Profile
My research group focuses mostly on understanding the ecology and evolution of microbes in nature. Over the years, I have been associated with the declaration of more than 70 new species of bacteria and archaea that were isolated from different ecological niches. The description of these novel taxa includes more than 24 microbial genera, 14 families, 16 orders, and 1 class. Apart from the declaration of novel microbial taxa, we worked on the phylogenomics of environmental microbes to discover novel pathways for the utilization of recalcitrant metabolites as well as establish alternative routes for carbon fixation. As molecular biology techniques are rapidly evolving, my current focus is the integration of -omics data of soil micro-organisms with machine learning tools to develop an ecosystem model for managing soil and human health against the challenges of climatic changes.
Current Focus Areas
Microbiomes and Climate Change: Understanding Microbial Dynamics and Functional Traits in Response to Carbon and Nitrogen Fluxes in Agriculture Ecosystem Model
Impacts of pesticides on soil microbiome health.
Selected Publications
Salam, N., Xian, W.-D., Asem, M.D., Xiao, M., Li, W.-J. (2021) From ecophysiology to cultivation methodology: filling the knowledge gap between uncultured and cultured microbes. Marine Life Science & Technology, 3, 132-247.
Jiao, J.-Y., Fu, L., Hua, Z.-S., Liu, L., Salam, N., et al. (2021). Insight into the function and evolution of the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway in Actinobacteria. The ISME Journal, 15: 3005-3018.
Li, J.*, Wang, P.*, Salam, N.*, Li, X., Ahmad, M., et al. (2020) Unraveling bacteria-mediated degradation of lignin-derived aromatic compounds in a freshwater environment. Science of the Total Environment, 749, 141236. (*shared first authorship)
Salam, N., Jiao, J.-J., Zhang, X.-T., Li, W.-J. (2020). Update on the classification of higher ranks in the phylum Actinobacteria. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 70, 1331-1355.
Zhu, Q., Mai, U, Pfeiffer, W., Janssen, S., Asnicar, F., Sanders, J.G., Belda-Ferre, P., Al-Ghalith, G.A., Kopylova, E., McDonald, D., Kosciolek, T., Yin, J.B., Huang, S., Salam, N., et al. (2019). Phylogenomics of 10,575 genomics reveals evolutionary proximity between domains Bacteria and Archaea. Nature Communications, 10, 5477.