Korea University · 生化学・遺伝学・分子生物学
Professor Woojun Park's research lab focuses on microbial pathogenesis, antibiotic resistance, and host-microbe interactions, with a particular emphasis on understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying bacterial stress responses, biofilm formation, and virulence. The lab investigates how metabolic pathways such as the glyoxylate shunt and oxidative stress defense systems contribute to bacterial survival under host and antibiotic stress. Additionally, the lab explores the role of iron metabolism and redox homeostasis in antibiotic action, as well as the impact of environmental and host factors on microbial community dynamics and disease progression.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
The glyoxylate shunt (GS) is a two-step metabolic pathway (isocitrate lyase, aceA; and malate synthase, glcB) that serves as an alternative to the tricarboxylic acid cycle. The GS bypasses the carbon dioxide-producing steps of the tricarboxylic acid cycle and is essential for acetate and fatty acid metabolism in bacteria. GS can be up-regulated under conditions of oxidative stress, antibiotic stress, and host infection, which implies that it plays important but poorly explored roles in stress de
Antibiotics can induce cell death via a variety of action modes, including the inhibition of transcription, ribosomal function, and cell wall biosynthesis. In this study, we demonstrated directly that iron availability is important to the action of antibiotics, and the ferric reductases of Pseudomonas putida and Pseudomonas aeruginosa could accelerate antibiotic-mediated cell death by promoting the Fenton reaction. The modulation of reduced nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide (NADH) levels and iro
This study examined the role of the periplasmic oxidative defense proteins, copper, zinc superoxide dismutase (SodC), and thiol peroxidase (Tpx), from the Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 (STEC) in the formation of biofilms. Proteomic analyses have shown significantly higher expression levels of both periplasmic antioxidant systems (SodC and Tpx) in STEC cells grown under biofilm conditions than under planktonic conditions. An analysis of their growth phase-dependent gene expressio
The host genetic background, complex surrounding environments, and gut microbiome are very closely linked to human and animal health and disease. Although significant correlations between gut microbiota and human and animal health have been revealed, the specific roles of each gut bacterium in shaping human and animal health and disease remain unclear. However, recent omics-based studies using experimental animals and surveys of gut microbiota from unhealthy humans have provided insights into th
Rifampicin, a bactericidal antibiotic drug, is routinely used to make an environmental recipient selective in laboratory-conjugation experiments. We noticed, inadvertently, that the rifampicin-resistant Acinetobacter sp. strain DR1, a recently discovered hexadecane-degrading environmental isolate, exhibited a substantial loss of quorum sensing signalling. The domesticated ampicillin-resistant strain, DR1, evidenced more dramatic phenotypic changes than were observed in the rifampicin-resistant c
Diseases caused by bacterial infections in small-scale and industrial livestock are becoming serious global health concern in veterinary science. Zoonotic bacteria, including <i>Staphylococcus, Campylobacter</i>, and <i>Bartonella</i> species, that infect animals and humans cause various illnesses, such as fever, diarrhea, and related complications. Bacterial diseases in animals can be treated with various classes of antibiotics, including fluoroquinolones, beta-lactams, aminoglycosides, and mac
Pseudomonas putida harbors two ferredoxin-NADP(+) reductases (Fprs) on its chromosome, and their functions remain largely unknown. Ferric reductase is structurally contained within the Fpr superfamily. Interestingly, ferric reductase is not annotated on the chromosome of P. putida. In an effort to elucidate the function of the Fpr as a ferric reductase, we used a variety of biochemical and physiological methods using the wild-type and mutant strains. In both the ferric reductase and flavin reduc
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