After graduation as Bachelor in Biology from Shandong Normal University in 1984, he got his master and PhD in Cell Biology and Microbiology from the Aix-Marseille University II in 1986 and 1989, respectively. After a postdoctoral experience at the Zurich University, Switzerland, he was recruited as a lecturer at the Louis Pasteur University of Strasbourg, from 1991 till 1999. He returned back to the Aix-Marseille University II in 1999, first as second-class Professor, then promoted to first-class and exceptional class professor.  He took the responsibility of vice dean, and dean at the Faculty of Sciences, Aix-Marseille University II, then as vice dean at the Faculty of Sciences of the Aix-Marseille University. Since 2015, he created the research group ‘Algal Growth and Development’ at the Institute of Hydrobiology.  

He acted as Associate Editor for Microbiology, a journal of the Society of the General Microbiology, UK) from 2008-2014, and as Editorial Board Member for the Journal of Bacteriology, from the American Society of Microbiology).  

He has been working on the signaling and development in bacteria, by focusing on the role of protein phosphorylation, the identification of signals and their pathways involved in cellular differentiation. He established extensive collaborations with chemist (Dr. Ling Peng) and structural biologists (Profs. Cong-Zhao Zhou and Yuxin Chen) for the better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the developmental process in the cyanobacterium Anabaena PCC 7120. 

　　1. Zhang, C-C., Durand, M-C., Jeanjean, R. & Joset, F. (1989) Molecular and genetic analysis of the glucose-fructose transport system in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC6803. Mol.  Microbiol. 3:1221-1229. 

　　2. Zhang, C-C. & Bienz, M. (1992) Segmental determination in Drosophila conferred by hunchback (hb), a repressor of the homeotic gene Ultrabithorax (Ubx). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 89:7511-7515.  

　　3. Zhang, C-C*. (1993) A gene encoding a protein related to eukaryotic-type protein kinases from the filamentous heterocystous cyanobacterium Anabaena  PCC 7120. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 90:11840-11844. 

　　4. Zhang, C-C*. (1996) Bacterial signalling involving eukaryotic-type protein kinases. Mol. Microbiol. 20:9-15. 

　　5. Zhang, C-C*., Friry, A. & Peng, L. (1998) Molecular and genetic analysis of two closely linked genes that encode, respectively, a protein phosphatase 1/2A/2B homolog and a protein kinasehomolog in the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120. J. Bacteriol. 180:2616-2622. 

　　6. Zhang, C-C*., Gonzalez, L. & Phalip, V. (1998) Survey, analysis and genetic organization of genes encoding eukaryotic-like signalling proteins by a cyanobacterial genome. Nucl. Acids Res. 26:3619-3625. 

　　7. Kuhn, I., Peng, L., Bédu, S. & Zhang, C.-C*. (2000) Developmental regulation of the cell division protein FtsZ in Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120, a cyanobacterium capable of terminal differentiation. J. Bacteriol. 182:4640-4643. 

　　8. Laurent, S., Chen, H., Bédu, S., Ziarelli, F., Peng, L*. & Zhang, C.-C*. (2005) Nonmetabolizable analogue of 2-oxoglutarate elicits heterocyst differentiation under repressive conditions in Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 102:9907-9912. 

　　9. Latifi, A., Jeanjean, R., Lemeille, S., Havaux, M. & Zhang, C.-C. (2005) Iron starvation leads to oxidative stress in Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120. J. Bacteriol. 187:6596-6598.  

　　10. Zhang, C.-C*., Laurent, S., Sakr, S., Peng, L. & Bédu, S. (2006) Heterocyst differentiation and pattern formation in cyanobacteria: a chorus of signals. Mol. Microbiol. 59:367-375. 

　　11. Sakr, S., Jeanjean, R., Zhang, C.-C*., & Arcondéguy, T. (2006) Inhibition of cell division suppresses heterocyst development in Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120. J. Bacteriol. 188:1396-1404. 

　　12. Cheng, Y., Li, J-H., Shi., L., Wang, L., Latifi, A., & Zhang, C.-C.* (2006) A pair of iron-responsive genes encoding protein kinases with a Ser/Thr-kinase domain and a His-kinase domain are regulated by NtcA in the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120. J. Bacteriol. 188:4822-4829. 

　　13. Sakr, S., Thyssen, M., Denis, M. & Zhang, C.-C.* (2006) Relationship among several key cell-cycle events in the developmental cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120. J. Bacteriol. 188:5958-5965. 

　　14. Chen, H., Laurent, S., Bédu, S., Ziarelli, F., Cheng, Y., Zhang, C.-C. & Peng, L. (2006) Studying the signaling role of 2-oxoglutaric acid by using analogues that mimic the ketone and ketal forms of 2-oxoglutaric acid. Chemistry & Biology. 13:849-856. 

　　15. Latifi, A, Ruiz, M., Jeanjean, R. & Zhang, C.-C. (2007) PrxQ-A, a member of the peroxiredoxin Q family, plays a major role in defense against oxidative stress in the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC 7120. Free Radical Biol. Med. 42:424-431. 

　　16. Jang, J., Wang, L., Jeanjean, R. & Zhang, C.-C.* (2007) PrpJ, a PP2C-type protein phosphatase located on the plasma membrane, is involved in heterocyst maturation in the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC 7120. Mol. Microbiol. 64:247-358. 

　　17. Shi, L., Li, J.-H.,, Cheng, Y., Wang, L., Chen W.L. & Zhang, C.-C.* (2007) Two genes encoding protein kinases of the HstK family are involved in the synthesis of the minor heterocyst-specific glycolipid in the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120. J. Bacteriol., 189:5075-5081.  

　　18. Jeanjean, R., Talla, E., Latifi, A., Havaux, M., Janicki, A., and Zhang, C.-C.* (2008) A large gene cluster encoding peptide synthetases and polyketide synthases is involved in production of siderophores and oxidative-stress response in the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120. Environ. Microbiol. 10:2574-2585. 

　　19. Zhang, L.-C., Chen, Y.-F., Chen, W.-L., and Zhang, C.-C.* (2008) Existence of periplasmic barriers preventing GFP diffusion from cell to cell in the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120. Mol Microbiol. 70:814-823. 

　　20. Latifi, A., Ruiz, M. and Zhang, C.-C. (2009) Oxidative stress in cyanobacteria. FEMS Microbiol. Rev., 33:258-278. 

　　21. Jang, J., Shi, L., Tan, H., Janicki, A., and Zhang, C.-C*. (2009) Mutual regulation of ntcA and hetR during heterocyst differentiation requires two similar PP2C-type protein phosphatases PrpJ1 and PrpJ2 in Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120. J. Bacteriol. 191:6059-6066. 

　　22. Zhao, M.-X., Jiang, Y.-L., He, Y.-X., Chen, Y.-F., Teng, Y.-B., Chen, Y., Zhang, C.-C.*, and Zhou, C.-Z.* (2010) Structural basis for the allosteric control of the global nitrogen-regulating transcription factor NtcA by the nitrogen starvation signal 2-oxoglutarate. *Co-corresponding authors. Proc. Natl. Aacd. Sci. USA. 107:12487-12492. 

　　23. Janssen, P.J., Morin, N., Mergeay, M., Leroy, B., Wattiez, R., Vallaeys, T., Waleron, R., Waleron, M., Wilmotte, A., Quillardet, P., Tandeau de Marsac, N., Talla, E., Zhang, C.-C. and Leys, N. (2010) Genome Sequence of the Edible Cyanobacterium Arthrospira sp. PCC 8005. J. Bacteriol. 192:2465-2466. 

　　24. Bastet, L., Boileau, C., Janicki, A., Bedu, S., Latifi, A. and Zhang, C.-C. (2010) NtcA regulates patA expression in Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120. J. Bacteriol. 192:5257-5259. 

　　25. Liu, X., Chen, H., Laurini, E., Wang, Y., Dal Col, V., Posocco, P., Ziarelli, F., Fermeglia, M., Zhang, C.-C., Pricl, S., and Peng, L. (2011) 2-Difluoromethylene-4-methylenepentanoic Acid, A Paradoxical Probe Able To Mimic the Signaling Role of 2-Oxoglutaric Acid in Cyanobacteria. Org. Lett. 13:2924-2927. 

　　26. Boileau, C., Eme, L., Brochier-Armanet, C., Janicki, A., Zhang, C.-C. and Latifi A. (2011) A eukaryotic-like sulfiredoxin involved in oxidative stress responses and in the reduction of the sulfinic form of 2-Cys peroxiredoxin in the cyanobacterium Anabaena PCC 7120. New Phytologist 191:1108–1118.  

　　27. Zhang C-C. & Zhou C-Z. (2013) ATPase as a switch in PII signal transduction. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 110:12863-12864. 

　　28. Zhang S-R, Lin G-M, Chen W-L, Wang L, Zhang C-C (2013) ppGpp metabolism is involved in heterocyst development in the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC 7120. J. Bacteriol. 195:4536-4544. 

　　29. Liu X, Wang Y, Laurini E, Posocco P, Chen H, Ziarelli F, Janicki A, Qu F, Fermeglia M, Pricl S, Zhang C-C, Peng L. (2013) Structural requirements of molecular probes to mimic the signalling function of 2-oxoglutaric acid, a key Krebs cycle intermediate. Org Lett. 15:4662-4665. 

　　30. Zhang, J-Y; Deng, X-M; Li, F-P; Wang, L; Huang, Q-Y; Zhang, C-C; Chen, W-L. (2014) RNase E, via a cyanobacterial-specific nonapeptide in the non-catalytic domain, forms a complex with polynucleotide phosphorylase in cyanobacteria. RNA. 20:568-579. 

　　31. Hu, H-X., Jiang, Y-L., Zhao, M-X., Cai K., Liu, S., Wen, B., Lv, P., Zhang, Y., Peng, J., Yu, H.-M., Ren, Y.-M., Zhang, Z., Wu, Q., Oliveberg, M., Zhang, C.-C*., Chen, Y*., Zhou, C.Z.* (2015) Structural insights into HetR？PatS interaction involved in cyanobacterial pattern formation. Sci. Rep. 5:16470.