Weidong Zhao
Ph.D. candidate
University of Georgia
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory
and Dept. of Marine Sciences

Weidong Zhao works in areas of microbial ecology with integrated techniques including molecular biology, microbiology, stable isotope and organic geochemistry. His current study focuses on the terrestrial hot springs, in particular, in Kamchatka, Russia. The primary objective of his research is to understand how hot spring microorganisms, often as thermophiles, obtain carbon and energy sources from the environments. To answer the question, diversity and distribution of microorganisms are studied using both culture-dependant and culture-independent 16S rDNA and functional gene approaches; carbon flows are traced using carbon stable isotopes and abundance of specific microbial group are quantified using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and lipid biomarkers such as phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) and glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGT).

Weidong Zhao is a Ph.D candidate working with Dr. Chuanlun Zhang and Dr. Christopher Romanek

Publications:

Zhao W., Weber C., King G.M., Romanek C.S., Zhang C.L., Mills G., Sokolova T. and Wiegel J. 2006. Thermalkaliphus uzonensis gen. nov. sp. nov, a new aerobic thermophilic carbon-monoxide-tolerant bacterium isolated from a hot spring in Uzon Caldera, Kamchatka. Extremophiles 10, 337-345.

Zhao, W., C. S. Romanek, G. Mills, J. Wiegel and C. L. Zhang. 2005. Geochemistry and Microbiology of Hot Springs in Kamchatka, Russia. Geological Journal of China Universities 11(2):217-223.

Selected Presentations:

Ammonia Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea in Kamchatka Hot Springs

Using Phospholipids and Stable Carbon Isotopes to Assess Microbial Community Structures and Carbon Cycle Pathways in Kamchatka Hot Springs

Geochemistry of Reduced Gases and Carbon Dioxide in Kamchatka Ho Geochemistry of Reduced Gases and Carbon Dioxide in Kamchatka Hot Springs

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