Jingqiu Liao

Thematic Area: Zoonotic Diseases

Overview of Research: We study the ecology and evolution of microbiomes, foodborne pathogens, and antimicrobial resistance in the settings of natural, agricultural, and food ecosystems. We aim to advance a mechanistic and predictive understanding of microbial diversity, composition, functioning, and environment-microbe interactions in these ecosystems and develop ecological-informed tools and strategies to improve ecological resilience, agricultural sustainability, and public health.

Highlight Research relating to the specific thematic area: Biogeography, dispersal, adaptation, and source tracking of Listeria, Salmonella, and pathogenetic Escherichia coli

Recent Grants: 

· Oak Ridge Associated Universities Inc, ODRD grant, to study antimicrobial resistance in soil

· 4-VA, Collaborative Research Grant, to develop predictive models for Listeria monocytogenes distribution

· US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Science To Achieve Results (STAR) Program, to evaluate risk and performance of enhanced aquifer recharge

Recent publications:

[1] Oris RH, Liao J, Carlin CR, Wiedmann M. Taxonomy, ecology, and relevance to food safety of the genus Listeria with a particular consideration of new Listeria species described between 2010 and 2022. mBio e00938-23

[2] Yang X, Zhou Y, Xia R, Liao J, Liu J, Yu P. 2024. Microplastics and chemical leachates from plastic pipes are associated with increased virulence and antimicrobial resistance potential of drinking water microbial communities. J Hazard Mater 463: 132900

[3] Liao J, Shenhav L, Urban JA, Serrano M, Buck GA, Zhu B, Korem T*. 2023. Microdiversity of the vaginal microbiome is associated with preterm birth. Nat Commun 14: 4997

[4] Liao J, Guo X, Li S, Anupoju B, Cheng RA, Weller DL, Sullivan G, Zhang H, Deng X, Wiedmann M. 2023. Comparative genomics unveils extensive genomic variation between populations of Listeria species in natural and food‑associated environments. ISME Commun 3: 85

[5] Williams MC, Reker AE, Margolis SR, Liao J, Wiedmann M, Rojas ER, Meeske AJ. 2023. Restriction endonuclease cleavage of phage DNA enables resuscitation from Cas13‑induced bacterial dormancy. Nat Microbiol 8:400–409

[6] Kindschuh WF, Baldini F, Liu MC, Liao J, Meydan Y, Lee HH, Heinken A, Thiele I, Christoph TA, Levy M, Korem T. 2023. Preterm birth is associated with xenobiotics and predicted by the vaginal metabolome. Nat Microbiol 8:246–259

[7] Liang X, Zhang J, Kim Y, Ho J, Liu K, Keenum IM, Gupta S, Davis B, Hepp SL, Zhang L, Xia K, Knowlton KF, Liao J, Vikesland P, Pruden A, Heath LS. 2023. ARGem: A new metagenomics pipeline for antibiotic resistance genes: metadata, analysis, and visualization. Front Genet 14:1219297

Honors or Recognitions:

4-VA Pre-Tenure Faculty Research Award, 2023

ISCE 2023–2024 Scholar, 2023

Peggy Cotter Award for Early Career Branch Members American Society of Microbiology, 2023

Overview of mentor activities (undergraduate, graduate, and/or professional students):

Currently mentoring 2 PhD students, 5 MS students, and 2 undergraduate students

Overview of CeZAP and/or ID-IGEP involvement: 

· Mentoring one ID-IGEP student

· Served as a breakout session chair for CeZAP Infectious Diseases Symposium in 2023

· Gave a talk in the CeZAP Distinguished Speaker Seminar Series in Infectious Diseases in 2023

· Served as a poster reviewers for CeZAP Infectious Diseases Symposium in 2022