主要从事生药资源开发利用、药用植物基因组学与生物信息学研究。

主持或参与国家自然科学基金项目2项（主持1项），主持贵州省科技厅科技支撑项目1项，市厅级基金3项。参与多态性分子标记软件CandiSSR的开发，在国内外期刊发表论文20余篇，参编十四五规划教材1部。

代表性论文：

1.Yao, Qiu-Yang; Huang, Hui; Tong, Yan; Xia, En-Hua; Gao, Li-Zhi. Transcriptome analysis identifies candidate genes related to triacylglycerol and pigment biosynthesis and photoperiodic flowering in Camellia reticulata (Theaceae), a well-known ornamental and oil-producing plant in China. Frontiers in Plant Science 7 (2016):163.doi: 10.3389/fpls.2016.00163.

2.Xia, En-Hua; Yao, Qiu-Yang; Zhang, Hai-Bin; Jiang, Jian-Jun; Zhang, Li-Ping; Gao, Li-Zhi. (2016). CandiSSR: an efficient pipeline used for identifying candidate polymorphic SSRs based on multiple assembled sequences. Frontiers in Plant Science 6:1171. doi:10.3389/fpls.2015.01171.

3.Yao, Qiu-Yang; Xia, En-Hua; Liu, Fei-Hu; Gao, Li-Zhi. (2015). Genome-wide identification and comparative expression analysis reveal a rapid expansion and functional divergence of duplicated genes in the WRKY gene family of cabbage, Brassica oleracea var. capitata, Gene, 557(1): 35-42. doi:10.1016/j.gene.2014.12.005.

4.Huang, Hui; Yao, Qiuyang; Xia, Enhua; Gao, Lizhi ; Metabolomics and Transcriptomics Analyses Reveal Nitrogen Influences on the Accumulation of Flavonoids and Amino Acids in Young Shoots of Tea Plant (Camellia sinensis L.) Associated with Tea Flavor, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2018, 66(37): 9828-9838

5.张澜,段耿婷,刘森林,胡伟平 姚秋阳*.影响茶树硒积累的单因素及正交实验分析.分子植物育种1-15.[网络首发]

6.李婷婷,段耿婷,张澜,王丹丹,吴发明,姚秋阳*.(2023).不同亚硒酸钠浓度对党参生长、生理特性和品质的影响.广西植物(04),755-764.

7.王丹丹,黄妍,周中政,李婷婷,吴发明,姚秋阳*.不同浓度硒酸钠对茶树的生长和生理指标的影响[J].广西植物,2021,41(02):183-194.

8.姚秋阳，吴发明，何芋岐，杨建文，聂绪强，ExamQA的构建及其在考试统计与质量分析中的应用，电脑知识与技术，2017，13(28)：62 -64.

9.姚秋阳, 杨玉芹, 崔柳苏, 苏辉昭, 李瑞芳, 陆光涛, 野油菜黄单胞菌6-磷酸果糖激酶基因的初步分析, 基因组学与应用生物学, 2010, 29(06): 1047-1054.