Jian Chen, Ph.D.
Jian Chen is a research associate in the Rosen lab. His main focus is to investigate the molecular mechanism of cross-resistance of heavy metals (eg, arsenic, antimony) and antibiotic, biotransformation and transport of environmental organicoarsenicals (eg, roxarsone).
Education
Ph.D., Botany, Hunan Normal University, China
B.A., Biology, Hunan Normal University, China
Areas of interest/specialization
Chen is interested in global biogeochemical cycles of trace elements, mainly arsenic, in the environment and their bioremediation. Arsenic contamination in soils and food increases human risks of diseases. He identified several genes involved in arsenic detoxification, such arsM gene from alga Chlamydomonas, which can convert toxic A(III) to non-toxic methylated arsenicals, and further genetic engineered soil bacteria P. putida with arsM for arsenic bioremediation. He is also trying to elucidate the molecular details of the pathways of biotransformations and transport of environmental organicoarsenicals, including the herbicide MSMA (monosodium methylarsenate) and the antimicrobial growth promoter for poultry and swine Roxarsone (3-nitro-4-hydroxybenzenearsonic acid). Function of genes arsH, arsP, arsJ et al., involved in organoarsenicals detoxification are disclosed.
Research areas/interest
- The biogeochemical cycles of trace elements in the environment
- Biotransformation and detoxification of trace elements, such as arsenic
- Genes/proteins involved in arsenic detoxification
Selected publications
- Chen J, Rosen BP. (2020). The Arsenic Methylation Cycle: How Microbial Communities Adapted Methylarsenicals for Use as Weapons in the Continuing War for Dominance. Frontiers in Environmental Science 2020; 8 URL https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fenvs.2020.00043 doi=10.3389/fenvs.2020.00043 ISSN=2296-665X. Impact factor: 3.14.
- Chen J, Garbinski LD, Rosen B, Zhang J, Xiang P, Ma LQ. (2020). Organoarsenical compounds: occurrence, toxicology and biotransformation. Crit Rev Environ Sci Technol 217-243. doi:10.1080/10643389.2019.1619375. Impact factor: 8.30
- Chen J, Sarkarai Nadar V, and Rosen BP. (2020). Aquaglyceroporin AqpS from Sinorhizobium meliloti conducts both trivalent and pentavalent methylarsenicals. Chemosphere. 2020, doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.129379. Impact factor: 5.77.
- Chen J, Rosen BP. (2020). The Pseudomonas putida NfnB nitroreductase confers resistance to roxarsone. Science of The Total Environment, 2020, 748, p.141339. doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141339 Impact factor: 6.55.