Research

Future research interest I

• How do environmental factors impact bacterial pathogenesis? 

• Can we build environment-resilient plant immunity through biotechnology?

연구 주제

• 식물병리학의 병삼각형 (Disease triangle)은 기주식물, 병원체와 더불어 환경적인 요인이 식물병의 발생에서 중요한 요소라는 것을 강조하고 있습니다. 그러나 이전의 분자식물병리학 연구들은 기주식물과 병원체의 상호작용에 초점을 맞추어 진행되었고, 그렇기 때문에 식물-미생물 상호작용에서 환경이 주는 변화에 대한 연구가 필요합니다. 특히 변화하는 기후로 인하여 식물병이 증가하고 있는 상황에서 우리 연구실은 식물-미생물 상호작용 속 분자적 변화를 이해하여 이를 극복할 수 있는 방안을 연구합니다. 

• 모델 식물인 애기장대를 넘어 유전자 교정 기법을 통한 저온 작물의 기후탄력적 면역설계 방법을 연구합니다. 

Future research interest II

• Can we engineer host plants for the production of pharmaceutical proteins?

연구 주제

• 유용 단백질 생산용 기주식물 개량 기술을 연구합니다. 

• Small proteins modulate ion channel-like ACD6 to regulate immunity in Arabidopsis thaliana

In this project, we studied the precise biochemical mechanism by which ACD6 and related proteins in plants act remains enigmatic. Several lines of evidence link increased ACD6 activity to enhanced calcium influx, likely mediated by ACD6 itself and with MHA1L as a direct regulator of ACD6. (Chen, Li, Kim, Neuhäuser et al. 2023)

Increasing the resilience of plant immunity to a warming climate

In this project, we studied how elevated (suboptimal) temperature affects plant immunity and report rate-limiting genes to build temperature-resilient immunity. (Kim and Castroverde et al. 2022)

• Crops of the future: building a climate-resilient plant immune system

In this review paper, we discussed how environmental condition affects plant immunity and how to build climate-resilient plant immunity. (Kim and Hilleary et al., 2021).

• Identification of Arabidopsis RING E3 Ubiquitin (Ub) ligase AtAIRP3/LOG2, which is a positive regulator in plant defense responses against high-salt and drought stress

Through a reverse genetic screen, we found that AtAIRP3/LOG2 is a positive regulator in ABA-mediated defense responses against high salinity and drought stress (Kim and Kim, 2013).

• Characterization of molecular mechanisms under the function of RING ligase AtAIRP2

We identified ATP1/SDIRIP1, an interacting partner of the RING E3 ligase AtAIRP2, which is positive regulator of ABA-mediated drought responses. Through genetic and molecular approaches, it is revealed that the physiological function of AtAIRP2 is dependent on ATP1/SDIRIP1 and the half-life of ATP1/SDIRIP1 is negatively affected by AtAIRP2; this suggests that AtAIRP2 functions through regulating half-life of ATP1/SDIRIP1 in response to ABA (Oh and Kim et al., 2017).

• Characterization of plant defense responses against proteotoxic stress in higher plant

While studying RING E3 ligases on ABA-mediated stress responses, we found that abiotic stresses, such as drought and heat, induce protein damage. We screened RING E3 ligases which are involved in defense response against protein damaging stress and identified MPSR1. The MPSR1 protein functions as a quick surveillance system to monitor for damaged proteins and maintains proteasome activity under protein damaging stress for protein quality control (Kim et al., 2017; Kim et al., 2019).

• Identification of microtubule-localized RING E3 ligase AtJUL1, which is involved in ABA-mediated stomatal regulation

Through a reverse genetic screen, we identified AtJUL1, which is a positive regulator in ABA-mediated stomatal regulation and defense mechanism against drought stress. AtJUL1 is localized to cortical microtubule through direct interaction with microtubule bundle and involved in catastrophe of cortical microtubule in guard cell, which is one of the essential steps to close stomata in response to drought (Yu et al., 2020).