Faculty
Jiasong Fang
Assistant Professor
Environmental Geochemistry, Organic Geochemistry, Chemical Oceanography,
Geomicrobiology
360 Science I
Dept. of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011
Phone: (515) 294-6583
Email: jsfang@iastate.edu
Education
B.S., Jianghan Petroleum University, 1982
M.S., Louisiana State University, 1989
Ph.D., Chemical Oceanography, Texas A&M University, 1993
Research Interests
I use molecular and isotopic signatures to study current topics in
biogeochemistry, environmental geochemistry, chemical oceanography,
microbial ecology, and astrobiology.
Lipids are the most widely used biomarkers because they are less susceptible
to environmental alterations than other membrane components (proteins,
carbohydrates, etc.) and they perform essential roles in the storage
and mobilization of energy in reproduction, molting, and metabolism.
The myriad molecular structure of lipids biosynthesized by organisms
"biomarkers or molecular fossils", make them useful in tracing
the source, fate, and transport of organic matter in aquatic environments.
Additionally, stable carbon isotopic compositions of individual lipid
compounds provide a powerful tool for identifying lipid sources and
for following carbon flow through ecosystems. Biogeochemistry is an
multidisciplinary science that strives to understand the relationship
between the biosphere and the geosphere.
Research
Projects
Biochemistry
Lab
Teaching
Geol/EnvSci 403 - Environmental Biogeochemistry
Geol/EnvSci 434/534 - Contaminant Hydrogeology
Geol/EnvSci 422/522 - Environmental Geochemistry
NEW COURSE: Geol/Micro/BBMB/EnvSci 432/532 - Geomicrobiology
Course Descriptions
Teaching
Philosophy
Recent Refeered Publications
Fang, J., and Kato, C., Deep-sea piezophilic bacteria: geomicrobiology
and biotechnology. In: Geomicrobiology: Biodiversity and Biotechnology
(S. K. Jain, ed.), Blackwell Publishing, in review.
Fang, J., Lyon, D. Y., Alvarez, P. J. J., Wiesner, M., and Dong, J.,
Effect of a fullerene water suspension on bacterial phospholipids
and membrane phase behavior (nearly completed, see PDF file on CD).
Fang, J., Gupta, S. D., Hasiotis, S. T., Brake, S. S., and D. A. Bazylinski,
Microbial biomass and community structure of a stromatolite from an
acid mine drainage system determined by lipid biomarker analysis (nearly
completed, see PDF file on CD).
Fang, J., and Bazylinski, D. A., 2006. Deep-sea geomicrobiology. In:
High-Pressure Microbiology (C. Michiels and D. H. Bartlett,
eds.), American Society for Microbiology, Washington, D.C., in press.
Fang, J., Arakawa, S., Kato, C., and Schouten, S., 2006. Microbial
diversity of cold-seep sediments in Sagami Bay, Japan determined by
16S rDNA and lipid analyses. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 57,
429-441.
Fang, J., Uhle, M., Billmark, K., Bartlett, D. H., and Kato, C., 2006.
Fractionation of carbon isotopes in biosynthesis of fatty acids by
a piezophilic bacterium Moritella japonica DSK1. Geochemica et
Cosmochimica Acta 70, 1753-1760.
Fang, J., Chan, C., Joeckel, R. M., Huang, Y., Wang, Y., Bazylinski,
D. A., and Moorman, T. B., 2006. Biomarker analysis of microbial diversity
in sediments of a saline groundwater seep of Salt Basin, Nebraska.
Organic Geochemistry 37, 912-931.
Publications
Patent
Changes of essential fatty acid/phospholipid composition
of kidney cells after crystal internalization (pending).
