长期从事水产动物寄生虫的分类、系统发育与进化、生活史、生态以及寄生虫病的流行病学、致病机理和防控技术，以及水产动物养殖水体、底泥及消化道微生物群落的分子生态学、群落结构以及有益微生物制剂的基础及应用研究。共发表论文200余篇，SCI收录100多篇；获得中国科学院自然科学二等奖和武汉市科技进步奖各1项，获得国家发明专利5项，制定国家行业标准11项；主编著作1部，参编著作3部。

代表性论文：

1. Zhao, Weishan; Li, Ming*; Xiong, Fan; Zhang, Dong; Wu, Shangong; Zou,Hong; Li, Wenxiang; Wang, Guitang*; Identification of intracellular bacteria in the ciliate Balantidium ctenopharyngodoni (Ciliophora, Litostomatea), Journalof Eukaryotic Microbiology, 2020, doi:10.1111/jeu.1279: 12.

2. Zhang, Dong; Gao, Fanglun; Jakovlić, Ivan; Zou, Hong; Zhang, Jin; Li,Wenxiang*; Wang, Guitang*; PhyloSuite: an integrated and scalable desktop platform for streamlined molecular sequence data management and evolutionary phylogenetics studies, Molecular Ecology Resources, 2019, 20: 348-355.

3. Hao, Yaotong; Wu, Shangong*; Xiong, Fan; Tran, Ngoc tuan; Jakovlić, Ivan; Zou, Hong; Li, Wenxiang; Wang, Guitang*; Succession and fermentation products of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) hindgut microbiota in response to an extreme dietary shift, Frontiers in Microbiology, 2017, 8: 1585.

4. Hao, Yaotong; Wu, Shangong*; Jakovlic, Ivan; Zou, Hong; Li, Wenxiang; Wang, Guitang*; Impacts of diet on hindgut microbiota and short-chain fatty acids in grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus), Aquaculture Research, 2017, 48(11): 5595-5605.

5. Li, Wenxiang; Zhang, Dong; Boyce, Kellyanne; Xi, Bingwen; Zou, Hong; Wu, Shangong; Li ,Ming; Wang Guitang *. The complete mitochondrial DNA of three monozoic tapeworms in the Caryophyllidea: a mitogenomic perspective on the phylogeny of eucestodes. Parasites & Vectors, 2017, 10: 314.

6. Zhang, Xiaoping; Li, Wenxiang; Ai, Taoshan; Zou, Hong; Wu, Shangong; Wang, Guitang *. The efficacy of four common anthelmintic drugs and traditional Chinese medicinal plant extracts to control Dactylogyrus vastator (Monogenea). Aquaculture, 2014, 420-421: 302-307.

7. Xiong, Fan; Li, Wenxiang; Wu, Shangong; Zou, Hong; Wang, Guitang*.  Molecular phylogeny and specificity of the larval Eustrongylides (Nematoda: Dioctophmidae) from freshwater fish in China. J. Parasitol., 2013, 99(1), 137-144.

8. Wu, Shangong; Wang,Guitang*; Angert, Esther R.; Wang, Weiwei; Li, Wenxiang; Zou, Hong. Composition, diversity, and origin of the bacterial community in grass carp intestine, PLoS ONE, 2012, 7(2): e30440.

专利：

1. 王桂堂，杨宝娟，李文祥，邹红，吴山功. 一种草鱼鳃部寄生鳃片指环虫的特异性扩增引物对及其应用（ZL201410118871.3）

2. 邹红，熊凡，张金，李文祥，吴山功，王桂堂. 一种柱状黄杆菌的检测试剂盒及检测方法(ZL201510578122.3)

3. 王桂堂，熊凡，吴山功， 邹红，李文祥. 一种纤维素酶生产菌及其应用(ZL201510267129.3)

4. 邹红，熊凡，张金，李文祥，吴山功，王桂堂. 迟缓爱德华氏菌的检测试剂盒及其应用（ZL 201610316398.9）

5. 王桂堂，赵威山，李明，吴山功，邹红，李文祥，熊凡. 一种鲩肠袋虫的体外培养方法及使用的培养基的制备方法（ZL 201810350529.4）

论著：

1. 王桂堂，李文祥，邹红，李明，吴山功。淡水鱼类重要寄生虫病诊断手册。科学出版社，2017。

2. 王桂堂参编。鱼病学，负责寄生蠕虫及蠕虫病、寄生甲壳动物及甲壳动物病部分（164页）。中国农业出版社，2013。

3. 王伟俊，朱心玲，王桂堂，姚卫建。淡水鱼病防治彩色图说。中国农业出版社， 2001。

4. 汪建国，王桂堂，卢全章，李爱华，张奇亚。养殖鱼类疾病防治技术。郑州：中原农民出版社，1998。