Profile

Deciphered the genetic basis and environmental influences on Eucommia's pharmacologically active components; studies Eucommia endophytic fungi.

Story

Han Yanfeng is a professor at the College of Life Sciences, Guizhou University, and a backbone member of the Institute of Fungal Resources, mainly studying fungal resource systematics and molecular ecology. He introduced microbiomics into Eucommia research, systematically characterizing the endophytic fungal community composition in Eucommia bark from seven producing regions - Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Henan, Anhui, Jiangxi and Shaanxi - and found that Eucommia harbors extremely rich, regionally characteristic endophytic fungal resources.

His team's study published in Industrial Crops and Products deciphered the genetic basis and environmental influences on the pharmacologically active components of Eucommia in China, demonstrating that the accumulation of active components is jointly affected by genotype, biotic and abiotic environmental factors and their interactions, with genotype having the greatest effect. The results provide direct foundational information for Eucommia improved-variety breeding, cultivation site selection and microbe-assisted techniques, representing landmark work on the 'germplasm-environment-quality' relationship of Eucommia.

Milestones

• In 2021, published research on culturable endophytic fungal communities in Eucommia bark from different producing regions in Mycosystema
• In 2022, published research on the genetic and environmental effects on Eucommia's pharmacologically active components in an international journal, covered by media
• Supervised research on culturable phyllosphere fungal communities of Eucommia and screening of IAA-producing growth-promoting strains (2024)

Key Contributions

• Published in Industrial Crops and Products a study elucidating the effects of genotype and environmental conditions on the pharmacologically active components of Eucommia, finding genotype to have the greatest influence
• Isolated 545 endophytic fungal strains from Eucommia bark collected from 7 producing regions nationwide, identifying 7 classes, 15 orders, 27 families and 43 genera
• Revealed the core mycobiome of Eucommia bark and the differences in endophytic fungal communities among producing regions, providing a basis for microbe-assisted cultivation
• Conducted research on solid-state fermentation of Eucommia by Cordyceps militaris, achieving biotransformation of Eucommia's active components
• Received awards including the Guizhou Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award (Second Prize)