the effects of a microbiome restoration strategy that includes a non-industrialized-type diet and the probiotics of L. reuteri, on the gut microbiome and host health; he is also comparing the influence of different dietary fibers on health in overweight people, and determining if these effects are predictable through individual signatures of the gut microbiome. During his PhD program, he applied novel omics (metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, metabolomics, and 16S rRNA gene sequencing) to characterize the gut microbiome and its linkages with host phenotypes and genotypes in ruminants. He successfully established bioinformatics pipelines for these cutting-edge omics approaches, and revealed linkages between rumen microbiome and feed efficiency in cattle. His study also revealed the host genetic effect on the rumen microbiome, highlighting the potential to manipulate the gut microbiome through selective breeding of the hosts.
Tan, R. S. G., Zhou, M., Li, F., Guan, L. L. (2021). Identifying active rumen epithelial associated bacteria and archaea in beef cattle divergent in feed efficiency using total RNA-seq. Current Research in Microbial Sciences. doi: 10.1016/j.crmicr.2021.100064.
Song, Y., Li, F., Fischer-Tlustos, A. J., Neves, A. L. A., He, Z., Steele, M.A., Guan, L. L. (2021). Metagenomic analysis revealed the individualized shift in ileal microbiome of neonatal calves in response to delaying the first colostrum feeding. Journal of Dairy Science 104(8). doi: 10.3168/jds.2020-20068.
Geng, S., Huang, S., Ma, Q., Li, F., Gao, Y., Zhao, L., Zhang, J. (2021) Alterations and Correlations of the Gut Microbiome, Performance, Egg Quality, and Serum Biochemical Indexes in Laying Hens with Low-Protein Amino Acid-Deficient Diets. ACS Omega 6(20). doi: 10.1021/acsomega.1c00739.
Li, F., Cheng, C. C., Zheng, J., Liu, J., Quevedo, R.M., Li, J., Roos, S., Gänzle, M.G., Walter, J. (2021). Limosilactobacillus balticus sp. nov., Limosilactobacillus agrestis sp. nov., Limosilactobacillus albertensis sp. nov., Limosilactobacillus rudii sp. nov. and Limosilactobacillus fastidiosus sp. nov., five novel Limosilactobacillus species isolated from the vertebrate gastrointestinal tract, and proposal of six subspecies of Limosilactobacillus reuteri adapted to the gastrointestinal tract of specific vertebrate hosts. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. doi: 10.1099/ijsem.0.004644.
Cheng, C. C., Duar, R. M., Lin, X., Perez-Munoz, M.E., Tollenaar, S., Oh, J.H., van Pijkeren, J. P., Li, F., van Sinderen, D., Gänzle, M.G., Walter, J. (2020). Ecological importance of cross-feeding of the intermediate metabolite 1,2-propanediol between bacterial gut symbionts. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. doi: 10.1128/AEM.00190-20.
Zhang, Y., Li, F., Chen, Y. H., Wu, H., Meng, Q., Guan, L. L. (2020). Metatranscriptomic Profiling Reveals the Effect of Breed on Active Rumen Eukaryotic Composition in Beef Cattle with Varied Feed Efficiency. Frontiers in Microbiology 11(367). doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.00367.
Li, F., Li, C., Chen, Y. H., Liu, J., Zhang, C., Irving, B., Fitzsimmons, C., Plastow, G., Guan, L. L. (2019). Host genetics influence the rumen microbiota and heritable rumen microbial features associate with feed efficiency in cattle. Microbiome 7(92). doi: 10.1186/s40168-019-0699-1.
Li, F., Hitch, T. C. A., Chen, Y. H., Creevey, C. J., Guan, L. L. (2019). Comparative metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses reveal the breed effect on the rumen microbiome and its associations with feed efficiency in beef cattle. Microbiome 7(1). doi: 10.1186/s40168-019-0618-5.
Song, Y., Malmuthuge, N., Li F., Guan L. L. (2019). Colostrum feeding shapes the hindgut microbiota of dairy calves during the first 12 h of life. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 95(1). doi: 10.1093/femsec/fiy203.
Li, F., Neves, A. L. A., Ghoshal, B., Guan, L. L. (2018). Symposium review: Mining metagenomic and metatranscriptomic data for clues about microbial metabolic functions in ruminants. Journal of Dairy Science 101(6). doi: 10.3168/jds.2017-13356.
Neves, A. L. A., Li, F., Ghoshal, B., McAllister, T., Guan, L. L. (2017). Enhancing the Resolution of Rumen Microbial Classification from Metatranscriptomic Data Using Kraken and Mothur. Frontiers in Microbiology 8(2445). doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.02445.
Li, F. & Guan, L. L. (2017). Metatranscriptomic Profiling Reveals Linkages between the Active Rumen Microbiome and Feed Efficiency in Beef Cattle. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 83(9). doi: 10.1128/AEM.00061-17. (Selected as Journal Spotlight).
AlZahal, O., Li, F., Guan, L. L., Walker, N. D., & McBride, B. W. (2017). Factors influencing ruminal bacterial community diversity and composition and microbial fibrolytic enzyme abundance in lactating dairy cows with a focus on the role of active dry yeast. Journal of Dairy Science 100(6). doi: 10.3168/jds.2016-11473.
Li, F., Henderson, G., Sun, X., Cox, F., Janssen, P. H., & Guan, L. L. (2016). Taxonomic Assessment of Rumen Microbiota Using Total RNA and Targeted Amplicon Sequencing Approaches. Frontiers in Microbiology 7(987). doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.00987.
Li, F., Zhou, M., Ominski, K., & Guan, L. L. (2016). Does the rumen microbiome play a role in feed efficiency of beef cattle? Journal of Animal Science 94. doi: 10.2527/jas.2016-0524.
Silbermayr, K., Li, F., Soudré, A., Müller, S., & Sölkner, J. (2013). A Novel qPCR Assay for the Detection of African Animal Trypanosomosis in Trypanotolerant and Trypanosusceptible Cattle Breeds. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 7(8). doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002345.
Li, F., Zhang, H., Lan, X., Chen, H., Pan, C., Lei, C., Liu, S., & Zhang., Y. (2009) Analysis of molecular genetic characteristics within POU1F1 gene in several Chinese goat breeds. Journal of Northwest A&F University (Nat. Sci. Ed.) 37(12).
Lan, X., Pan, C., Chen, H., Lei, C., Li, F., Zhang, H., & Ni, Y. (2009). Novel SNP of the goat prolactin gene (PRL) associated with cashmere traits. Journal of Applied Genetics 50(1). doi: 10.1007/BF03195652.