Educational experience：

BSc: Biology, Beijing Normal University, 2006 MS: Ecology, Beijing Normal University, 2009 PhD: Environmental Science, Drexel University, 2015

Statement：

I am interested in the ecological and evolutionary dynamics and consequences of microbial symbiosis with animals, especially insects. My lab’s research investigates the diversity, evolutionary history and functional significance of symbiosis between insects and microbes, through a combination of field study, high-throughput microbiome screens, bioinformatic analyses and microbial cultivation.

Selected Publication：

1. Hu Y*#, Sanders JG#, Łukasik P, D’Amelio CL, et al. (2018). Herbivorous turtle ants obtain essential nutrients from a conserved nitrogen-recycling gut microbiome. Nature Communications. 9: 964..

2. Hu Y*, Holway DA, Łukasik P, Chau L, Kay AD, LeBrun EG, Miller KA, Sanders JG, Suarez AV, Russell JA. (2017). By their own devices: invasive Argentine ants have shifted diet without clear aid from symbiotic microbes. Molecular Ecology. 26: 1608-1630.

3. Hu Y, Liao WJ, Zhang DY, Barrett SC. (2015). Experimental analysis of mating patterns in a clonal plant reveals contrasting modes of self-pollination. Ecology and Evolution 5: 5423-5431.  

4. Russell JA#, Hu Y#, Chau L, Pauliushchyk M, Anastopoulos I, Anandan S, Waring MS. (2014). Indoor biofilter growth and exposure to airborne chemicals similarly alter bacterial communities from plant roots. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 80: 4805-4813.

5. Hu Y, Łukasik P, Moreau CS, Russell JA. (2014). Correlates of gut community composition across an ant species (Cephalotes varians) elucidate causes and consequences of symbiotic variability. Molecular Ecology 23: 1284-1300.