Prof. Qian is David von Hansemann Professor of Science and Chair Professor in Division of Life Science. He received his Ph.D. In Zoology from University of Alberta in 1991 and was a Killiam Postdoctoral Fellow in University of British Columbia before he joined the Department of Biology as an assistant professor in January of 1993. He received a State Natural Science Award of the State Council of China in 2016 for his work on interaction between settling larvae of marine invertebrates and marine biofilm under changing environment.

Research Question

Marine molecular ecology

His current research projects are aimed at elucidating the complexity of microbial community dynamics (microbial molecular ecology) and chemical signals (marine natural products) of biofilms for larval settlement induction/inhibition and molecular mechanisms of larval response to chemical signals (larval omics). Recently, he is also studying the molecular mechanisms of biological adaptation of mairne animals in deep-sea and ocean trenches.

Representative Publications

1. Li YX, Zhong Z, Zhang WP, Qian PY*. 2018. Discovery of cationic nonribosomal peptides as gram-negative antibiotics through global genome mining. Nat Communi 9: 3273.
2. Li YX, Zhong Z, Hou P, Zhang WP, Qian PY*. A widespread D-stereospecific resistance of nonribosomal peptide antibiotics. Nat Chem Biol 14: 381-388
3. Sun J, Zhang Y, Xu T, Zhang Y, Mu HW, Zhang YJ, Lan Y, Fields CJ, Hui JHL, Zhang WP, Li RS, Nong WY, Cheung FKM, Qiu JW*, Qian P-Y*. 2017. Adaptation to deep-sea chemosynthetic environments as revealed by mussel genomes.  Nat Ecol Evol 1: 0121 .
4. Li ZR, Li J, Gu JP, Lai JY, Duggan BM, Zhang W P, Li ZL, Li YX, Tong RB, Xu Y, Lin DH, Moore B, Qian PY*. 2016. Divergent biosynthesis yields a cytotoxic aminomalonate-containing precolibactin. Nat  Chem Biol 12, 773–775.
5. Zhang WP, Sun J, Cao HL, Tian RM, Cai L, Ding W, Qian P-Y*. 2016. Post-translational modifications are enriched within protein functional groups important to bacterial adaptation within a deep-sea hydrothermal vent environment.  Microbiome 4: 49.

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