CHENG GAO                            

321 Koshland Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Email: [email protected]; Telephone: 1-510-229-8119

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Ø  2016 – present    Postdoctoral Scholar, Prof. John W. Taylor Lab, Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California Berkeley, USA

Ø  2013 – 2016        Assistant Professor, Prof. Liang-Dong Guo Lab, State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

EDUCATION

Ø  2007 – 2013  Ph.D., Microbiology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Ø  2003 – 2007    B.S., Biotechnology, Shandong University

TEACHING EXPERIENCES

Ø  2014.08        Lecturer              < Modern fungal taxonomic system and nomenclature>

Ø  2014.10        Lecturer              <Diversity analysis of microbes in oil reservoirs>

Ø  2015.09 – 2016.01        Teaching Assistant    <Microbial Ecology>

 

FULL PUBLICATIONS: GOOGLE SCHOLAR

27. Gao C, Montoya L, Xu L, Madera M, Hollingsworth J, Purdom E, Hutmacher R, Dahlberg J, Colemann-Derr D, Lemaux P, Taylor J*. (2019). Strong succession in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities. The ISME Journal 13: 214-226.

26. Wang XW*, Benoit I, Groenewald E, Houbraken J, Dai X, Peng M, Yang X, Gao C, Guo LD. Community dynamics of Neocallimastigomycota in the yak rumen indicate an essential role for fungi with a bulbous morphotype in digesting lignin-rich plant biomass. Fungal Ecology (Accepted).

25. Wang YL, Gao C, Chen L, Ji NN, Wu BW, Li XC, Lü PP, Zheng Y, Guo LD*. Host plant phylogeny and geographic distance strongly structure Betulaceae-associated ectomycorrhizal fungal communities at a regional scale. FEMS Microbiology Ecology (Accepted).

24. Ji NN, Gao C, Sandel B, Zheng Y, Chen L, Wu BW, Li XC, Wang YL, Lü PP, Sun X, Guo LD*. Late Quaternary climate change explains soil fungal community composition rather than richness in forest ecosystems. Ecology Evolution (Accepted).

23. Xu L, Naylor D, Dong Z, Simmons T, Pierroz G, Hixson K, Kim Y, Zink E, Engbrecht K, Wang Y, Gao C, DeGraaf S, Madera M, Sievert J, Hollingsworth J, Birdseye D, Scheller H, Hutmacher R, Dahlberg J, Jansson C, Taylor J, Lemaux P, Coleman-Derr D. 2018. Drought delays development of the sorghum root microbiome and enriches for monoderm bacteria. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 115: E4284-E4293.

22. Wu BW, Gao C, Chen L, Buscot F, Goldmann K, Purahong W, Ji NN, Wang YL, Lü PP, Li XC, Guo LD*. 2018. Host phylogeny is a major determinant of Fagaceae-associated ectomycorrhizal fungal community assembly at a regional scale. Frontier Microbiology 9: 2409.

 

21. Gao C, Shi NN, Chen L, Ji NN, Zheng Y, Mi XC, Ma KP, Guo LD*. (2017). Relationships between soil fungal and woody plant assemblages differ between ridge and valley habitats in a subtropical mountain forest. New Phytologist 213: 1874-1885.

20. Taylor JW, Branco S, Gao C, Hann-Soden C, Montoya L, Sylvain I, Gladieux P. 2017. Sources of fungal genetic variation and associating it with phenotypic diversity. Microbiology Spectrum 5(5): FUNK-0057-2016.

19. Chen L, Zheng Y, Gao C, Mi XC, Ma KP, Wubet T, Guo LD*. (2017). Phylogeny drives highly interconnected and nested mutualistic networks of woody plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in a Chinese subtropical forest. Molecular Ecology 26: 2563–2575

18. Shi NN, Gao C, Zheng Y, Guo LD*. (2017). Effects of ectomycorrhizal fungal identity and diversity on subtropical tree competition. Journal of Plant Ecology 10: 47-55. (Special Issue: BEF-China)

 

17. Gao C, Kim YC, Zheng Y, Yang W, Chen L, Ji NN, Wan SQ, Guo LD*. (2016). Increased precipitation, rather than warming exerts strong influence on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community in a semiarid steppe ecosystem. Botany 94: 471-479. (Special Issue: Mycorrhizas and Global Change)

16. Yang W, Zheng Y, Gao C, Duan JC, Wang SP, Guo LD*. (2016) Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community composition affected by original elevation rather than translocation along an altitudinal gradient on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Scientific Reports 6: 36606.

15. Shi NN, Gao C, Zheng Y, Guo LD*. (2016). Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus identity and diversity influence subtropical tree competition. Fungal Ecology 20: 115-123

 

14. Gao C, Zhang Y, Shi NN, Zheng Y, Chen L, Wubet T, Bruelheide H, Both S, Buscot F, Ding Q, Erfmeier A, Kuhn P, Nadrowski K, Scholten T, Guo, LD*. (2015). Community assembly of ectomycorrhizal fungi along a subtropical secondary forest succession. New Phytologist 205: 771-785.

13. Kim YC☯️, Gao C☯️ (co-first author), Zheng Y, He XH, Yang W, Chen L, Wan SQ, Guo LD*. (2015). Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community response to warming and nitrogen addition in a semiarid steppe ecosystem. Mycorrhiza 25: 267-276.

 

12. Gao C, Shi NN, Liu YX, Zheng Y, Ding Q, Mi XC et al (2014). Host plant richness explains diversity of ectomycorrhizal fungi: Response to the comment of Tedersoo et al. (2014). Molecular Ecology 23: 996-999.

11. Kim YC, Gao C, Zheng Y, Yang W, Chen L, He XH, Wan SQ, Guo LD. (2014). Different responses of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community to day-time and night-time warming in a semiarid steppe. Chinese Science Bulletin 59: 5080-5089.

10. Zheng Y, Kim YC, Tian XF, Chen L, Yang W, Gao C, Song MH, Xu XL, Guo LD*. (2014). Differential responses of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to nitrogen addition in a near pristine Tibetan alpine meadow. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 89: 594-605.

 

9. Gao C, Shi NN, Liu YX, Peay KG, Zheng Y, Ding Q, Mi XC, Ma KP, Wubet T, Buscot F, Guo LD*. (2013). Host plant genus-level diversity is the best predictor of ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity in a Chinese subtropical forest. Molecular Ecology 22: 3403-3414.

8. Gao C, Guo LD*. (2013). Distribution pattern and maintenance of ectomycorrhizal fungus diversity. Biodiversity Science 21: 488-498. (In Chinese with English Abstract; Special Issue: Microbial Diversity).

7. Gao C. (2013). Community and Diversity Maintenance Mechanisms of Ectomycorrhizal Fungi and Soil Fungi in a Subtropical Forest. Ph.D. Dissertation. Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. (PhD dissertation)

6. Sun X, Gao C, Guo LD*. (2013). Changes in soil microbial community and enzyme activity along an exotic plant Eupatorium adenophorum invasion in a Chinese secondary forest. Chinese Science Bulletin 58: 4101-4108

5. Sun X, Gao C, Guo LD*. (2013). Changes in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus community along an exotic plant Eupatorium adenophorum invasion in a Chinese secondary forest. Journal of Microbiology 51: 295-300

4. Yang W, Zheng Y, Gao C, He XH, Ding Q, Kim YC, Rui YC, Wan SQ, Guo LD*. (2013). The arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community response to warming and grazing differs between soil and roots on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. PLoS ONE 8: e76447

3. Sun CY, Xie LJ, Ding WJ, Yu JL, Ma K, Wang YW, Wang YH, Ji R, Shen SK, Li XZ, Zhang FL, Zhou J, Guo LD, Liang XC, Miao JH, Ma C, Ma S, Ma XF, Wang C, Wang HF, Long X, Liu B, Liu TM, Liu LN, Sun X, Yang WD, Yang PZ, Wu FQ, Zhang LQ, Zhang MZ, Lin QW, Hou QB, Xia W, Gao C, Huang YF, You J, Pan CL (2013). Poisonous Organisms. Beijing, China: People’s Medical Publication House. (Monograph; in Chinese).

 

2. Gao C, Huang MR, Tao S, Sun X, Li J, Guo LD*. (2011). Seasonal dynamics of culturable bacterium numbers in freshwater bodies of different water quality in Beijing. Acta Ecologia Sinica 31: 1157-1163 (In Chinese with English Abstract).

1. Wang Q, Gao C, Guo LD (2011). Ectomycorrhizae associated with Castanopsis fargesii (Fagaceae) in a subtropical forest, China. Mycological Progress 10: 323-332

 

ONGOING PAPERS

1.   Gao C, Montoya L, Xu L, Madera M, Hollingsworth J, Purdom E, Singan V, Vogel J, Hutmacher R, Dahlberg J, Colemann-Derr D, Lemaux P, Taylor J*. (2019) Fungal community assembly: Drift, selection, drought-stress, and universal ecological dynamics.

2.   Gao C, Xu Y, Wu BW, Wang YL, Ji NN, Chen L, Lü PP, Li XC, Sun X, Zheng Y, Taylor J, Guo LD*. (2019) Contingency and determinism primarily drive microbial community assembly.

3.   Varoquaux N☯️, Cole B☯️, Gao C☯️ (co-first author), Pierroz G, Baker C, Patel D, Madera M, Jeffers T, Hollingsworth J, Sievert J, Yoshinaga Y, Owiti J, Singan V, DeGraaf S, Xu L, Blow M, Harrison MJ, Visel A, Jansson C, Niyogi KK, Hutmacher RB, Coleman-Derr D, O’Malley R, Taylor JW, Dahlberg JA, Vogel JP, Lemaux PG, Purdom E. Lifecycle transcriptomics of field-droughted sorghum reveals rapid biotic and metabolic responses.

4.   Willing C*, Pierroz G, Gao C, Coleman-Derr D, Taylor J, Bruns T, and Dawson T. Environment and anatomy shape fungal turnover in the redwood root microbiome.

5.   Su YY, Qi DW, James TY, Wang XW, Gao C, Yang W, Chen L, Zhou X, Chen W*, Cai L*. Gut mycobiota of captive giant panda.

6.   Ding Q, Blüthgen N, Hoeksema JD, Gao C, Shi NN, Zheng Y, Bruelheide H, Scholten T, Kühn P, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Nadrowski K, Guo LD. Ectomycorrhizal plant-fungus interaction networks in a Chinese subtropical forest – specialization patterns and potential drivers.

 

GRANTS

1.     Gao C, Sun X. Community structure and maintenance mechanism of ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with Castanopsis woody plants in China (NSFC, 31470545, PI: Gao C).

2.     Zheng Y, Gao C. Response mechanism of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to nitrogen and phosphorus addition along a subtropical secondary forest succession (NSFC, PI: Zheng Y).

3.     Sun X, Gao C. Community structure and geographic distribution pattern of endophytic fungi of Chinese beach salted plants (NSFC, PI: Sun X).

4.     Guo LD, Gao C. Distribution patterns and maintenance of mycorrhizal fungal diversities in forest ecosystems (NSFC, PI: Guo LD).

5.     Guo LD, Gao C. Response mechanism of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to experimental warming and grazing in alpine steppe in Qinghai-Tibet plateau (NSFC, PI: Guo LD).

 

AWARDS

1.      Zhuliyuehua Award for Outstanding Ph.D., CAS, China, 2013

2.      President Award of Institute of Microbiology, CAS, China, 2013

3.      Novozymes Outstanding Dissertation Award, China, 2013

4.      Novozymes Graduate Student Best Paper Award, China, 2013

5.      Award of Institute of Microbiology, CAS, China, 2011

6.      Award of Institute of Microbiology, CAS, China, 2010

7.      Outstanding Graduate Student of CAS, China, 2010

8.      Novozymes Outstanding Student Award, China, 2010

 

PEER REVIEWINGs: PUBLONS

Editor for: PLOS ONE

Reviewer for:

1.       The ISME Journal

2.       Current Opinion in Plant Biology

3.       New Phytologist

4.       Molecular Ecology

5.       Environmental Microbiology

6.       FEMS Microbiology Ecology

7.       Journal of Soil and Sediments

8.       Journal of Plant Ecology

9.       Scientific Reports

10.    PeerJ

11.    PLOS ONE

12.    Mycology

13.    Forest Ecosystems

14.    Current Microbiology

15.    Biodiversity Science (In Chinese)

16.    Journal of Plant Ecology (In Chinese)

 

Conference / Symposium:

Ø  Ecological Society of America Annual meeting, Louisville, KT, USA, 2019.08 (Oral presentation)

Ø  America Society of Microbiology Annual meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA, 2019.06 (Oral presentation)

Ø  Switchgrass Microbiome, Berkeley, CA, USA. 2019.04.01

Ø  Neurospora 2018, Asilomar, CA, USA. 2018.10.18-10.21

Ø  The 11th International Mycological Congress, Puerto Rico, USA, 2018.07.15-07.22 (Poster)

Ø  The 9th International Conference on Mycorrhiza, Prague, Czech, 2017.07.30-08.04 (Poster)

Ø  The 29th Fungal Genetic Conference, Asilomar, CA, USA. 2017.03.14-19 (Poster)

Ø  The 14th Bay Area Population Genomics (BAPG) Conference, San Francisco, USA, 2016.09.

Ø  The 2015th annual meeting of Ecological Society of Beijing, Beijing, China, 2015.12 (Oral presentation).

Ø  The 2015th annual meeting of Mycological Society of China, Shanghai, China, 2015.9 (Oral presentation).

Ø  Sino-German-Swiss workshop “Next generation Biodiversity-Ecosystem Functioning research in Chinese subtropical forests”, Jingdezhen, China, 2015.3 (Oral presentation).

Ø  Asian Mycological Congress, Beijing, 2013.8 (Oral presentation).

Ø  BEF-China Summer School “Scientific writing in the context of Biodiversity Ecosystem functioning” Wuyuan, China, 2012. 3.

Ø  BEF-China Summer School “Experimental design and Data Analysis in the context of Biodiversity Ecosystem functioning” Gutianshan, China, 2011.5.

Ø  Symposium on BEF-China Project, Beijing, China, 2011.5 (Oral Presentation).

Ø  Symposium on BEF-China Project, Beijing, China, 2010.2.