INTRODUCTION
My research focuses on the topics of ecology of microbial communities, aka microbiomes as they are measured by DNA sequencing. My research lab works on the environmental microbiome in an ecological context, i.e., the relationships with other biotic and abiotic components of the ecosystem. Currently, we are investigating the structures, dynamics and functions of the microbiomes of river systems, wastewater and urban aquatic ecosystems, and plant-soil system under a climate change scheme using metagenomics and metatranscriptomics approaches along with bioinformatics and multivariate statistics.
Publications
* Graduate student co-author, ** undergraduate co-author, # corresponding author
Kim, J-.G., Gwak, J-.H., Jung, M-.Y., An, S-.U., Hyun, J., Kang, S.# & Rhee, R-.K. Distinct temporal dynamics of planktonic archaeal and bacterial assemblages in the bays of the Yellow Sea. PLOS One. In print. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0221408
Raut, S.*, Polley, H.W., Fay, P.A., & Kang, S.# 2018. Bacterial community response to a preindustrial-to-future CO2 gradient is limited and soil-specific in Texas prairie grassland. Global Change Biology. 24(12): 5815-5827. doi: 10.1111/gcb.14453
LeBrun, E.S.*, King, R.S., Back, J.A., & Kang, S.# 2018. A metagenome-based investigation of gene relationship for non-substrate associated microbial P cycling in the water column of streams and rivers. Microbial Ecology. 76(4): 856-865. doi: 10.1007/s00248-018-1178-0
LeBrun, E.S.*, Taylor, D.L., King, R.S., Back, J.A., & Kang, S.# 2018. Rivers may constitute an overlooked avenue of dispersal for terrestrial fungi. Fungal Ecology. 32:72-79. doi: 10.1016/j.funeco.2017.12.003
Crabtree, D.P.E.**, Herrera, B.J. & Kang, S.# 2017. The response of human bacteria to static magnetic field and radiofrequency electromagnetic field. Journal of Microbiology. 55(10): 809-815. doi: 10.1007/s12275-017-7208-7
Kang, S.#, Rodrigues, J.L.M., Ng, J.P., & Gentry, T.J. 2016. Hill number as a bacterial diversity measure framework with high-throughput sequence data. Scientific Reports, 6:38263. doi: 10.1038/srep38263
Kang, S., Van Nostrand, J.D., Gough, H.L., Stahl, D.A., & Zhou, J. 2013. Functional gene array-based analysis of indigenous microbial community in the heavy metal contaminated sediment of Lake DePue (DePue, IL). FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 86(2):200-214. doi: 10.1111/1574-6941.12152
He, Z., Xu, M., Deng, Y., Kang, S., Kellog, L.E., Wu, L., van Nostrand, J.D., Hobbie, S.E., Reich, P.B., & Zhou, J. 2010. Metagenomic analysis reveals a marked divergence in the functional structure of belowground microbial communities at elevated CO2. Ecology Letters, 13:564-575. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01453.x
Zhou, J.§, Kang, S.§, Schadt, C.W., & Garten, C.T. 2008. Spatial scaling of functional gene diversity across various microbial taxa. PNAS, 105(22): 7768-7773. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0709016105 (§ equal contribution)
Yergeau, É., Kang, S., He, Z., Zhou, J. & Kowalchuk, G.A. 2007 Functional microarray analysis of nitrogen and carbon cycling genes across an Antarctic latitudinal transect. The ISME Journal, 1(2):163-179. doi: 10.1038/ismej.2007.24