Education and Qualification
Current position and previous employment
l March 2023-present: Director General, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences;
l Dec 2020-present: Science Director, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences;
l May 2018-Dec 2020: Director for Education and Internationalization, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences;
l Dec 2009-May 2018: Director General, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences;
l October 2007-Dec 2009: Deputy Director General, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences; and from September 2007, Visiting professor, The University of Adelaide, Australia;
l January 2002-October 2007: Head, Department of Soil Environmental Science, Research Centre for Eco-environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (recruited through the “Outstanding Overseas Young Chinese” scheme);
l June 1998-December 2001: Research fellow, Department of Soil and Water, The University of Adelaide;
l March 1994-March 1995: Royal Society Research Fellow, Departments of Agricultural and Environmental Science, and Applied Plant Sciences, The Queen's University of Belfast, UK;
l May 1992-March 1994: Assistant Research Scientist, Department of Plant Nutrition and Molecular Biology, the Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences;
Adjunct/visiting professorships in leading universities
Zhejiang University, China
Nottingham University, UK
The University of Adelaide, Australia
Xiamen University, China
Nanjing University, China
Queen's University Belfast, UK
La Trobe University, Australia
Technical University of Lublin, Poland
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
Service to the discipline:
l Member, Committee of Science Planning, International Science Council (2022-);
l Vice Chair, Commission 3.5 Soil degradation control, remediation and reclamation, International Union of Soil Science, 2002-2006;
l Member, Standing Advisory Group of Nuclear Applications, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) (2004-2012);
l Vice Chair, 4.2 Soils and Food Security and Human Health, Division four, The Role of Soils in Sustaining the Society and the Environment, International Union of Soil Science, 2006-2010
l Scientific Committee Member, ICSU Program Human health and wellbeing in changing urban environment (2012-2014);
l Chairman, Scientific committee, Singapore Peking Oxford Research and Enterprise (SPORE)-National University of Singapore, Peking University and University of Oxford; from 2014;
l Editor-in-Chief, Environmental Technology & Innovation, Elsevier, 2013-2018
l Editor-in-Chief, Environment International, Elsevier, (2019-2022), Associate Editor, (2012-2018), from 2004, editorial board member;
l Associate editor, Environmental Pollution (2008-2012); from 2004, editorial board member, Elsevier;
l Advisory Editorial Board: Trends in Plant Science (2009-), Cell Press;
l Advisor: New Phytologist (2009-), Wiley;
l Editorial Board, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2007-, Springer
l Editorial Board member, Applied and Environmental Microbiology (2011-2013)
l Editorial Board, then section editor and Marschner review editor, Plant & Soil (2000-2010), Springer
l Executive committee member for Soil Science Society of China, Ecological Society of China
l Editor or editorial board member of major Chinese environmental and soil science journals (such as Acta Pedologica Sinica, Acta Ecologica Sinica etc.).
l International board member, International Symposium on Environmental Geochemistry, 2016-2019
l Editorial Board, Journal of Urban Health, from 2017
l Editorial Board, Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, 2017-2019
l International Committee Member and Organizing Committee Chair, 7th International Congress on Arsenic in the Environment (As2018), Beijing, China
Other professional contributions (policy interface)
l Panel members for planning and assessment: Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ministry of Science and Technology, China;
l Twice invited by the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme to co-chair groups to produce documents for setting international standards on arsenic in rice and codes of practice for the prevention and reduction of arsenic contamination in rice;
l Aacademic board member of five state key laboratories in China, such as "Soils and Sustainable Agriculture" and "Soils and Forestry";
l Member, technical committee of the National Soil Pollution Survey program implemented by the Ministry of Environmental Protection;
l Leading author, Towards 2050: Roadmaps of ecology and environmental sciences in China (Chinese Academy of Sciences), 2009
l Co-chairs, World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, discussion groups on methods to mitigate arsenic contamination in rice and documents produced thereafter, 2011; 2013
l China National Committee Member, Future Earth, from 2014;
l Invited panellist at the joint World Health Organization (WHO) and British Embassy China Health Dialogue on “Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance – China’s Role in the Global Response”, March 2015;
l Guest Speaker, Dialogue for the first Global Antibiotic Awareness Week, organized by WHO Beijing Office, November 2015;
l UCL-Nature Sustainability expert panel on science and the future of cities, from 2017
Plenary/Invited talks at major international conferences (selective)
Frequently invited by major universities in China and aboard for seminars and special courses.
Keynote and plenary talks at major International Conferences
1. Zhu YG. Remediation of soils contaminated with radionuclides. International Conference on Environmental Contamination, Toxicology and Health, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, 23-25 September 1998, Hong Kong
2. Zhu YG. Soil-based countermeasures for and remediation of soils contaminated with radionuclides. 5th International Conference on the Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements, 11-15 July 1999, Vienna, Austria
3. Zhu YG, Kong WD, Chen BD, Nan ZB, Christie P. Soil microbial community: understanding the belowground network for sustainable grassland management. 26 June-1 July 2005, XX International Grassland Congress, Dublin, Ireland
4. Zhu YG. Manipulating rhizosphere processes to minimize the risks associated with soil pollution. 26 August-1 September 2007, Rhizosphere 2 International Conference, Montpellier, France
5. Zhu YG. Arsenic dynamics in the rhizosphere of wetland plants: Redox gradients and microbial processes. 26-27 June 2008, 20th New Phytologist Symposium, Aberdeen, UK
6. Zhu YG. Iron dynamics in the rhizosphere of wetland plants: Coupling of microbial and chemical processes. 14th International Symposium on Iron Nutrition and Interactions in Plants. September 11-15 October 2008, Beijing China
7. Zhu YG. Policies of risk assessment and risk management of agri-food in China:
Research experiences and perspectives for heavy metals. International Symposium on “Strategies for Technology Development for Ensuring Agro-Food Safety”, 7-10 July, 2009, Korea
8. Zhu YG. Biogeochemical processes of arsenic in paddy soil.International Symposium of Molecular Environmental Soil Science at the Interfaces in the Earth’s Critical Zone.10-14 October 2009, Hangzhou, China
9. Zhu YG. Managing arsenic in paddy soils to reduce human exposure to arsenic in rice. 17-21 May 2010, The Third International Congress on Arsenic in the Environment, Taiwan
10. Zhu YG. Urbanization in China: Problems and perspectives. 20-23 June 2010, International Urban Environmental Pollution Conference (UEP2010
11. Zhu YG. Reducing arsenic concentrations in rice. 8-9 July 2010, AquaTrain Final Conference, Orleans, France
12. Zhu YG. Microbe-plant interactions and transformations of arsenic and selenium in soils. 10-15 July 2011, Gordon Research Conference on Applied and Environmental Microbiology, South Hadley, MA, USA
13. Zhu YG. The role of silicon in mitigating arsenic accumulation in rice plant. The 5th International Conference on Silicon in Agriculture, 13-17 September 2011, Beijing, China
14. Zhu YG. Mending the broken biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen and phosphorus at the urban-rural interface. International Urban Environmental Pollution Conference, (UEP2012), 17-20 June 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands
15. Zhu YG. Arsenic in soil-rice systems Microbial ecology perspectives. The 4th International Congress on Arsenic in the Environment，22-27 July 2012, Cairns, Australia
16. Zhu YG. Eco-genomics for soil ecological risk assessment. International Conference on Soil Risk Assessment, 6 Dec 2012, Seoul, Korea
17. Zhu YG. Agricultural and environmental benefit of biochar. Sino-German Symposium on Biochar in Agriculture. 14-19 April 2013, Trier, Germany
18. Zhu YG. Future earth in an urbanized China. International Workshop on Future Earth in China, 26-27 September 2013, Beijing, China
19. Zhu YG. Microbial transformation of arsenic in soils and implications for soil remediation. Ecole thématique franco-chinoise-Sino-French training course-AIRECOSOLS 14-18 October, 2013, Nancy, France
20. Zhu YG. Urbanization and human health, Chinese perspectives. The 2nd International Symposium on Environmental Health, 29-30 October 2013, Seoul, Korea
21. Zhu YG. Managing urban biogeochemical processes for sustainable urbanization. International Urban Environmental Pollution Conference (UEP2013, Asian Edition), 17-20 November 2013, Beijing, China
22. Zhu YG. Arsenic biotransformation by model organism：cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp . PCC6803 The 5th International Congress on Arsenic in the Environment 11-16 May 2014 Buenos Aeries, Argentina
23. Zhu YG. (Plenary speaker) Arsenic in food: A global threat to human health. 2014 International Symposium on Environment and Health, 4-5 July 2014 Beijing, China
24. Zhu YG. (Plenary speaker) Global health threat from arsenic in rice:
Problems and Mitigations, CLEAR 2014 2nd International Conference on Contaminated Land, Ecological Assessment and Remediation, 5-8 October, 2014 Chuncheon, Korea
25. Zhu YG. Antibiotic resistance in an urbanizing watershed. 3rd International Symposium on the Environmental Dimension of Antibiotic resistance, 17-21 May, 2015 Wernigerode, Germany
26. Zhu YG. Rhizosphere microbiology interaction research in China and how it is intended to be used to enhance food production. Global Centre for Land-based Innovation (Western Sydney University) Workshop-Harnessing rhizosphere-soil-microbial interactions for increasing farm productivity and resilience of farming systems. 10-11 October 2015, Sydney, Australian
27. Zhu YG. Managing biogeochemical cycling for sustainable urbanization. International Symposium on C-design for urbanization in China and Asia-Pacific Region, 20-23 October 2015, Xiamen, China.
28. Zhu YG. (Plenary speaker) Urbanization and human health: Chinese perspectives. 13th International Conference on Urban Health,.1-4 April 2016, San Francisco, USA
29. Zhu YG. (plenary speaker) Antibiotic resistome in the environmental microbiome. The 2nd International Conference on Environmental Pollution and Human Health, 13-15 June 2016, Guangzhou, China
30. Zhu YG. (plenary speaker) Arsenic biotransformation: from genes to biogeochemical cycling. 6th International Congress on Arsenic in the Environment, 19-24 July 2016, Stockholm, Sweden
31. Zhu YG. (plenary speaker) Environmental antibiotic resistome: Sources and Sink. 2016 International Symposium on Environment and Health, 14-20 August 2016, Galway, Ireland
32. Zhu YG. (plenary speaker) Tracking antibiotic resistance in the environment. 2017 International Symposium on Chemicals Risk Prediction and Management (ISCRPM-2017), 25th April 2017 Hangzhou, China
33. Zhu YG. (plenary speaker) Tracking the antibiotic resistome in the environment. 2017 International Symposium and Annual Meeting of the Korean Society for Applied Biological Chemistry, 15-18 June, 2017 Busan, Korea
34. Zhu YG. (plenary speaker) Urbanization and human health: focusing on the invisible. International Conference on Urban Health, 25-29 September 2017, Coimbra, Portugal
35. Zhu YG. (Keynote) Microbial biogeochemical coupling: the iron wheel. 2nd Global Soil Biodiversity Conference, 15-19 October 2017, Nanjing China
36. Zhu YG. (Keynote) Antibiotic resistome in soil-plant continuum. 2017 International Symposium on Antimicrobial Resistance in the Environment, 30 Nov-3 Dec 2017, Shenzhen, China
37. Zhu YG. (Plenary) Genomics of arsenic biogeochemistry in paddy soils. GeoTrop 2017 8th International Conference on Geochemistry in the Tropics & Sub-Tropics, 9-12 Dec Shenzhen, China
38. Zhu YG. (invited speaker) Tracking the dynamics of antibiotic resistome in the environment: Systems approaches. 2018 Annual Conference Microbiology Society, 10-13 April, Birmingham, UK
39. Zhu YG. (invited speaker) Impacts of long-term rice cultivation on soil microbial diversity: A synthesis. 3rd Conference on Ecology of Soil Microorganisims. 17-21 June 2018, Helsinki, Finland
40. Zhu YG. (invited speaker) Dynamics of antimicrobial resistance in water-soil-plant continuum. 17th ISME, 12-16 August, 2018, Leipzig, Germany
41. Zhu YG. (Plenary speaker) Preserving soil ecosystem services for planetary health. ARC Conference 2018: Resilience and New Leadership in the World. 26-28 Nov, 2018, Seoul, Korea
42. Zhu YG. (invited speaker) Linking soil biota to planetary health. 3rd International Conference on Soil Security and Planetary Health 4-6 Decmber 2018, Sydney, Australia
43. Zhu YG. (Plenary speaker) Managing urban biogeochemistry for sustainable waste management. E2S2 CREATE and AIChE Waste Management Conference 12 March 2019, Singapore
44. Zhu YG. (Plenary speaker) The “gut feeling” of arsenic contamination. The 15th International Conference on the Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements (ICOBTE2019) 5-9 May 2019, Nanjing, China
45. Zhu YG. (Plenary speaker) Ecosystem view of AMR. Sino-Finnish Seminar on Environmental Dimension of Antimicrobial Resistance 24-27 May 2019, Finland
46. Zhu YG. (Plenary speaker) Pollution and solution of antibiotic resistance genes at large scale. 5th International Symposium on the Environmental Dimension of Antibiotic Resistance (EDAR2019) 12-14 June 2019, Hong Kong, China.
47. Zhu YG. (Plenary speaker) Urban-rural symbiosis for sustainable organic waste management. The 3rd International Conference on Bioresources, Energy, Environment, and Materials Technology 2019 (BEEM 2019) 12-15 June 2019, Hong Kong, China
48. Zhu YG. (Plenary speaker) Antibiotic resistance in livestock system. The 19th International Symposium of the World Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (ISWAVLD2019) 19-22 June 2019, Chai Mai, Thailand
49. Zhu YG. (Plenary speaker) The microbial engine driving biogeochemistry in the Anthropocene. China-Germany (CAS-Max Plank) 10th Exploratory Round Table Conference - Ecological Environment 27-29 Nov 2019, Shanghai, China
50. Zhu YG. (Plenary speaker) Biofilm/microbiome on anthropogenic surfaces: An emerging environmental issue. The 11th International Conference Interfaces Against Pollution ( IAP2021) 14-17 May 2021, Wuhan, China (online)
51. Zhu YG. (Plenary speaker) Arsenic biotransformation in the gut of soil fauna. 8th International Congress and Exhibition on Arsenic in the Environment (As2021) 7-9 June 2021, Wageningen, The Netherlands (online)
52. Zhu YG. (Plenary speaker) Antimicrobial resistance in the ecosystem: Some recent advances. MICROBIOTEC’21 23-26 Nov 2021, Lisbon, Portugal, (online)
53. ZhuYG. (invited speaker) Antimicrobial resistance in the plastisphere. 6th International Symposium on the Environmental Dimensions of Antibiotic Resistance (EDAR6), 22-27 September, Gothenburg, Sweden.
International conference chairs (partial listing)
1. International Workshop on Soil-Plant Interactions, 28-30 October, Beijing China
2. 3rd Conference on Soil Contamination in Australiasian-Pacific Region (SCRAP), 16-20 November 2003, Beijing China
3. 9th International Conference on the Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements, 16-19 July 2007, Beijing China
4. International Workshop on the Environmental Dimension of Antibiotics Resistance, 5-8 December, 2013, Xiamen China
5. 2016 International Symposium on Environment and Health, 14-20 August 2016, Galway, Ireland
6. Sino-UK Workshop on Environmental Antimicrobial Resistance, 31 October-3 Nov 2016, Jiaxing, China
7. 2nd Global Soil Biodiversity Conference, 15-19 October 2017
Special issues edited for international journals
Plant and Soil
Volume 261, Issue 1-2, April 2004, edited by Yong-Guan Zhu and F Andrew Smith
Volume 326, Issue 1-2 January 2010, Soil-plant interactions and sustainability of eco-agriculture in arid region: a crucially important topic to address, edited by Yongchao Liang, Yong-Guan Zhu, F. Andrew Smith, Hans Lambers
Environment International
Environmental Pollution
Environmental Science & pollution Research
Vol 19, Number 5, June 2012, Urbanization in China and its Environmental Impact, edited by Yong-Guan Zhu
FEMS Microbiology Ecology
Vol 70, number 2, Nov 2009, Chinese Microbial Ecology, edited by Jame I Prosser, Jizheng He and Yongguan Zhu
Environmental soil science, environmental microbiology & biogeochemistry
Full publication list can be viewed:
https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/A-1412-2009
Total citation >76,000, with an H-index of 139 in Web of Science (GS citation >114,000 , with an H-index of 178).
Selected Publications:
1. Li, C.; Liu, J.; Rillig, M. C.; Bank, M. S.; Fantke, P.; Zhu, D.; Zhu, Y.-G.; Jin, L. N.* What harmful microbes are lurking in the world’s 7 billion tonnes of plastic waste? Nature 2024, 634 (8032), 30–32.
2. Chen, S. C.; Musat, N.; Lechtenfeld, O. J.; Paschke, H.; Schmidt, M.; Said, N.; Popp, D.; Calabrese, F.; Stryhanyuk, H.; Jaekel, U.; Zhu, Y.-G.; Joye, S. B.; Richnow, H. H.; Widdel, F.; Musat, F.* Anaerobic oxidation of ethane by archaea from a marine hydrocarbon seep. Nature 2019, 568 (7750), 108–111.
3. Hou, D.*; Jia, X.; Wang, L.; McGrath, S. P.; Zhu, Y.-G.; Hu, Q.; Zhao, F.-J.; Bank, M. S.; O’Connor, D.; Nriagu, J. Global soil pollution by toxic metals threatens agriculture and human health. Science 2025, 388 (6744), 316–321.
4. Guo, D.; Liu, Z.; Raaijmakers, J. M.; Xu, Y.; Yang, J.; Erb, M.; Zhang, J.; Zhu, Y.-G.; Xu, J.*; Hu, L.* Linalool-triggered plant-soil feedback drives defense adaptation in dense maize plantings. Science 2025, 389 (6761), eadv6675.
5. Yang, Y.; Tilman, D.*; Jin, Z.*; Smith, P.; Barrett, C. B.*; Zhu, Y.-G.; Burney, J.; D’Odorico, P.; Fantke, P.; Fargione, J.; Finlay, J. C.; Rulli, M. C.; Sloat, L.; van Groenigen, K. J.; West, P. C.; Ziska, L.; Michalak, A. M.; Clim-Ag Team; Lobell, D. B.* Climate change exacerbates the environmental impacts of agriculture. Science 2024, 385 (6713), eadn3747.
6. Zhu, L.; Yang, Y.; Xu, F.; Lu, X.; Shuai, M.; An, Z.; Chen, X.; Li, H.; Martin, F. L.; Vikesland, P. J.; Ren, B.; Tian, Z.-Q.; Zhu, Y.-G.*; Cui, L.* Open-set deep learning–enabled single-cell Raman spectroscopy for rapid identification of airborne pathogens in real-world environments. Sci. Adv. 2025, 11 (2), eadp7991.
7. Rillig, M. C.*; Kim, S. W.; Zhu, Y.-G. The soil plastisphere. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 2024, 22, 64–74.
8. Zhu, G.*; Shi, H.; Zhong, L.; He, G.; Wang, B.; Shan, J.; Han, P.; Liu, T.; Wang, S.; Liu, C.; Zhang, N.; Jiang, L.; Yu, L.; Zhan, C.; Tang, Z.; Wen, T.; Ma, B.; Su, X.; Zhang, S.; Zhang, J.; Di, H.; Hou, L.; Krichels, A. H.; Trimmer, M.; Jetten, M. S. M.; Peng, Y.; Löffler, F. E.; Tian, H.; Zhu, Y.-G.* Nitrous oxide sources, mechanisms and mitigation. Nat. Rev. Earth Environ. 2025, 6, 574–592.
9. Chan, F. K. S.*; Paszkowski, A.*; Wang, Z.*; Lu, X.*; Mitchell, G.; Tran, D. D.; Warner, J.; Li, J.; Chen, Y. D.; Li, N.; Pal, I.; Griffiths, J.; Chen, J.; Chen, W.-Q.; Zhu, Y.-G. Building resilience in Asian mega-deltas. Nat. Rev. Earth Environ. 2024, 5, 522–537.
10. Hou, D.*; Al-Tabbaa, A.; O’Connor, D.; Hu, Q.; Zhu, Y.-G.; Wang, L.; Kirkwood, N.; Ok, Y. S.; Tsang, D. C. W.; Bolan, N. S.; Rinklebe, J. Sustainable remediation and redevelopment of brownfield sites. Nat. Rev. Earth Environ. 2023, 4, 271–286.
11. Xiao, K.-Q.*; Zhao, Y.; Liang, C.; Zhao, M.; Moore, O. W.; Otero-Fariña, A.; Zhu, Y.-G.*; Johnson, K.; Peacock, C. L. Introducing the soil mineral carbon pump. Nat. Rev. Earth Environ. 2023, 4, 135–136.
12. Zhu, Y.-G.*; Zhao, Y.; Li, B.; Huang, C.-L.; Zhang, S.-Y.; Yu, S.; Chen, Y.-S.; Zhang, T.; Gillings, M. R.; Su, J.-Q.* Continental-scale pollution of estuaries with antibiotic resistance genes. Nat. Microbiol. 2017, 2, 16270.
13. Zhu, Y.-G.*; Gillings, M.*; Simonet, P.; Stekel, D.; Banwart, S.; Peñuelas, J. Microbial mass movements. Science 2017, 357 (6356), 1099–1100.
14. Lin, D.; Du, S.; Zhao, Z.; Zhang, T.; Wang, L.; Zhang, Q.; Zhou, S.-Y.-D.*; Graham, D. W.; Tissue, D. T.; Zhu, D.*; Zhu, Y.-G.; Peñuelas, J.; Reich, P. B. Climate warming fuels the global antibiotic resistome by altering soil bacterial traits. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 2025, 9, 1512–1526.
15. Liu, Y.-R.*; Wen, S.; Singh, B. K.; Zhang, W.; Liu, Z.; Hao, X.; Hao, Y.-Y.; Delgado-Baquerizo, M.; Tan, W.; Huang, Q.; Rillig, M. C.; Zhu, Y.-G. Vulnerability of soil food webs to chemical pollution and climate change. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 2025, 9, 1112–1119.
16. Ma, B.; Wang, Y.; Zhao, K.; Stirling, E.; Lv, X.; Yu, Y.; Hu, L.; Tang, C.; Wu, C.; Dong, B.; Xue, R.; Dahlgren, R. A.; Tan, X.; Dai, H.; Zhu, Y.-G.; Chu, H.; Xu, J.* Biogeographic patterns and drivers of soil viromes. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 2024, 8, 717–728.
17. Liao, Y.; Zhang, L.-M.; Xu, D.; Cao, Q.; Wang, H.; Fang, P.; Zhu, Y.-G.*; Cao, Y.* Stable foliar colonization of nanocoated nitrogen-fixing bacteria enhances crop nitrogen supply. Nat. Food 2026, 7, 55–65.
18. Xiang, Q.; Yang, K.; Cui, L.; Sun, A.-Q.; Lu, C.-Y.; Gao, J.-Q.; Hao, Y.-L.; Ma, B.; Hu, H.-W.; Singh, B. K.; Chen, Q.-L.*; Zhu, Y.-G. Global exploration of drought-tolerant bacteria in the wheat rhizosphere reveals microbiota shifts and functional taxa enhancing plant resilience. Nat. Food 2025, 6, 1054–1067.
19. Xu, J.*; Ren, C.; Zhang, X.; Wang, C.; Wang, S.; Ma, B.; He, Y.; Hu, L.; Liu, X.; Zhang, F.; Lu, L.; Li, S.; Zhang, J.; Zhu, Y.-G.; Vitousek, P.; Gu, B.* Soil health contributes to variations in crop production and nitrogen use efficiency. Nat. Food 2025, 6, 597–609.
20. Li, H.-Z.; Peng, J.; Yang, K.; Zhang, Y.; Chen, Q.-L.; Zhu, Y.-G.*; Cui, L.* Single-cell exploration of active phosphate-solubilizing bacteria across diverse soil matrices for sustainable phosphorus management. Nat. Food 2024, 5, 673–683.
21. Deng, O.; Ran, J.; Huang, S.; Duan, J.; Reis, S.; Zhang, J.; Zhu, Y.-G.; Xu, J.; Gu, B.* Managing fragmented croplands for environmental and economic benefits in China. Nat. Food 2024, 5, 230–240.
22. Yang, Y.; Jin, Z.*; Mueller, N. D.*; Driscoll, A. W.; Hernandez, R. R.; Grodsky, S. M.; Sloat, L. L.; Chester, M. V.; Zhu, Y.-G.; Lobell, D. B. Sustainable irrigation and climate feedbacks. Nat. Food 2023, 4, 654–663.
23. Chen, Q.-L.; Hu, H.-W.*; He, Z.-Y.; Cui, L.; Zhu, Y.-G.; He, J.-Z.* Potential of indigenous crop microbiomes for sustainable agriculture. Nat. Food 2021, 2, 233–240.
24. Wang, H.; Wang, P.; Zhang, X.; Chen, W.-Q.*; Tzachor, A.*; Fishman, T.; Schandl, H.; Acuto, M.; Yang, Y.; Lu, Y.; Böcher, C.; Ma, F.; Zhang, C.; Yue, Q.; Du, T.; Liu, J.*; Zhu, Y.-G. Substantial increase in China’s manufactured sand supply since 2010. Nat. Geosci. 2024, 17, 833–836.
25. Shi, L.-D.; Guo, T.; Lv, P.-L.; Niu, Z.-F.; Zhou, Y.-J.; Tang, X.-J.*; Zheng, P.; Zhu, L.-Z.; Zhu, Y.-G.; Kappler, A.; Zhao, H.-P.* Coupled anaerobic methane oxidation and reductive arsenic mobilization in wetland soils. Nat. Geosci. 2020, 13, 799–805.
26. Duan, G.-L.; Hu, Y.; Schneider, S.; McDermott, J.; Chen, J.; Sauer, N.; Rosen, B. P.; Daus, B.; Liu, Z.*; Zhu, Y.-G.* Inositol transporters AtINT2 and AtINT4 regulate arsenic accumulation in Arabidopsis seeds. Nat. Plants 2016, 2, 15202.
27. Morais, C. L. M.*; Paraskevaidi, M.*; Cui, L.; Fullwood, N. J.; Isabelle, M.; Lima, K. M. G.; Martin-Hirsch, P. L.; Sreedhar, H.; Trevisan, J.; Walsh, M. J.; Zhang, D.; Zhu, Y.-G.; Martin, F. L.* Standardization of complex biologically derived spectrochemical datasets. Nat. Protoc. 2019, 14, 1546–1577.
28. Sun, X.*; Robinson, J. M.*; Delgado-Baquerizo, M.; Potapov, A.; Yao, H.; Zhu, B.; Tiunov, A. V.; Zhang, L.; Chan, F. K. S.; Chang, S. X.; Breed, M. F.; Eisenhauer, N.; Scheu, S.; Li, Z.*; Zhu, Y.-G. Unforeseen high continental-scale soil microbiome homogenization in urban greenspaces. Nat. Cities 2025, 2, 759–769.
29. Yang, R.; Xu, C.; Zhang, H.; Wang, Z.; Pradhan, P.; Lian, X.; Jiao, L.; Bai, X.*; Cui, S.; Hu, Y.*; Zhu, Y.-G. Urban rooftops for food and energy in China. Nat. Cities 2024, 1, 741–750.
30. Li, L.; Li, B.; Yin, X.; Xia, Y.; Yang, Y.; Xu, X.; Lam, T. T.-Y.; Leung, K. M. Y.; Xu, F.; Zhang, X.; Guo, J.; Schmitt, H.; Wright, G. D.; Midega, J.; Bezuidenhout, C.; Picão, R. C.; Ahammad, S. Z.; Smalla, K.; Djordjevic, S. P.; Pruden, A.; Vikesland, P.; Frigon, D.; Walsh, F.; Berendonk, T. U.; Corno, G.; Fatta-Kassinos, D.; Cha, C.-J.; Ashbolt, N.; Ying, G.; Luo, Y.; Wang, Y.; Shen, J.; Zhang, Y.; Yang, M.; Li, X.; Hu, B.; Zhu, L.; Wu, Y.; Tang, S.; Kan, B.; Zhu, Y.-G.; Smets, B. F.; Graham, D.; Honda, R.; Cytryn, E.; Donner, E.; Nielsen, P. H.; van Loosdrecht, M.; Gillings, M. R.; Gaze, W.; Manaia, C. M.; Alvarez, P. J. J.; Blaser, M. J.; Topp, E.; Zhang, T.* Assessing antimicrobial resistance connectivity across One Health sectors. Nat. Water 2025, 3, 1100–1113.
31. Li, R.; An, X.-L.; Wang, Y.; Yang, Z.; Su, J.-Q.; Cooper, J.; Zhu, Y.-G.* Viral metagenome reveals microbial hosts and the associated antibiotic resistome on microplastics. Nat. Water 2024, 2, 553–565.
32. Zhang, Q.; Chen, B.; Zhang, Z.; Yu, Y.; Jin, M.; Lu, T.; Zhang, Z.; Pang, Q.; Xu, N.; Sun, J.; Chen, J.; Wang, J.; Zhu, D.*; Qian, H.*; Peñuelas, J.; Zhu, Y.-G. Cobamide-producing microbes as a model for understanding general nutritional interdependencies in soil food webs. Nat. Commun. 2026.
33. Chen, X.-P.; Zhu, D.*; Liu, S.-Y.; Sun, M.-M.; Ye, M.; Wang, L.; Lin, D.; Zhang, T.-L.; Rillig, M. C.; Zhu, Y.-G.* Unique plastisphere viromes with habitat-dependent potential for modulating global methane cycle. Nat. Commun. 2025, 16, 8098.
34. Ma, F.; Wang, H.*; Tzachor, A.*; Hidalgo, C. A.; Schandl, H.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, J.; Chen, W.-Q.*; Zhao, Y.; Zhu, Y.-G.; Fu, B. The disparities and development trajectories of nations in achieving the sustainable development goals. Nat. Commun. 2025, 16, 1107.
35. Pang, Z.; de Tombeur, F.; Hartley, S. E.; Zohner, C. M.; Nikolic, M.; Violle, C.; Mo, L.; Crowther, T. W.; Guan, D.-X.; Luo, Z.; Zhu, Y.-G.; Wang, Y.; Zhang, P.; Peng, H.; Strömberg, C. A. E.; Nikolic, N.*; Liang, Y.* Convergent evidence for the temperature-dependent emergence of silicification in terrestrial plants. Nat. Commun. 2025, 16, 1155.
36. Li, Z.; Wei, T.; He, L.; Qian, H.; Zhu, Y.-G.; Wang, Y.* Genomic potential for mercury biotransformation in marine sediments across marginal slope to hadal zone. Nat. Commun. 2025, 16, 8655.
37. Wang, Y.-F.; Liu, Y.-J.; Fu, Y.-M.; Xu, J.-Y.; Zhang, T.-L.; Cui, H.-L.; Qiao, M.; Rillig, M. C.; Zhu, Y.-G.; Zhu, D.* Microplastic diversity increases the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes in soil. Nat. Commun. 2024, 15, 9788.
38. Liao, H.; Liu, C.; Zhou, S.*; Liu, C.; Eldridge, D. J.; Ai, C.; Wilhelm, S. W.; Singh, B. K.; Liang, X.; Radosevich, M.; Yang, Q.-E.; Tang, X.; Wei, Z.; Friman, V.-P.; Gillings, M.; Delgado-Baquerizo, M.*; Zhu, Y.-G.* Prophage-encoded antibiotic resistance genes are enriched in human-impacted environments. Nat. Commun. 2024, 15, 8315.
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1. Biogeochemistry of trace elements: environmental protection, remediation and human health. Tsinghua University Press, Beijing China, 2007 (eds YG Zhu, N Lepp, R Naidu)
2. Environmental Soil Science, Science Press, Beijing China, 2011 (Deputy Editor-in-Chief)
3. Arsenic in agricultural environment and potential human health risk, Science Press, Beijing China 2013 (First author, together with students and postdocs)
4. Advancing health and wellbeing in the changing urban environment, Springer and Zhejiang University Press, 2016 (Franz W Gatzweiler and Y-G Zhu et al.)
CAS Key program of knowledge innovation : (kzcx1-yw-06 ) “Development of technologies for environmental pollution control and demonstration in Beijing-Tianjin region”, total award amount: RMB 5,600,000, start date 01/01/2007, end date 12/31/2010,
The Ministry of Science and Technology 973 Program: (2007CB407300) “Formation, ecotoxicological effect and remediation of combined pollution in Beijing, Tianjin and Bohai Bay Region.” total award amount : RMB1,000,000, start date: 2007-05-01, ？end date: 2011-08-31
NSFC Key international cooperation program: (20720102042) “Studies on the mechanisms of the interactions between persistent toxic substances at soil/plant root interfaces”, total award amount: RMB1,000,000, start date 01/01/2008, end date 12/31/2010,
BBSRC: (BB/F004184/1) “ Characterizing genetic & soil induced variation in arsenic uptake, translocation & metabolism in rice to facilitate mitigation of arsenic contamination in Asia & Sub-Saharan Africa”. total award amount :￡23,000, start date 01/01/2008, end date 12/31/2010,
NSFC Program: (40671102) “Microbiological processes in iron plaque formation on the rice root surface and mechanisms involved”, total award amount: RMB 450,000, start date 01/01/2007, end date 12/31/2009,
EPFL DDC Program “Relevance of arsenic complexed with organic matter in Chinese groundwater” total award amount: CHF 154,900, start date 2009, end date 2012,
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