Research Group Link: https://www.x-mol.com/groups/viromics

Education Background

2017: Ph.D. in Environmental Microbiology, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong

2010: B.S. in Biology (National Base for Biological Sciences Talent Training), College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University

Professional Experience

2025 – Present: Distinguished Professor, Environmental Viromics, Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University

2024 – 2025: "Hundred Talents Program" Associate Professor, Environmental Viromics, Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University

2023 – 2024: Research Assistant Professor, Environmental Microbiome and Viromics, Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

2019 – 2022: Postdoctoral Researcher, Environmental Microbiome and Viromics, Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

2017 – 2018: Postdoctoral Researcher, Microbial Ecology and Evolution, School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Research Interests

Professor Zhichao Zhou’s research focuses on environmental viromics and giant virus biology, with a long-term commitment to deciphering virus-driven ecological processes and their underlying mechanisms in global carbon, nitrogen and sulfur cycles, as well as microbial evolution. His specific research areas include:

1.Microbial (virus)-driven biogeochemical cycling: He deciphered novel carbon metabolic strategies, community metabolic patterns and environmental adaptation mechanisms of deep-sea hydrothermal Proteobacteria and Archaea (The ISME Journal 2020a,b; mSystems 2020); elucidated the sulfur oxidation-dominated energy metabolism process, the functional construction and evolutionary mechanism of communities in hydrothermal systems, and estimated the viral auxiliary sulfur metabolic functions (The ISME Journal 2023; Nature Communications 2021); and developed bioinformatic tools for viral and microbial omics analysis (METABOLIC, VIBRANT, ViWrap) (Microbiome 2020, 2022; iMeta 2023).

2.Mechanisms of viral ecology and evolution: He provided a comprehensive review of the global metabolic network and ecological functions of sulfur cycling mediated by microorganisms and viruses (Nature Reviews Microbiology 2024); revealed the dynamic patterns of millions of viral genomes and their environmental adaptation mechanisms based on 20-year long-term time-series metagenomic data (Nature Microbiology 2025); and deepened the understanding of the "collaborator" role of viruses in the origin of eukaryotic life through comparative analysis of the structure and evolution of RNA polymerases from cellular organisms and giant viruses (Trends in Microbiology 2025).

In recent years, he has published more than 20 high-impact papers as the first or corresponding author in journals including Nature Microbiology, Nature Reviews Microbiology, The ISME Journal, Nature Communications, and Microbiome. He has an H-index of 33 and a total of nearly 5500 citations. He has received awards including the 2025 "Siyuan Ocean - Deep Life Rising Star" Award, the 2024 National Outstanding Youth Science Fund (Overseas), the Nominee for "Young Scientist for Maritime Power" Award, and the Pearl River Talent Program (Young Scholar) of Guangdong Province.

For details, please visit: https://www.x-mol.com/groups/viromics/research

Awards, Honors and Affiliations

Awards & Honors

2025: "Siyuan Ocean - Deep Life Rising Star" Award

2024: National Outstanding Youth Science Fund (Overseas), National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)

2024: Pearl River Talent Program (Young Scholar), Guangdong Province (declined)

2024: Nominee for "Young Scientist for Maritime Power" Award

2023: Diversity 2023 Young Investigator Award, Diversity Journal

2022: First KBR Selected Postdoctoral Speaker at the Kenneth B. Raper Symposium, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

2016: Lorus J. & Margery J. Milne Scholarship, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, USA

2012: University Postgraduate Fellowship, The University of Hong Kong

2012: Third Prize for Excellent Paper in Polar Science, Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration, State Oceanic Administration

2009: Morningside Scholarship, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

2007-2010: Outstanding Student Grant, American Bodhi Education Foundation

Professional & Social Affiliations

2025: Delegate of Returned Overseas Chinese, Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese of Shenzhen University

2023: Award for Excellent Alumni Organization (Wuhan University Alumni Association of Wisconsin) and Excellent Alumni Worker, Wuhan University

2019-2020: Founding President, Wuhan University Alumni Association of Wisconsin, USA

2012-2018: Liaison Officer for Wuhan University Alumni (Biology & Medicine) in Hong Kong

Academic Membership

International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME), American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

Review Activity

Associate Editor: Frontiers in Microbiology

Review Editor: Frontiers in Microbiomes

Review Editor: iMeta

Review Editor: iMetaOmics

Journal reviews: Nature Communications, Microbiome, The ISME Journal, Water Research, Environmental Microbiology, iMeta, Frontiers in Bioinformatics, Microbial Ecology, International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation, Ecotoxicology, Heliyon, Applied Environmental Biotechnology, BMC Bioinformatics

Publications

Google Scholar [publications: 50+; citations: 5516; H-index: 33; updated in March 2026]:

https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=9e0nrQIAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate

Web of Science:

https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/AAD-1000-2020

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9120-6762

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Zhichao-Zhou-3

11. Kuan Yee Wong, Xiaoyuan Feng, Xiaojun Wang, Xiong Ji, Zhichao Zhou*. Cellular and viral RNA polymerases: evolutionary insights into eukaryotic origins. Trends in Microbiology (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2025.11.008 (IF=14.9)

10. Zhichao Zhou, Patricia Q. Tran, Cody Martin, Robin R. Rohwer, Brett J. Baker, Katherine D. McMahon, Karthik Anantharaman*. Unraveling viral ecology and evolution over twenty years in a freshwater lake. Nature Microbiology (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41564-024-01876-7 (IF=20.5)

9. Zhichao Zhou^#, Patricia Q. Tran^#, Elise S. Cowley, Elizabeth Trembath-Reichert, Karthik Anantharaman*. Diversity and ecology of microbial sulfur metabolism. Nature Reviews Microbiology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41579-024-01104-3 (IF=69.2)

8. Kristopher Kieft^#, Zhichao Zhou^#, Rika E. Anderson, Alison Buchan, Barbara J. Campbell, Steven J. Hallam, Matthias Hess, Matthew B. Sullivan, David A. Walsh, Simon Roux, Karthik Anantharaman*. Ecology of inorganic sulfur auxiliary metabolism in widespread bacteriophages. Nature Communications 12(1):3503 (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23698-5 (IF=17.694)

7. Zhichao Zhou, Yang Liu, Jie Pan, Brandi R. Cron, Brandy M. Toner, Karthik Anantharaman, John A. Breier, Gregory J. Dick, Meng Li*. Gammaproteobacteria mediating utilization of methyl-, sulfur-and petroleum organic compounds in deep ocean hydrothermal plumes. The ISME Journal 14(12):3136-3148 (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41396-020-00745-5 (IF=11.217)

6. Zhichao Zhou, Patricia Q. Tran, Kristopher Kieft, Karthik Anantharaman*. Genome diversification in globally distributed novel marine Proteobacteria is linked to environmental adaptation. The ISME Journal 14(8):2060-2077 (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41396-020-0669-4 (IF=11.217)

5. Zhichao Zhou, Patricia Q Tran, Alyssa M Adams, Kristopher Kieft, John A Breier, Caroline S Fortunato, Cody S Sheik, Julie A Huber, Meng Li, Gregory J Dick, Karthik Anantharaman*. Sulfur cycling connects microbiomes and biogeochemistry in deep-sea hydrothermal plumes. The ISME Journal 17(8):1194-1207 (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41396-023-01421-0 (IF=11.217)

4. Zhichao Zhou, Yang Liu, Karen G. Lloyd, Jie Pan, Yuchun Yang, Ji-Dong Gu*, Meng Li*. Genomic and transcriptomic insights into the ecology and metabolism of benthic archaeal cosmopolitan, Thermoprofundales (MBG-D archaea). The ISME Journal 13(4):885-901 (2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41396-018-0321-8 (IF=11.217)

3. Zhichao Zhou, Patricia Q. Tran, Yang Liu, Kristopher Kieft, Karthik Anantharaman*. METABOLIC: high-throughput profiling of microbial genomes for functional traits, metabolism, biogeochemistry, and community-scale functional networks. Microbiome 10(1):33 (2022). DOI: 10.1186/s40168-021-01213-8 (IF=16.837)

2. Zhichao Zhou^#, Emily St. John^#, Karthik Anantharaman*, Anna-Louise Reysenbach*. Global patterns of diversity and metabolism of microbial communities in deep-sea hydrothermal vent deposits. Microbiome 10(1):241(2022).DOI:10.1186/s40168-022-01424-7(IF=16.837)

1. Zhichao Zhou, Jie Pan, Fengping Wang, Ji-Dong Gu, Meng Li*. Bathyarchaeota: globally distributed metabolic generalists in anoxic environments. FEMS Microbiology Reviews 42(5):639-655 (2018). DOI: 10.1093/femsre/fuy023 (IF=15.177)

Research Projects

7. Pengcheng Peacock Program for Newly Introduced High-Level, Top-Tier, Innovative and Urgently-Needed Talents (2026.01-2028.12), Research on Environmental Viromics, Principal Investigator, Ongoing

6. Shenzhen Medical Research Special Project (2026.01-2027.12), Study on the Evolution and Functional Differentiation of Eukaryotic RNA Polymerase and the Pathogenesis of Transcriptional Dysregulation Diseases, Principal Investigator, Ongoing

5. National Key Research and Development Program of China (2025.11-2029.10), AI-driven Functional Prediction and Intelligent Design of Extreme Environmental Microbial Proteins, Co-Investigator (Principal Investigator of the Sub-Project), Ongoing

4. General Program of Shenzhen Natural Science Foundation (2025.10-2028.10), Isolation of Mirusvirus in Coastal Mangroves and the Mechanism and Application of Virus-Host Interaction, Principal Investigator, Ongoing

3. Shenzhen Basic Research Special Project (Natural Science Foundation) - Key Basic Research Program (2025.01-2027.12), Ji20240015 Study on Deep-sea Microbial Genetic Resources and Ecological Effects, Co-Investigator, Ongoing

2. National Outstanding Youth Science Fund (Overseas), National Natural Science Foundation of China (2025.01-2027.12), Deep-sea Hydrothermal Microbe-driven Element Cycling, Principal Investigator, Ongoing

1. Youth Science Fund Project, National Natural Science Foundation of China (2025.01-2027.12), Ecological and Evolutionary Characteristics of Mirusvirus in Coastal Mangrove Wetlands, Principal Investigator, Ongoing