B.S. Hon Lun Wong, PhD.

Job Position: Postdoc - Department of Aquatic Microbial Ecology (AME)

Contact details

Phone: +420 38 777 5836
E-mail: hon.lun.wong@hbu.cas.cz
Room: 220NB

Description

My research focus during my PhD was microbial ecology of hypersaline microbial mats by employing amplicon sequencing and metagenomics analyses. In light of my research, I have investigated the microbial community of microbial mats, as well as elucidating their metabolic capacities. I am interested in investigating genomes affiliated to uncultivated microorganisms, which was coined the term “microbial dark matter”, as these enigmatic groups comprise a major group in microbial communities. The primary goal of my work is to understand microbial interactions in these ecosystems, their putative ecological roles and ultimately construct an ecological model of hypersaline microbial mats.

My other research interests include delineating the metatranscriptomes of microbial mats and examining the differences between diel cycles seasons. I am also working on how microorganisms can survive in Antarctica soils. I am currently expanding my research interests on elucidating the viral communities in Shark Bay microbial mats.

As a Post-doc who recently joined HBU, I hope to apply what I have learned and by combining both cultivation-free approach and high-throughput cultivation approach, we can have a better understanding of freshwater lake ecosystems.

Curriculum vitae

Research Associate

Title: Elucidating the metabolic capacity of Candidatus Eremiobacteraeota and Actinobacteria in Antarctica arid soils

Supervisor: Associate Professor Belinda Ferrari

The University of New South Wales (04/2019 – 12/2019)

 

Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology

Title: Rocking the cradle of life – Illuminating the microbiome of Shark Bay microbial mats using genomic-resolved metagenomics

Supervisor: Associate Professor Brendan Burns

Institute: The University of New South Wales (03/2015 - 03/2019)
 

Selected Publications:

1. Wong H.L., MacLeod, F. I., White III, R. A., Visscher, P. T., Burns, B. P. (2020). Microbial dark matter filling the niche in hypersaline microbial mats. Microbiome 8: 135. doi: 10.1186/s40168-020-00910-0.

2. Wong, H. L., White III, R. A., Visscher, P. T., Charlesworth, J. C., Vázquez-Campos, X., Burns, B. P. (2018). Disentangling the drivers of functional complexity at the metagenomic level in Shark Bay microbial mat microbiomes. The ISME Journal 12(11): 2619-2639. doi: 10.1038/s41396-018-0208-8.

3. Macleod, F. I., Kindler, G. S., Wong, H. L., Chen, R., Burns, B. P. Asgard Archaea: Diversity and function in a range of microbiomes. AIMS Microbiology 5(1): 48-61. doi: 10.3934/microbiol.2019.1.48.

4. White III, R. A., Wong, H. L., Ruvindy, R., Neilan, B. A., Burns, B. P. (2018). Viral communities of Shark Bay modern stromatolites, Frontiers in Microbiology 9:1223. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.01223.

5. Wong, H. L., Visscher, P. T., White III, R. A., Smith, D. L., Patterson, M. M., Burns, B. P. (2017). Dynamics of archaea at fine spatial scales in Shark Bay mat microbiomes. Scientific Reports 7: 46160. doi: 10.1038/srep46160.

6. Wong, H. L., Cox, A. A., Burns, B. P. (2016). Molecular ecology of hypersaline microbial mats: Current insights and new directions. Microorganisms 4(1): 6. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms4010006.

7. Wong, H. L., Smith, D. L., Visscher, P. T., Burns, B. P. (2015). Niche differentiation of bacterial communities at a millimetre scale in Shark Bay microbial mats. Scientific Reports, 5: 15607. doi: 10.1038/srep15607.

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alan_H_L_Wong2

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=gM6u7esAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3801-0410

Publications