LEAPH members, Liao corresponding#, equal contribution†; a full list of our publications can be found at Google Scholar.
2026
Motile and non-motile Listeria species adopt distinct genomic and ecological strategies to achieve broad geographic ranges in soil
Goh YX, Hepp SL, Cummings K, Wiedmann M, Liao J#. bioRxiv 698536 (2026)
2025
Assessment of a passive sampler for aquifer microbial community profiling and comparison of porous media applied in a managed recharge scenario
Riddley M, Byeon H, Trubenbach K, Schreiber M, Pruden A#, Liao J#. bioRxiv 695546 (2025)
Hotspots of bacterial pathogen abundance and exposure risk in soils of the contiguous United States
Matthews EA, Goh YX, Hepp SL, Liao J#, Calder RSD#. GeoHealth 2025GH001459 (2025)
Disentangling the impacts of abiotic and biotic environmental factors and dispersal dynamics on the pangenome fluidity of bacterial pathogens
Goh YX, Hardeep FNU, Zhang H, Liao J#. bioRxiv 645760 (2025)
Differential roles of deterministic and stochastic processes in structuring soil bacterial ecotypes across terrestrial ecosystems
Riddley M†, Hepp SL†, Hardeep FNU, Nayak A, Liu M, Xing X, Zhang H, Liao J#. Nature Communications 16:2337 (2025)
Coverage: Editors’ Highlights, CEE News
Nanoplastics induce prophage activation and quorum sensing to enhance biofilm mechanical and chemical resilience
Wang H, Chen H, Ruan C, Liao J, Wu C, Schwarz C, Shi B, Alvarez PJJ, Yu P. Water Research 288:124712 (2025)
Temporal, seasonal, and patient demographic trends among culture-confirmed human Salmonellosis cases identify regional differences in Salmonella serotypes reported in Virginia, USA between 2012-2022
Yates CR, Weller DL, Ponder M, Liao J, Holloman K, Cheng RA. Journal of Food Protection 88:100548 (2025)
Enhanced phytopathogen biofilm control in soybean phyllosphere by the phoresy of bacteriophages hitchhiking on biocontrol bacteria
Zhang B, Zhang Y, Zhang X, Qu J, Ruan C, Liao J, Alvarez PJJ, Yu P. Environmental Science & Technology 59:10334–10346 (2025)
Bacterium-phage interactions enhance biofilm resilience during membrane biofouling under oxidative and hydraulic stresses
Lin Z†, Ruan C†, Xia R, Liao J, Zhu L, Wang D, Alvarez PJJ, Yu P. Environmental Science & Technology 59:8614–8628 (2025)
Synergistic treatment of reverse osmosis membrane biofouling with quorum quenching bacteria and hitchhiking phages
Wang X, Ruan C, Shen C, Liao J, Wang D, Alvarez PJJ, Yu P. Environmental Science & Technology 59:5647–5660 (2025)
Initializing a public repository for hosting benchmark datasets to facilitate machine learning model development in food safety
Qian L, Yang H, Acharya J, Liao J, Ivanek R, Wiedmann M. Journal of Food Protection 88:100463 (2025)
Adaptive modification of antiviral defense systems in microbial community under Cr-induced stress
Huang D, Liao J, Balcazar JL, Ye M, Wu R, Wang D, Alvarez PJJ, Yu P. Microbiome 13:34 (2025)
Bacterium-phage symbiosis facilitates the enrichment of bacterial pathogens and antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the plastisphere
Xia R, Yin X, Balcazar JL, Huang D, Liao J, Wang D, Alvarez PJJ, Yu P. Environmental Science & Technology 59:2948–2960 (2025)
Metagenomic insights into microalgae-bacterium-virus interactions and viral functions in phycosphere facing environmental fluctuations
Qi H, Lv J, Liao J, Jin J, Ren Y, Tao Y, Wang D, Alvarez PJJ, Yu P. Water Research 268:122676 (2025)
2024
Evidence of horizontal gene transfer and environmental selection impacting antibiotic resistance evolution in soil-dwelling Listeria
Goh YX, Anupoju B, Nguyen A, Zhang H, Ponder M, Krometis L, Pruden A, Liao J#. Nature Communications 15:10034 (2024)
Coverage: VT News
What’s on a prophage: analysis of Salmonella spp. prophages identifies a diverse range of cargo with multiple virulence and metabolic-associated functions
Yates CR, Nguyen A, Liao J, Cheng RA. mSphere 9:e00031-24 (2024)
Symbiotic bacteriophages exhibit multiple adaptive strategies in activated sludge flocs and contribute to floc stability
Qi H, Wu R, Ye M, Huang D, Wang L, Liao J, Yu P. Chemical Engineering Journal 492:152448 (2024)
Adaptive strategies and ecological roles of phages in habitats under physicochemical stress
Huang D, Xia R, Chen C, Liao J, Ma L, Mathieu J, Alvarez PJJ, Yu P. Trends in Microbiology 32:902-916 (2024)
Taxonomy, ecology, and relevance to food safety of the genus Listeria with a particular consideration of new Listeria species described between 2010 and 2022
Orsi RH, Liao J, Carlin CR, Wiedmann M. mBio 15:e00938-23 (2024)
Microplastics and chemical leachates from plastic pipes are associated with increased virulence and antimicrobial resistance potential of drinking water microbial communities
Yang X, Zhou Y, Xia R, Liao J, Liu J, Yu P. Journal of Hazardous Materials 463:132900 (2024)
2023
Microdiversity of the vaginal microbiome is associated with preterm birth
Liao J#†, Shenhav L†, Urban JA, Serrano M, Buck GA, Zhu, B, Korem T#. Nature Communications 14:4997 (2023)
Comparative genomics unveils extensive genomic variation between populations of Listeria species in natural and food-associated environments
Liao J#, Guo X, Li S, Anupoju B, Cheng RA, Weller DL, Sullivan G, Zhang H, Deng X, Wiedmann M. ISME Communications 3:85 (2023)
ARGem: A new metagenomics pipeline for antibiotic resistance genes: metadata, analysis, and visualization
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. Frontiers in Genetics 14:1219297 (2023)
Restriction endonuclease cleavage of phage DNA enables resuscitation from Cas13-induced bacterial dormancy.
Williams MC, Reker AE, Margolis SR, Liao J, Wiedmann M, Rojas ER, Meeske AJ. Nature Microbiology 8:400–409 (2023)
Preterm birth is associated with xenobiotics and predicted by the vaginal metabolome
Kindschuh WF, Baldini F, Liu MC, Liao J, Meydan Y, Lee HH, Heinken A, Thiele I, Christoph TA, Levy M, Korem T. Nature Microbiology 8:246–259 (2023)
Coverage: CUIMC News
2022
Salmonella enterica serovar Cerro displays a phylogenetic structure and genomic features consistent with virulence attenuation and adaptation to cattle
Cohn AR, Orsi RH, Carroll LM, Liao J, Wiedmann M, and Cheng RA. Frontiers in Microbiology 13:1005215 (2022)
Prior to VT
Editorial: Functional diversity of aquatic microorganisms and their roles in water quality
Liao J#, Weller DL, Kovac J, Huang Y. Frontiers in Water 4:879155 (2022)
Functional diversity of aquatic microorganisms and their roles in water quality
Liao J, Weller DL, Kovac J, Huang Y, eds. Lausanne: Frontiers Media SA (2022)
Soil collected in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park yielded a novel Listeria sensu stricto species, L. swaminathanii
Carlin CR, Liao J, Hudson LK, Peters TL, Denes TG, Orsi RH, Guo X, Wiedmann M. Microbiology Spectrum 10:e00442-22 (2022)
Nationwide genomic atlas of soil-dwelling Listeria reveals effects of selection and population ecology on pangenome evolution
Liao J, Guo X, Weller DL, Pollak S, Buckley DH, Wiedmann M, Cordero OX. Nature Microbiology 6:1021–1030 (2021)
Coverage: Cornell Chronicle
Adjacent terrestrial landscapes impact the biogeographical pattern of soil Escherichia coli strains in produce fields by modifying the importance of environmental selection and dispersal
Liao J, Bergholz P, Wiedmann M. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 87:e02516–20 (2021)
Listeria cossartiae sp. nov., Listeria immobilis sp. nov., Listeria portnoyi sp. nov. and Listeria rustica sp. nov., isolated from agricultural water and natural environments
Carlin CR, Liao J, Weller DL, Guo X, Orsi RH, Wiedmann M. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 71:004795 (2021)
Coverage: Cornell Chronicle
A non-optimal cervicovaginal microbiota in pregnancy is associated with a distinct metabolomic signature among non-Hispanic Black individuals
Gerson KD, Liao J, McCarthy C, Burris HH, Korem T, Levy M, Ravel J, Elovitz MA. Scientific Reports 11:1-12 (2021)
A phage-encoded anti-CRISPR enables complete evasion of type VI-A CRISPR-Cas immunity
Meeske AJ, Jia N, Cassel AK, Kozlova A, Liao J, Wiedmann M, Patel DJ, Marraffini LA. Science 369:54-59 (2020)
Coverage: Cornell Chronicle, Rockefeller News
Comparative genomics reveals different population structures associated with host and geographic origin in antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella enterica
Liao J, Orsi RH, Carroll LM, Wiedmann M. Environmental Microbiology 22:2811-2828 (2020)
Ångström- and nano-scale pore-based nucleic acid sequencing of current and emergent pathogens
Shepherd AB, Md Tanjil R, Jeong Y, Baloğlu B#, Liao J#, Wang MC#. MRS Advances 5:2889-2906 (2020)
Serotype-specific evolutionary patterns of antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella enterica
Liao J, Orsi RH, Carroll LM, Kovac J, Ou H, Zhang H, Wiedmann M. BMC Ecology and Evolution 19:132 (2019)
Oil contamination and toxicity assessment of soil in main oil fields of China
Huang Y, Wang J, Chen H, Liao J, Huang M. Science Press, Beijing, China (2018)
Genetic stability and evolution of the sigB allele, used for Listeria sensu stricto subtyping and phylogenetic inference
Liao J, Wiedmann M, Kovac J. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 83:e00306-17 (2017)
Coverage: Editors’ Spotlight
Similar community assembly mechanisms underlie similar biogeography of rare and abundant bacteria in lakes on Yungui Plateau, China
Liao J, Cao X, Wang J, Zhao L, Sun J, Jiang D, Huang Y. Limnology Oceanography 62:723-735 (2017)
Bacterioplankton communities response to key environmental variables in plateau freshwater lake ecosystems: a structural equation modeling analysis
Cao X, Wang J, Liao J, Gao Z, Jiang D, Sun J, Zhao L, Huang Y, Luan S. Science of the Total Environment 580:457-467 (2017)
Cyanobacteria in lakes on Yungui Plateau, China are assembled via niche processes driven by water physicochemical property, lake morphology and watershed land-use
Liao J, Zhao L, Cao X, Sun J, Gao Z, Wang J, Jiang D, Fan H, Huang Y. Scientific Reports 6:36357 (2017)
The importance of neutral and niche processes for bacterial community assembly differs between habitat generalists and specialists
Liao J, Cao X, Zhao L, Wang J, Gao Z, Wang MC, Huang Y. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 92:fiw174 (2016)
Oxidative damage of naphthenic acids on the Eisenia fetida earthworm
Wang J, Cao X, Chai L, Liao J, Huang Y, Tang X. Environmental Toxicology 31:1337-1343 (2016)
Long-term oil contamination causes similar changes in microbial communities of two distinct soils
Liao J, Wang J, Jiang D, Wang M, Huang Y. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 99:10299-10310 (2016)
Bacterial community features are shaped by geographic location, physicochemical properties and oil contamination of soil in main oil fields of China
Liao J, Wang J, Huang Y. Microbial Ecology 70:380-389 (2015)
The threshold responses of phytoplankton community to nutrient gradient in a shallow eutrophic lake
Cao X, Wang, J, Liao J, Huang Y, Sun J. Ecological Indicators 61:258-267 (2015)
Carcinogenic potential of PAHs in oil-contaminated soils from the main oil fields across China
Wang J, Cao X, Liao J, Huang Y, Tang X. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 22:10902-10909 (2015)
Abundance and diversity of soil petroleum hydrocarbondegrading microbial communities in oil exploring areas
Yang Y, Wang J, Liao J, Xie S, Huang Y. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 99:1935-1946 (2015)
Quantification and characterization of naphthenic acids in soils from oil exploration areas in China by GC/MS
Wang J, Cao X, Chai L, Liao J, Huang Y, Tang X. Analytical Methods 7:2149-2154 (2015)
Distribution of naphthalene dioxygenase genes in crude oil contaminated soils
Yang Y, Wang J, Liao J, Xie S, Huang Y. Microbial Ecology 68:785-793 (2014)
Global trend in aquatic ecosystem research from 1992 to 2011
Liao J#, Huang Y. Scientometrics 98:1203-1219 (2014)