jli's picture    

Julang Li


Position/Title: Professor
email: jli@uoguelph.ca
Phone: (519) 824-4120 ext. 52713
Office: ANNU 248

Meet Julang ( 60 second OAC video )

With a background in veterinary medicine, Julang is developing biotechnology applications to improve disease resistance and enhance production in livestock. Using a combination of cell biology, molecular biology and biotechnology, she is helping the livestock industry produce healthier animals. Antibiotic resistance is a growing concern, and farmers are interested in alternative approaches to treat their livestock by enhancing their disease resistance. One of Julang’s programs is working toward this goal. Her lab’s other areas of research include investigating the development of ovarian follicles and oocyte maturation, and the differentiation of skin-derived stem cells.

Academic History

  • Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa (1997) 
  • M.Sc. in Neurophysiology, Changchun Veterinary College, China (1988) 
  • Undergraduate degree in Veterinary Medicine, Foshan Veterinary College, China (1982)

Affiliations and Partnerships

  • Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
  • Canadian Centre for Swine Improvement
  • Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Swine Cluster

Awards and Honours

  • Premier’s Research Excellence Award (2005-2010) 
  • President’s Distinguished Professor Award (2005-2007) 

Research and Impact

Understanding the physiology and mechanism of livestock reproduction will help improve human and animal fertility, as well as contribute to the understanding of animal development. Julang’s research on fertility and ovarian function in pigs has gained attention from human in-vitro fertilization researchers. In addition, Julang is working with the Canadian Centre for Swine Improvement and Ontario Swine Improvement  to help identify markers in the vagina, urine saliva and blood of female pigs to select those with high fertility potential. 

Her research program on bioactive peptide production aims to develop alternatives to antibiotics for livestock. Starting in 2017, Canada banned the use of antibiotics as a growth promoter in feed, so farmers need other options to protect their livestock from disease. 

Julang’s research on livestock has a variety of human applications. She is collaborating with human health researchers at the University of Toronto and the University of Alberta to learn how peptides can be used to help patients with intestinal disorders such as Crohn’s disease and colitis.

Curent Research Projects

Female pig fertility prediction: 

Using metabolites from saliva and urine, using microbiome profile from vagina and the machine learning approach to generate models for female fertility prediction.

Supported by NSERC, Food from Thoughts

Probiotics to improve feed nutrition value (via fermentation) and intestine health

Funding: NSERC, OMAFRA, CBS

Ovarian follicle development 

Julang has a strong interest in factors that influence ovarian follicle development and its role in fertility. Her research focuses on the role of microRNA in the replication of cells in the ovarian follicle, hormone production and oocyte maturation. She is also studying the role of antimicrobial peptides and why they’re found in high levels in the ovaries, which don’t typically contract infections. 

This project is funded by NSERC. 

 

Graduate Student Information

Julang’s priority is her graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. She is currently looking for graduate students to work on her disease-resistance project to help find alternatives to antibiotics. Her favourite students to work with are those who are passionate about research and eager to make contributions to 

their field. Some of her former students have become professors in the United States and abroad, while others are working in postdoctoral positions. Aside from working in academia, her graduates also work in government and industry. She considers her graduate students to be part of her team and enjoys discussing research projects, experimental design and analysis with them. Her students are involved in all aspects of the research process. Julang wants her students to develop strong research skills and become well-rounded graduates who are prepared for further education or employment. She tries to motivate and guide them based on their career goals, and her door is always open for students who need mentoring.

Recent Publications (past three years)

  1. Josh Milmine,  Lauren Fletcher  1 , Kai-Hsiang Chang  1 , Younghoon Kang  2 , Minhua Sun  1   3 , Jessica Churcher  1 , Linoy Jacobs  1 , Yashu Song  1 , Rob Patterson  4 , Elijah G Kiarie  1 , Julang Li  1  2025 Influence of Bacillus licheniformis B4 Fermentation on Soybean Meal Nutritional Value and Early Weaned Pig Growth Performance Journal of Applied Microbiology  10.1093/jambio/lxaf103
  2. Fletcher L, Zhan X, Chabrotra R, Li J. Divergence in the circulating small non-coding RNA transcriptome based on female pig fertility status.  Anim Reprod Sci. 2025 Jun 27;279:107948. doi: 10.1016/j.anireprosci.2025.107948. Online ahead of print.
  3. Esfandiarinezhad F, Zhan X, Tan SL, Li J, Tsang BK. A primary insight into gut microbiome, MicroRNA and stemness, in a PCOS rat model.   J Ovarian Res. 2025 Apr 1;18(1):66. doi: 10.1186/s13048-025-01648-9. PMID: 40170042 Free PMC article.
  4. Xiaoshu Zhan, Nanshan Qi, Derek Toms4, Lauren Fletcher, Bingyun Wang1, and Julang Li  2024 MiR-29b inhibits COC expansion and oocyte in vitro maturation via induction of ROS by targeting CYCS  Animal Reproduction Science Accepted for publication October, 2024
  5. Nanshan Qi, Xiaoshu Zhan, Joshua Milmine, Kai-Hsiang Chang and Julang Li 2024A novel thermophilic strain of Bacillus subtilis with antimicrobial activity and its potential application in solid-state fermentation of soybean meal Microbiology Spectrum, accepted
  6. G. Madureira1, B. Mion1, B. Van Winters1, F. Penagaricano2, J. Li1, E. S. Ribeiro1Endometrial responsiveness to interferon-tau and its association with subsequent reproductive performance in dairy heifers Journal of Dairy Science  2024 DOI: 10.3168/jds.2023-24627
  7. Alison Gelinas  1 , Sudhanshu Sudan  1 , Rob Patterson  2 , Julang Li  1 , David Huyben  1 , John R Barta  3 , Elijah G Kiarie  4   2024  Growth performance, intestinal histomorphology, and oocyst shedding in broiler chicken offered Bacillus subtilis strain isolated from camel dung and challenged with Eimeria  Poultry Science 2024 Apr;103(4):103519.
  8. Chun Peng and Julang Li 2023 MicroRNAs in Endocrinology and Cell Signaling Frontiers in Endocrinology Editorial Article | https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2022.1118426
  9. Sudhanshu Sudan, Lauren Fletcher, Xiaoshu Zhan, Serena Dingle, Rob Patterson, Lee-Anne Huber, Robert Friendship, Elijah G. Kiarie, and Julang Li 2023 Comparative Growth Performance and Gut Responses in Nursery Pigs Provided with a Novel Bacillus subtilis-based Probiotic and Pharmacological Zinc Oxide Scientific Report doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-31913-0
  10. Nanshan Qi, Xiaoshu Zhan, Joshua Milmine, Maureen Sahar, Kai-Hsiang Chang and Julang Li 2023 Isolation and characterization of a novel hydrolase-producing probiotic Bacillus licheniformis and its application in the fermentation of soybean meal Frontiers in Nutrition DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1123422  
  11. Reza Salehi, Meshach Asare-Werehene, Brandon A Wyse, Atefeh Abedini, Bo Pan, Alex Gutsol, Sahar Jahangiri, Peter Szaraz, Kevin D Burns, Barbara Vanderhyden, Julang Li, Dylan Burger, Clifford L Librach and Benjamin Tsang 2023  Granulosa cell-derived miR-379-5p regulates macrophage polarization in polycystic ovarian syndrome Frontiers in Immunology DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1104550
  12. Reza Salehi, Atefeh Abedini, Brandon A. Wyse6, Bo Pan, Yoko Urata1, Alex Gutsol, Jose L. Vinas, Sahar Jahangiri, Kai Xue1, Yunping Xue, Kevin D. Burns, Barbara Vanderhyden2 Julang Li, Dylan Burger1, Clifford L. Librach and Benjamin K. Tsang  2023  Androgen-induced exosomal miR-379-5p release determines granulosa cell fate: cellular and molecular basis of polycystic ovarian syndrome Journal of Ovarian Research DOI: 10.1186/s13048-023-01141-1
  13. Bo Pan, Xiaoshu Zhan, Julang Li 2022  MicroRNA-574 impacts granulosa cell estradiol production via targeting TIMP3 and ERK1/2 signaling pathway Frontiers in Endocrinology 23;13:852127.
  14. Lauren Fletcher, Nadeem Akhtar, Xiaoshu Zhan,  Moshen Jafarikia, Brian Sullivan, Lee-Anne Huber, Julang Li 2022 Identification of Candidate Salivary, Urinary and Serum Metabolic Biomarkers for High Litter Size Potential in Sows Metabolites. 2022 30;12(11):1045. doi: 10.3390/metabo12111045
  15. Sudhanshu Sudan  and Julang Li 2022 Dispersal of Pathogen-associated Multispecies Biofilm by Novel Probiotic Bacillus subtilis in a Contact Dependent Manner J Appl Microbiol. 133(4):2501-2515.
  16. Sudhanshu Sudan,Xiaoshu Zhan,and Julang Li  2022 A Novel Probiotic Bacillus subtilis confers cytoprotection to host pig intestinal epithelial cells during Enterotoxic E. coli infection Microbiol Spectr. 10(4):e0125721. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.01257-21
  17. Renée Hilker1, Bo Pan1,2, Xiaoshu Zhan1, Julang Li 2021 MicroRNA-21 enhances estradiol production by inhibiting WT1 expression in granulosa cells Journal of Molecular Endocrinology  12;68(1):11-22. doi: 10.1530/JME-21-0162.
  18. Lauren Fletcher1, Nadeem Akhtar1, Xiaoshu Zhan1,2, Mohsen Jafarikia1,3, Brian P. Sullivan3, Brent DeVries4, Lee-Anne Huber1 and Julang Li   2022 Identification of candidate salivary, urinary and serum metabolic biomarkers for high litter size potential in sows (Sus scrofa) Metabolite DOI: 10.3390/metabo12111045