Seminar:         (348) DNA phosphorothioate epigenetics in bacteria

Speaker:         Prof. Shi Chen, Wuhan University, China

Time:         2019-04-01 10:30 to 2019-04-01 11:30

Venue:         Meeting room (406), Building 24

Organizer: SPST

Abstract:

Explosive growth in the study of microbial epigenetics has revealed a diversity of chemical structures and biological functions of DNA and RNA modifications in basic genetic processes. The emergence of convergent technologies has led to a growing appreciation for the diversity of DNA and RNA modifications in bacterial and archaea epigenetics. Interestingly, we discovered complex but unappreciated interactions between DNA phosphorothioation and DNA methylation systems. We also noticed an interference between DNA phosphorothioation and tRNA modification. They raise the possibility of coevolution of interacting epigenetic systems to facilitate the function of each. The combination of epigenomics, transcriptome analysis, and metabolomics suggests that in addition to providing a genetic barrier against invasive DNA, PT modification is a versatile player involved in the epigenetic control of gene expression and the maintenance of cellular redox homeostasis.    

Brief biography of the speaker:

Dr. Shi Chen is a Chu-Tian Distinguished Professor in the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Wuhan University, China. He got his BS and MS in biotechnology at Huazhong Agriculture University in2000, and Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology at Shanghai Jiaotong University, China in 2004. During his Ph.D., he went to Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology from 2001 to 2002. He then moved to MIT in 2005 and Harvard University in 2007 for postdoctoral studies. He came back to China to join Wuhan University in 2011. He was also awarded Young Science& Technology Leader by Ministry of Science and Technology China and Hubei Province’s Outstanding Medical Academic Leader Program. He is currently Associate Editors in Microbiological Research and BMC Systems Biology, and Editorial Board members of Scientific Reports and Frontiers in Toxicogenomics. Prof. Shi Chen’s research focuses on epigenetics, genome engineering, synthetic biology, and innovative drug discovery. His group had publications in PNAS,Nature Communications, Angew Chemie Int Ed, Nucleic Acids Research, FEMS Microbiology Reviews, Trends in Cell Biology, Medicinal Research Reviews, Theranostics, mBio, Molecular Microbiology, Protein and Cell, Biotechnology Journal, Current Genetcis etc.