MICROBIAL GENOMICS LABORATORY

SUMMARY

 

Our lab aims to explore questions with potentially great impact on both science and our society. We are currently interested in two main research projects.

 

1. Fungal epigenetics/epigenomics: This is related to DNA methylation project, since relationship between DNA methylation and histone modification has been established in plants and mammals. The focus will be on investigating various histone modifications on fungal chromatin. As the first step, genes encoding histone modifying enzymes were identified and catalogued in fungi and other eukaryotes whose genome sequences are available (more than 200 species). To store data and enable comparative and evolutionary analysis, a web-based database for histone modifying enzyme was constructed after careful curation of sequences. I believe this database will be a valuable resource to scientific communities that are interested in epigenetic regulation of genes/genomes and fungal biology. Magnaporthe oryzae, a plant pathogenic fungus, will serve as a model system to which molecular techniques are applied to test if a given histone modification is implicated in fungal pathogenesis. Histone modification(s) that is required for pathogenicity of the fungus will be subjected to ChIP-seq and RNA-seq to obtain genome-wide pattern and expression of corresponding histone modification. This would be important to identify genes under epigenetic regulation. Considering on-going works on fungal-specific inhibitors of histone modifications, knowledge on histone modifications regulating pathogenicity genes might open new possibilities to develop new way of fungal diseases on agriculturally important crops. Although the current focus is on M. oryzae, impact of this work will reach well beyond better understanding and management of this one pathogen.

 

2. Comparative genomics of pathogenicity/defense mechanisms: The availability of genome sequences of many important fungal pathogens and some of their hosts will significantly facilitate the characterization and comparison of the mechanisms at play on both sides of the interactions using various functional genomics tools. The focus will be on identifying pathogenicity (and defense) factors common among these fungi (and their hosts) and those unique to individual fungi (and hosts). Considering that there are many phylogenetically related fungi infecting common tissues of host plants, I am particularly interested in investigating the commonalities and differences among molecular arsenals of those fungi as well as responses of host plants. Responses to fungal infection will be characterized and compared among different host species and within each of the chosen species. Host genes whose expressions correlate with resistance will be characterized. On pathogen sides, one particular group of fungal genes I am interested in is those encoding secreted proteins (possibly effectors). Comparison of genome sequences and functional analysis of those genes will provide valuable insights into pathogenesis of fungi infecting common tissues of plants.

 

 

연구실 소개

 

최근에 유전체 분석 기술의 비약적인 발전으로 인하여 유전체 정보의 양이 급격하게 늘어나고 있는 추세에 있습니다. 본 연구실에서는 이러한 대량의 유전체 정보들을 분석하여 의미있는 정보들을 추출하고, 다시 이 정보들을 통해서 미생물의 유전 및 생리 그리고 병원성에 관련한 현상들을 한 두 개의 유전자가 아닌 시스템 수준에서 이해하고자 하는 연구를 수행하고 있습니다. 다양한 유전학, 기능유전체학, 그리고 생명정보학 도구들을 활용하여 다학제간 융합을 통해서 미생물 생활사와 진화의 여러 측면들을 연구하고 있는 신생 연구실입니다. 창의적이고 열정적인 학생들이 서로의 꿈을 이루기 위해 도움을 주는 연구실 문화를 만드는 것을 중요시하고 있습니다.

 

현재는 후성유전학(Epigenetics)적인 요인들이, 벼를 가해하는 주요한 병원균이자 진균 병원균의 모델 시스템인 벼도열병균(Magnaporthe oryzae)의 병원성을 어떻게 조절하는지 이해하고, 이를 통해서 각종 진균 병원균을 제어할 수 있는 방법을 개발하려는 연구를 수행 중에 있습니다. 본 연구실은 기초적인 미생물학 연구부터 응용미생물학 연구까지 폭넓게 그리고 동시에 깊이 있는 연구를 수행하려고 합니다. 미생물 생명공학에 관심이 있으시면 언제나 열려있는 실험실 문을 두드리시기 바랍니다.