Dr Qiongyi Zhao

Research Fellow

Queensland Brain Institute

+61 7 344 33573

q.zhao@uq.edu.au

Researcher biography

I am the head of bioinformatics core at the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI), The University of Queensland. I completed my PhD in 2010 at the Institute of Plant Physiology & Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. My PhD training was in both bioinformatics and molecular biology. I continued as a postdoctoral research associate in a bioinformatics group at the same institute focusing on next-generation sequencing (NGS) data analysis. In mid-2012, I was recruited from a worldwide search to be Research Fellow at QBI, UQ. At QBI, I leads the bioinformatics core and built in-house analysis pipelines for a variety of NGS data. I have been training/working in the bioinformatics/NGS field for over 10 years, starting from greenfield development of three NGS platforms (i.e. 454, Illumina, SOLiD); thus, I have rich experience in bioinformatic analysis, especially analysing various types of NGS data including but not limited to RNA-Seq, small RNA-Seq, whole-exome/genome sequencing, ChIP-Seq, PAR-CLIP-Seq, 5mC-Seq, 5hmC-Seq and m6A-Seq.

Publications

Journal Articles (39)

Conference Papers (3)

Journal Articles

Liau, Wei-Siang, Zhao, Qiongyi, Bademosi, Adekunle, Gormal, Rachel S., Gong, Hao, Marshall, Paul R., Periyakaruppiah, Ambika, Madugalle, Sachithrani U., Zajaczkowski, Esmi L., Leighton, Laura J., Ren, Haobin, Musgrove, Mason, Davies, Joshua, Rauch, Simone, He, Chuan, Dickinson, Bryan C., Li, Xiang, Wei, Wei, Meunier, Frédéric A., Fernández-Moya, Sandra M., Kiebler, Michael A., Srinivasan, Balakumar, Banerjee, Sourav, Clark, Michael, Spitale, Robert C. and Bredy, Timothy W. (2023). Fear extinction is regulated by the activity of long noncoding RNAs at the synapse. Nature Communications, 14 (1) 7616, 1-16. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-43535-1

Anthoney, Niki, Tainton-Heap, Lucy, Luong, Hang, Notaras, Eleni, Kewin, Amber B, Zhao, Qiongyi, Perry, Trent, Batterham, Philip, Shaw, Paul J and van Swinderen, Bruno (2023). Experimentally induced active and quiet sleep engage non-overlapping transcriptional programs in Drosophila. eLife, 12 RP88198. doi: 10.7554/elife.88198

Madugalle, Sachithrani U., Liau, Wei-Siang, Zhao, Qiongyi, Li, Xiang, Gong, Hao, Marshall, Paul R., Periyakaruppiah, Ambika, Zajaczkowski, Esmi L., Leighton, Laura J., Ren, Haobin, Musgrove, Mason R. B., Davies, Joshua W. A., Kim, Gwangmin, Rauch, Simone, He, Chuan, Dickinson, Bryan C., Fulopova, Barbora, Fletcher, Lee N., Williams, Stephen R., Spitale, Robert C. and Bredy, Timothy W. (2023). Synapse-enriched m⁶A-modified Malat1 interacts with the novel m⁶A reader, DPYSL2, and is required for fear-extinction memory. The Journal of Neuroscience, 43 (43), 7084-7100. doi: 10.1523/jneurosci.0943-23.2023

Lau Zajaczkowski, Esmi, Zhao, Qiongyi, Liau, Wei-Siang, Gong, Hao, Umanda Madugalle, Sachithrani, Periyakaruppiah, Ambika, Jane Leighton, Laura, Musgrove, Mason, Ren, Haobin, Davies, Joshua, Robert Marshall, Paul and William Bredy, Timothy (2023). Localised Cdr1as activity is required for fear extinction memory. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 203 107777, 107777. doi: 10.1016/j.nlm.2023.107777

Anthoney, Niki, Tainton-Heap, Lucy A. L., Luong, Hang, Notaras, Eleni, Zhao, Qiongyi, Perry, Trent, Batterham, Philip, Shaw, Paul J. and van Swinderen, Bruno (2023). Experimentally induced active and quiet sleep engage non-overlapping transcriptomes in Drosophila. eLife, 12. doi: 10.7554/eLife.88198.1

Wei, Wei, Zhao, Qiongyi, Wang, Ziqi, Liau, Wei-Siang, Basic, Dean, Ren, Haobin, Marshall, Paul R., Zajaczkowski, Esmi L., Leighton, Laura J., Madugalle, Sachithrani U., Musgrove, Mason, Periyakaruppiah, Ambika, Shi, Jichun, Zhang, Jianjian, Mattick, John S., Mercer, Timothy R., Spitale, Robert C., Li, Xiang and Bredy, Timothy W. (2022). ADRAM is an experience-dependent long noncoding RNA that drives fear extinction through a direct interaction with the chaperone protein 14-3-3. Cell Reports, 38 (12) 110546, 110546. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110546

Kozulin, Peter, Zhao, Qiong-Yi, Richards, Linda, Fenlon, Laura and Suárez, Rodrigo (2022). The people behind the papers - Peter Kozulin, Rodrigo Suárez, Qiong-Yi Zhao, Linda Richards and Laura Fenlon. Development, 149 (3) dev200543. doi: 10.1242/dev.200543

Kozulin, Peter, Suárez, Rodrigo, Zhao, Qiong-Yi, Paolino, Annalisa, Richards, Linda J. and Fenlon, Laura R. (2022). Divergent evolution of developmental timing in the neocortex revealed by marsupial and eutherian transcriptomes. Development, 149 (3) dev200212. doi: 10.1242/dev.200212

Hogan, Alison L., Grima, Natalie, Fifita, Jennifer A., McCann, Emily P., Heng, Benjamin, Fat, Sandrine Chan Moi, Wu, Sharlynn, Maharjan, Ram, Cain, Amy K., Henden, Lyndal, Rayner, Stephanie, Tarr, Ingrid, Zhang, Katharine Y., Zhao, Qiongyi, Zhang, Zong-Hong, Wright, Amanda, Lee, Albert, Morsch, Marco, Yang, Shu, Williams, Kelly L. and Blair, Ian P. (2021). Splicing factor proline and glutamine rich intron retention, reduced expression and aggregate formation are pathological features of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology, 47 (7) nan.12749, 990-1003. doi: 10.1111/nan.12749

Chen, Min, Zhao, Qiong-Yi, Edson, Janette, Zhang, Zong Hong, Li, Xiang, Wei, Wei, Bredy, Timothy and Reutens, David C. (2020). Genome-wide microRNA profiling in brain and blood samples in a mouse model of epileptogenesis. Epilepsy Research, 166 106400, 106400. doi: 10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2020.106400

Dick, Alec L. W., Zhao, Qiongyi, Crossin, Rose, Baker-Andresen, Danay, Li, Xiang, Edson, Janette, Roeh, Simone, Marshall, Victoria, Bredy, Timothy W., Lawrence, Andrew J. and Duncan, Jhodie R. (2020). Adolescent chronic intermittent toluene inhalation dynamically regulates the transcriptome and neuronal methylome within the rat medial prefrontal cortex. Addiction Biology, 26 (3) e12937, e12937. doi: 10.1111/adb.12937

Marshall, Paul R., Zhao, Qiongyi, Li, Xiang, Wei, Wei, Periyakaruppiah, Ambika, Zajaczkowski, Esmi L., Leighton, Laura J., Madugalle, Sachithrani U., Basic, Dean, Wang, Ziqi, Yin, Jiayu, Liau, Wei-Siang, Gupte, Ankita, Walkley, Carl R. and Bredy, Timothy W. (2020). Publisher Correction: Dynamic regulation of Z-DNA in the mouse prefrontal cortex by the RNA-editing enzyme Adar1 is required for fear extinction. Nature Neuroscience, 23 (8), 1034-1034. doi: 10.1038/s41593-020-0669-8

Marshall, Paul R., Zhao, Qiongyi, Li, Xiang, Wei, Wei, Periyakaruppiah, Ambika, Zajaczkowski, Esmi L., Leighton, Laura J., Madugalle, Sachithrani U., Basic, Dean, Wang, Ziqi, Yin, Jiayu, Liau, Wei-Siang, Gupte, Ankita, Walkley, Carl R. and Bredy, Timothy W. (2020). Dynamic regulation of Z-DNA in the mouse prefrontal cortex by the RNA-editing enzyme Adar1 is required for fear extinction. Nature Neuroscience, 23 (6), 718-729. doi: 10.1038/s41593-020-0627-5

Tarr, Ingrid S., McCann, Emily P., Benyamin, Beben, Peters, Timothy J., Twine, Natalie A., Zhang, Katharine Y., Zhao, Qiongyi, Zhang, Zong-Hong, Rowe, Dominic B., Nicholson, Garth A., Bauer, Denis, Clark, Susan J., Blair, Ian P. and Williams, Kelly L. (2019). Monozygotic twins and triplets discordant for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis display differential methylation and gene expression. Scientific Reports, 9 (1) 8254, 8254. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-44765-4

Li, Xiang, Zhao, Qiongyi, Wei, Wei, Lin, Quan, Magnan, Christophe, Emami, Michael R., Wearick-Silva, Luis E., Viola, Thiago W., Marshall, Paul R., Yin, Jiayu, Madugalle, Sachithrani U., Wang, Ziqi, Nainar, Sarah, Vågbø, Cathrine Broberg, Leighton, Laura J., Zajaczkowski, Esmi L., Ke, Ke, Grassi-Oliveira, Rodrigo, Bjørås, Magnar, Baldi, Pierre F., Spitale, Robert C. and Bredy, Timothy W. (2019). The DNA modification N6-methyl-2’-deoxyadenosine (m6dA) drives activity-induced gene expression and is required for fear extinction. Nature Neuroscience, 22 (4), 534-544. doi: 10.1038/s41593-019-0339-x

Zajaczkowski, Esmi L., Zhao, Qiong-Yi, Zhang, Zong Hong, Li, Xiang, Wei, Wei, Marshall, Paul R., Leighton, Laura J., Nainar, Sarah, Feng, Chao, Spitale, Robert C. and Bredy, Timothy W. (2018). Bioorthogonal metabolic labeling of nascent RNA in neurons improves the sensitivity of transcriptome-wide profiling. ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 9 (7), 1858-1865. doi: 10.1021/acschemneuro.8b00197

Leighton, Laura J., Zhao, Qiongyi, Li, Xiang, Dai, Chuanyang, Marshall, Paul R., Liu, Sha, Wang, Yi, Zajaczkowski, Esmi L., Khandelwal, Nitin, Kumar, Arvind, Bredy, Timothy W. and Wei, Wei (2017). A Functional Role for the Epigenetic Regulator ING1 in Activity-induced Gene Expression in Primary Cortical Neurons. Neuroscience, 369, 248-260. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2017.11.018

Gratten, Jacob, Zhao, Qiongyi, Benyamin, Beben, Garton, Fleur, He, Ji, Leo, Paul J., Mangelsdorf, Marie, Anderson, Lisa, Zhang, Zong-Hong, Chen, Lu, Chen, Xiang-Ding, Cremin, Katie, Deng, Hong-Weng, Edson, Janette, Han, Ying-Ying, Harris, Jessica, Henders, Anjali K., Jin, Zi-Bing, Li, Zhongshan, Lin, Yong, Liu, Xiaolu, Marshall, Mhairi, Mowry, Bryan J., Ran, Shu, Reutens, David C., Song, Sharon, Tan, Li-Jun, Tang, Lu, Wallace, Robyn H. ... Fan, Dongsheng (2017). Whole-exome sequencing in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis suggests NEK1 is a risk gene in Chinese. Genome Medicine, 9 (97) 97, 97. doi: 10.1186/s13073-017-0487-0

Benyamin, Beben, He, Ji, Zhao, Qiongyi, Gratten, Jacob, Garton, Fleur, Leo, Paul J., Liu, Zhijun, Mangelsdorf, Marie, Al-Chalabi, Ammar, Anderson, Lisa, Butler, Timothy J., Chen, Lu, Chen, Xiang-Ding, Cremin, Katie, Deng, Hong-Weng, Devine, Matthew, Edson, Janette, Fifita, Jennifer A., Furlong, Sarah, Han, Ying-Ying, Harris, Jessica, Henders, Anjali K., Jeffree, Rosalind L., Jin, Zi-Bing, Li, Zhongshan, Li, Ting, Li, Mengmeng, Lin, Yong, Liu, Xiaolu ... Fan, Dongsheng (2017). Cross-ethnic meta-analysis identifies association of the GPX3-TNIP1 locus with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Nature Communications, 8 (1) 611, 611. doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-00471-1

Garton, Fleur C., Benyamin, Beben, Zhao, Qiongyi, Liu, Zhijun, Gratten, Jacob, Henders, Anjali K., Zhang, Zong-Hong, Edson, Janette, Furlong, Sarah, Morgan, Sarah, Heggie, Susan, Thorpe, Kathryn, Pfluger, Casey, Mather, Karen A., Sachdev, Perminder S., McRae, Allan F., Robinson, Matthew R., Shah, Sonia, Visscher, Peter M., Mangelsdorf, Marie, Henderson, Robert D., Wray, Naomi R. and McCombe, Pamela A. (2017). Whole exome sequencing and DNA methylation analysis in a clinical amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cohort. Molecular Genetics and Genomic Medicine, 5 (4), 418-428. doi: 10.1002/mgg3.302

Widagdo, Jocelyn, Zhao, Qiong-Yi, Kempen, Marie-Jeanne, Tan, Men Chee, Ratnu, Vikram S., Wei, Wei, Leighton, Laura, Spadaro, Paola A., Edson, Janette, Anggono, Victor and Bredy, Timothy W. (2016). Experience-dependent accumulation of N6-methyladenosine in the prefrontal cortex is associated with memory processes in mice. Journal of Neuroscience, 36 (25), 6771-6777. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4053-15.2016

Li, Xuan, Kong, Yimeng, Zhao, Qiong-Yi, Li, Yuan-Yuan and Hao, Pei (2016). De novo assembly of transcriptome from next-generation sequencing data. Quantitative Biology, 4 (2), 94-105. doi: 10.1007/s40484-016-0069-y

Zhao, Qiong-Yi, Gratten, Jacob, Restaudi, Restuadi and Li, Xuan (2016). Mapping and differential expression analysis from short-read RNA-Seq data in model organisms. Quantitative Biology, 4 (1), 22-35. doi: 10.1007/s40484-016-0060-7

Hawi, Z., Cummins, T.D.R., Tong, J., Arcos-Burgos, M., Zhao, Q., Matthews, N., Newman, D. P., Johnson, B., Vance, A., Heussler, H. S., Levy, F., Easteal, S., Wray, N. R., Kenny, E., Morris, D., Kent, L., Gill, M. and Bellgrove, M. A. (2016). Rare DNA variants in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene increase risk for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: a next-generation sequencing study. Molecular Psychiatry, 22 (4), 580-584. doi: 10.1038/mp.2016.117

Baker-Andresen, Danay, Zhao, Qiongyi, Li, Xiang, Jupp, Bianca, Chesworth, Rose, Lawrence, Andrew J. and Bredy, Timothy (2015). Persistent variations in neuronal DNA methylation following cocaine self-administration and protracted abstinence in mice. Neuroepigenetics, 4, 1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.nepig.2015.10.001

Li, Chun-Fang, Zhu, Yan, Yu, Yao, Zhao, Qiong-Yi, Wang, Sheng-Jun, Wang, Xin-Chao, Yao, Ming-Zhe, Luo, Da, Li, Xuan, Chen, Liang and Yang, Ya-Jun (2015). Global transcriptome and gene regulation network for secondary metabolite biosynthesis of tea plant (Camellia sinensis). BMC Genomics, 16 (560) 560. doi: 10.1186/s12864-015-1773-0

Jhaveri, Dhanisha J., O'Keeffe, Imogen, Robinson, Gregory J., Zhao, Qiong-Yi, Zhang, Zong Hong, Nink, Virginia, Narayanan, Ramesh K., Osborne, Geoffrey W., Wray, Naomi R. and Bartlett, Perry F. (2015). Purification of neural precursor cells reveals the presence of distinct, stimulus-specific subpopulations of quiescent precursors in the adult mouse hippocampus. Journal of Neuroscience, 35 (21), 8132-8144. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0504-15.2015

Wang, Hua-Ling, Yang, Jiao, Boykin, Laura M., Zhao, Qiong-Yi, Wang, Yu-Jun, Liu, Shu-Sheng and Wang, Xiao-Wei (2014). Developing conversed microsatellite markers and their implications in evolutionary analysis of the Bemisia tabaci complex. Scientific Reports, 4 (1) 6351, 6351. doi: 10.1038/srep06351

Li, X., Baker-Andresen, D., Zhao, Q., Marshall, V. and Bredy, T. W. (2014). Methyl CpG Binding Domain Ultra-Sequencing: a novel method for identifying inter-individual and cell-type-specific variation in DNA methylation. Genes, Brain and Behavior, 13 (7), 721-731. doi: 10.1111/gbb.12150

Zhang, Zong Hong, Jhaveri, Dhanisha J., Marshall, Vikki M., Bauer, Denis C., Edson, Janette, Narayanan, Ramesh K., Robinson, Gregory J., Lundberg, Andreas E., Bartlett, Perry F., Wray, Naomi R. and Zhao, Qiong-Yi (2014). A comparative study of techniques for differential expression analysis on RNA-seq data. PLoS One, 9 (8) e103207, 1-11. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0103207

An, J. Y., Cristino, A. S., Zhao, Q., Edson, J., Williams, S. M., Ravine, D., Wray, J., Marshall, V. M., Hunt, A., Whitehouse, A. J. O. and Claudianos, C. (2014). Towards a molecular characterization of autism spectrum disorders: an exome sequencing and systems approach. Translational Psychiatry, 4 (6) e394, e394.1-e394.9. doi: 10.1038/tp.2014.38

Ye, Xiao-Dong, Su, Yun-Lin, Zhao, Qiong-Yi, Xia, Wen-Qiang, Liu, Shu-Sheng and Wang, Xiao-We (2014). Transcriptomic analyses reveal the adaptive features and biological differences of guts from two invasive whitefly species. BMC Genomics, 15 (1) 370. doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-15-370

Li, Xiang, Wei, Wei, Zhao, Qiong-Yi, Widagdo, Jocelyn, Baker-Andresen, Danay, Flavell, Charlotte R., D'Alessio, Ana, Zhang, Yi and Bredy, Timothy W. (2014). Neocortical Tet3-mediated accumulation of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine promotes rapid behavioral adaptation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111 (19), 7120-7125. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1318906111

Wang, Hua-Ling, Yang, Jiao, Boykin, Laura M., Zhao, Qiong-Yi, Li, Qian, Wang, Xiao-Wei and Liu, Shu-Sheng (2013). The characteristics and expression profiles of the mitochondrial genome for the Mediterranean species of the Bemisia tabaci complex. BMC Genomics, 14 (1) 401. doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-14-401

Wang, Xin-Chao, Zhao, Qiong-Yi, Ma, Chun-Lei, Zhang, Zong-Hong, Cao, Hong-Li, Kong, Yi-Meng, Yue, Chuan, Hao, Xin-Yuan, Chen, Liang, Ma, Jian-Qiang, Jin, Ji-Qiang, Li, Xuan and Yang, Ya-Jun (2013). Global transcriptome profiles of Camellia sinensis during cold acclimation. BMC Genomics, 14 (1) 415. doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-14-415

Wang, Xiao-Wei, Zhao, Qiong-Yi, Luan, Jun-Bo, Wang, Yu-Jun, Yan, Gen-Hong and Liu, Shu-Sheng (2012). Analysis of a native whitefly transcriptome and its sequence divergence with two invasive whitefly species. BMC Genomics, 13 (1) 529, 529.1-529.13. doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-13-529

Shao, Wei, Zhao, Qiong-Yi, Wang, Xiu-Ye, Xu, Xin-Yan, Tang, Qing, Li, Muwang, Li, Xuan and Xu, Yong-Zhen (2012). Alternative splicing and trans-splicing events revealed by analysis of the Bombyx mori transcriptome. RNA, 18 (7), 1395-1407. doi: 10.1261/rna.029751.111

Zhao, Qiong-Yi, Wang, Yi, Kong, Yi-Meng, Luo, Da, Li, Xuan and Hao, Pei (2011). Optimizing de novo transcriptome assembly from short-read RNA-Seq data: a comparative study. BMC Bioinformatics, 12 (Suppl. 14) S2, 1-12. doi: 10.1186/1471-2105-12-S14-S2

Conference Papers

Widagdo, J., Zhao, Q. -Y., Anggono, V. and Bredy, T. (2015). Activity-dependent RNA methylation in learning and memory. 25th Biennial Meeting of the International Society for Neurochemistry Jointly with the 13th Meeting of the Asian Pacific Society for Neurochemistry in Conjunction with the 35th Meeting of the Australasian Neuroscience Society, Cairns, QLD Australia, 23-27 August 2015. Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing. doi: 10.1111/jnc.13188

Bredy, T., Widagdo, J. and Zhao, Q.-Y. (2015). Epitranscriptomic mechanisms of memory stability. 25th Biennial Meeting of the International Society for Neurochemistry Jointly with the 13th Meeting of the Asian Pacific Society for Neurochemistry in Conjunction with the 35th Meeting of the Australasian Neuroscience Society, Cairns, QLD Australia, 23-27 August 2015. Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing. doi: 10.1111/jnc.13185

Ratnu, V., Li, X., Emami, M., Zhao, Q. -Y. and Bredy, T. (2015). Exploring the role of histone demethylase, UTX, in mediating sex differences in fear-related learning and memory. 25th Biennial Meeting of the International Society for Neurochemistry Jointly with the 13th Meeting of the Asian Pacific Society for Neurochemistry in Conjunction with the 35th Meeting of the Australasian Neuroscience Society, Cairns, QLD Australia, 23-27 August 2015. Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing. doi: 10.1111/jnc.13188