Scientists
Dr. Wu Kejia
Curriculum Vitae
Name: Kejia Wu
Date of Birth: November 20, 1991
Email: wukejia@caas.cn
Phone: +86-15982370610
Current Location: Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Education
2019 – 2025
Ph.D. Wageningen University & Research, Netherlands
· Research Focus: Physiology, biochemistry, and ecology of anaerobic microorganisms
· Supervisors: Prof. Lei Cheng & Prof. Diana Z. Sousa
2013 – 2016
M.Sc. in Environmental Microbiology, Lanzhou University, China
· Research Focus: Microbial degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metal remediation
· Supervisor: Prof. Xiangkai Li
2009 – 2013
B.Sc. in Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, China
Work Experience
2026-Present
Researcher, Biogas Institute of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
2018 – 2019
Research Assistant, Biogas Institute of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
2016 – 2018
High School Chemistry Teacher, Daishi Education Co., Ltd.
Honors and Awards
· Cum Laude for Ph.D. Graduation, Wageningen University & Research (2026) (The highest academic honor awarded to the top 5% of doctoral graduates every year)
· First Prize, Qian Yi Environmental Award (8th Edition)
· Excellent Paper Award, Jian Haoran Environmental Microbiology Fund (24th Edition)
· First Prize for Graduate Student Presentation, 12th Symposium on Geomicrobiology
· First Prize, Sichuan-Chongqing Scientific Paper Award (5th Edition)
Publications (Selected)
1. Wu, K.*, Zhou, L.*, Tahon, G., Liu, L., Li, J., Zhang, J., Zheng, F., Deng, C., Han, W., Bai, L., Fu, L., Dong, X., Zhang, C., Ettema, T.J.G., Sousa, D.Z., Cheng, L. (2024). Isolation of a methyl-reducing methanogen outside the Euryarchaeota. Nature, 632(8027): 1124-1130.
2. Wu, K.*, Zhou, L.*, Li, J., Yang, M., Ma, S., Sousa, D.Z., Cheng, L. (2026). Targeted isolation of H2-dependent methylotrophic methanogens by a cocktail approach. Nature Protocols 21, 959-986
3. Wu, K.*., Zhou, L., Li, J., Ma, S., Sousa, D.Z., Cheng, L. (2026). Culturing the uncultured anaerobes from the perspective of microbial growth curves. Trends in Microbiology 34, 89-97
4. Wu, K.*, Zhou, L.*, Zheng, F., Liu, L., Yang, M., Li, J., Sousa, D.Z., Cheng, L. (2025). Methanosuratincola petrocarbonis gen. nov., sp. nov., a methyl-reducing methanogen isolated from Shengli oil field, and proposal of Methanosuratincolaceae fam. nov., Methanosuratincolales ord. nov. and Methanosuratincolia classis nov. in the phylum Thermoproteota. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 75(7): 006839.
5. Wu, K.*, Dai, L., Tu, B., Zhang, X., Zhang, H., Deng, Y., Lawson, P.A., Cheng, L. (2020). Gudongella oleilytica gen. nov., sp. nov., an aerotolerant bacterium isolated from Shengli oilfield and validation of family Tissierellaceae. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 70(2): 951-957.
6. Wu, K.*, & Cheng, L. Ruminiclostridium. In Bergey’s Manual of Systematics of Archaea and Bacteria.
7. Huang, H., Wu, K.*., Khan, A., Jiang, Y., Ling, Z., Liu, P., Chen, Y., Tao, X., Li, X. (2016). A novel Pseudomonas gessardii strain LZ-E simultaneously degrades naphthalene and reduces hexavalent chromium. Bioresource Technology, 207: 370-378.
8. Xu, R.*, Wu, K.*, Han, H., Ling, Z., Chen, Z., Liu, P., Xiong, J., Tian, F., Zafar, Y., Malik, K., Li, X. (2018). Co-expression of YieF and PhoN in Deinococcus radiodurans R1 improves uranium bioprecipitation by reducing chromium interference. Chemosphere, 211: 1156-1165.
Patents
· Wu, K., Li, J., Cheng, L. (2021). Primer pairs, kits, and methods for detecting archaea Candidatus Methanoliparum. Chinese Invention Patent.
Conference Presentations
· Targeted isolation of H₂-dependent methylotrophic methanogen by a cocktail approach. Oral presentation, The 5th International Conference of Geobiology, Wuhan, June 2025.
· Isolation of a methyl-reducing methanogen outside the Euryarchaeota. Oral presentation, 2024 Great Cycle-International Symposium, Beijing, Sep 2024.
· Isolation of a methyl-reducing methanogen outside the Euryarchaeota. Oral presentation, 2023 Goldschmidt Conference, France, June 2023.