I. Representative Papers in Environmental Microbiology:

1. Zhou X Q, Chen K H, Yu R Q, Yang M, Liu Q, Hao Y Y, Li J, Liu H W, Feng J, Tan W, Huang Q, Gu B., Liu Y R. 2025. Unraveling microbial potential to mitigate neurotoxic methylmercury accumulation in farmlands and rice. Nature Communications 16: 5102. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60458-1.

2. Zhong H, Tang W, Li Z, Sonne C, Lam S S, Zhang X, Kwon S Y, Rinklebe J, Nunes L M, Yu R Q, Gu B, Hintelmann H, Tsui M T K, Zhao J, Zhou X Q, Wu M, Liu B, Hao Y, Chen L, Zhang B, Tan W, Zhang X X, Ren H, Liu Y R. 2024. Soil Geobacteraceae are the key predictors of neurotoxic methylmercury bioaccumulation in rice. Nature Food (11 April 2024): 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-024-00954-7.

3. Li C, Yu R Q, Ning W, Zhong H, Sonne C. 2024. Embracing digital mindsets to ensure a sustainable future. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering 18(3): 39.

4. Purcell M, DuPont J, Somenahally A, McLawrence J F, Case C L, Gowda P, King N, Rouquette M J, Yu R Q. 2024. Long-term grazing and nitrogen management impacted methane emission potential and soil microbial community in grazing pastures. Environment & Health.  DOI: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/envhealth.4c00138.

5. Lei P, Yu R Q, Kong Y, Bertilsson S, Tsui M T K, Jiang T, Zhao J, Liu Y R, Jörg R, Zhong H. 2023. Properly interpret metabolic inhibition results to identify primary mercury methylating microbes. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology 53(19):  1757-1773.

6. Yu R Q, Barkay T. 2022. Microbial mercury transformation: Molecules, functions and organisms. Advances in Applied Microbiology 118: 31-90. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.aambs.2022.03.001. 

7. Yu R Q, Kurt Z, He F, Spain J C. 2019. Degradation of the allelopathic chemical pterostilbene by a Sphingobium sp. strain from the peanut rhizosphere. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 85 (5): e02154-18. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.02154-18.

8. Yu R Q, Reinfelder J, Hines M E, Barkay T. 2018. Syntrophic pathways for the methylation of mercury. The ISME Journal 12:1826–1835 . doi:10.1038/s41396-018-0106-0. Read the paper online (http://rdcu.be/J7EL). 

9. Boyd E S, Yu R Q, Barkay T, Hamilton T L, Baxter B K, Naftz D L, and Marvin-DiPasquale M. 2017. Effect of salinity on Hg  methylating benthic microbes and their activities in Great Salt Lake, Utah. Science of the Total Environment 581-582: 495-506.

10. He H, Li W C, Yu R Q, Ye Z. 2017. Illumina-based analysis of bulk and rhizosphere soil bacterial communities in paddy fields under mixed heavy metal contamination. Pedosphere. 27(3): 569-578.

11. Ha J, Zhao X, Yu R Q, Barkay T, Yee N. 2017. Hg(II) reduction by siderite (FeCO3). Applied Geochemistry 78: 211-218.

12. Graham EB, Knelman JE, Schindlbacher A, Siciliano S, Breulmann M, Yannarell A, Beman J, Abell G, Philippot L, Prosser J, Foulquier A, Yuste J, Glanville H, Jones D, Angel R, Salminen J, Newton RJ, Bürgmann H, Ingram LJ, Hamer U, Siljanen HM, Peltoniemi K, Potthast K, Bañeras L, Hartmann M, Banerjee S, Yu R Q, Nogaro G, Richter A, Koranda M, Castle S, Goberna M, Song B, Chatterjee A, Nunes OC, Lopes AR, Cao Y, Kaisermann A, Hallin S, Strickland MS, Garcia-pausas J, Barba J, Kang H, Isobe K, Papaspyrou S, Pastorelli R, Lagomarsino A, Lindström E, Basiliko N and Nemergut DR. 2016. Microbes as engines of ecosystem function: when does community structure enhance predictions of ecosystem processes?. Frontiers in Microbiololgy 7:214. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2016.00214.

13. Cabral L, Yu R Q,  Crane S, Giovanella P, Barkay T, Camargo F A. 2016. Methylmercury degradation by Pseudomonas putida V1. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 130: 37-42.

14.  Liu Y R, Yu R Q, Zheng Y M et al. 2014. Diversity of Hg methylation gene (hgcA) in paddy soils along an Hg gradient. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 80 (9): 2874-2879. (PDF)

15. Yu R Q, Reinfelder J, Hines M E, Barkay T. 2013. Mercury methylation by the methanogen Methanospirillum hungatei. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 79 (20): 6325-6330. (PDF)

16. Yu R Q, Flanders J R, Mack E E, Turner R, Mirza M B, and Barkay T. 2012. Contribution of coexisting sulfate and iron reducing bacteria to methylmercury production in freshwater river sediments. Environmental Science and Technology 46: 2684-2691. (PDF)

17. Yu R Q, Adatto I, Montesdeoca M R, Driscoll C T, Hines M E, and Barkay T. 2010. Mercury methylation in Sphagnum moss mats and its association with sulfate-reducing bacteria in an acidic Adirondack forest lake wetland. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 74: 655-668. (PDF)

18. Yu R Q, Wang W-X. 2004. Biological uptake of Cd, Se(IV), and Zn in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in response to phosphate and nitrate additions. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 35: 163-173. (PDF)

19. Yu R Q, Wang W-X. 2004. Biokinetics of trace elements in a freshwater alga and Daphnia magna under different phosphorus and nitrogen conditions. Environmental Pollution 129: 443-456.

20. Liu Y, Yu R Q, and Chen G Z. 2001. Abundance and biomass of diatom in mangrove areas and its relationship with benthos. Marine Environmental Science 20(3): 24-28.   

21. Yu R Q, Liu Y H, Huang R M. 1998. Microbial degradation of organophosphorus pesticide (Dimethoate). In: Chen X G et al (eds.), Environmental Science Research and Application. Chinese Environment Science Press. Peking. 101-103.

II. Aquatic and Marine Ecotoxicology:

22. Liu F, Xie Q, Yu R Q, Xie Z, Wu J, Zhang X, Wu Y. 2023. Fatty acids as bioindicators of organohalogen exposure in marine fish from a highly polluted estuary: First insight into small-scale regional differences. Journal of Hazardous Materials 452: 131337. 

23. Zhang X, Luo D, Yu R Q, Wu Y. 2023. Multilocus DNA metabarcoding diet analyses of small cetaceans: a case study on highly vulnerable humpback dolphins and finless porpoises from the Pearl River Estuary, China. Integrative Zoology 18(1): 183-198.

24. Zhang X, Xie Q, Yu R Q, Wu Y. 2022. Temporal trends of alternative halogenated flame retardants in humpback dolphins from the South China Sea. Environmental Science & Technology 56(8): 5037-5048. 

25. Guo Y, Yu R Q, Zhang L, Liang Y, Liu Z, Sun X, Wu Y. 2022. Cross-generational impacts of diet shift on bisphenol analogue loads in Indo-Pacific Humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis). Environmental Science & Technology 56(15): 10764-10774.

26. Zhang X, Yu R, Xie Y, Yu R Q, Wu Y. 2022. Organotins remain a serious threat to the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins in the Pearl River Estuary. Environmental Science & Technology 56(18): 13046-13057.

27. Guo L, Luo D, Yu R Q, Zeng C, Huang N, Wang H, Wu Y. 2022. Habitat decline of the largest known Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) population in poorly protected areas associated with the the hypoxic zone. Frontiers in Marine Science.    https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.1048959/full.

28. Xie Q, Yu R Q, Yu R, Zhang X, Wu Y. 2021. Historic changes of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in juvenile and adult cetaceans from the Pearl River Estuary from 2003 to 2020. Science of The Total Environment 800: 149512. 

29. Guo L, Zhang X, Luo D, Yu R Q, Xie Q, Wu Y. 2021. Population-level effects of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) exposure on highly vulnerable Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins from their largest habitat. Environmental Pollution 286 (1): 117544. 

30.  Zhang X, Zhan F, Yu R Q, Sun X, Wu Y. 2021. Bioaccumulation of legacy organic contaminants in pregnant indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis): Unique features on the transplacental transfer. Science of the Total Environment 785: 147287. 

31. Zhang X, Luo D, Yu R Q, Xie Z, He L, Wu Y. 2021. Microplastics in the endangered Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis) from the Pearl River Estuary, China. Environmental Pollution 270: 116057. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.116057. 

32. Sun X, Zhan F, Yu R Q, Chen L, Wu Y. 2020. Bioaccumulation of organic contaminants in Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins: Preliminary unique features of the brain and testes. Environmental Pollution 267: 115511.

33.  Zhang X, Ning X, He X, Sun X, Yu X, Cheng Y, Yu R Q*, Wu Y*. 2020. Fatty acid composition analyses of commercially important fish species from the Pearl River Estuary, China. Plos One 15 (1), e0228276. 

34. Yu X, Yu R Q, Zhang X, Zhan F, Sun X, Wu Y. 2019. DDT exposure induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of skin fibroblasts from Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin via mitochondria dysfunction. Aquatic Toxicology 213: 105229. 

35. Zhang X, Yu R Q, Lin W, Gui D, Sun X, Yu X, Guo L, Cheng Y, Ren H, Wu Y. 2019. Stable isotope analyses reveal anthropogenically driven spatial and trophic changes to Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins in the Pearl River Estuary, China. Science of the Total Environment 651: 1029-1037.

36. Yu X, Yu R Q, Gui D, Zhang X, Zhan F, Sun X, Wu Y. 2018. Hexavalent chromium induces oxidative stress and mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in isolated skin fibroblasts of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin. Aquatic Toxicology 203: 179-186.

37. Zhang X, Lin W,  Yu R Q, Sun X, Ding Y, Chen H,  Chen X, Wu Y. 2017. Tissue partition and risk assessments of trace elements in Indo-Pacific Finless Porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides) from the Pearl River Estuary coast, China. Chemosphere 185: 1197-1207.

38. Sun X, Yu R Q, Zhang M, Ding Y, Wu Y. 2017. Correlation of trace element concentrations between epidermis and internal organ tissues in Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis). Science of the Total Environment 605-606: 238-245.

39.  Gui D, Yu R Q, Ding Y, Zhang H, Sun Y, Zhang M, and Wu Y. 2017. Spatial-temporal trends of heavy metals in Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis) from the western Pearl River Estuary, China. Environmental Science and Technology 51(3): 1848-1858.  

40. Gui D, Karczmarski L, Yu R Q, Plön S, Chen L, Tu Q, Cliff G and Wu P. 2016. Profiling and spatial variation analysis of persistent organic pollutants in South African delphinids. Environmental Science and Technology 50: 4008-4017.

41.  Gui D, Yu R Q, Sun Y et al. 2014. Mercury and selenium in stranded Indo-Pacific Humpback dolphins and implications for their trophic transfer by food chains. Plos One 9(10): e110336. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0110336.

42.  Gui D, Yu R Q, He X et al. 2014. Bioaccumulation and biomagnification of persistent organic pollutants in Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis) from the Pearl River estuary, China. Chemosphere114: 106-113.

43. Yu R Q, Fleeger J W. 2006. The effects of nutrient enrichment, depuration substrate and body size on the trophic transfer of cadmium associated with microalgae to the benthic amphipod Leptocheirus plumulosus. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 25 (11): 3065-3072. (PDF)

44. Yu R Q, Wang W-X. 2002. Kinetic uptake of bioavailable metals by Daphnia magna. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 21(11): 2348-2355. (PDF)

45. Yu R Q, Wang W-X. 2002. Trace metal assimilation and release budget in Daphnia magna.  Limnology and Oceanography 47(2): 495-504. (PDF)

             (Full published papers with citation: Google Scholar)