报告专家：Dr. Hongwei Yu Marshall University

　　报告题目：Regulation of the exopolysaccharide alginate biosynthesis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

　　时间：2014年9月17日 星期三 上午9：00

　　地点：重点实验室楼8楼学术报告厅

　　专家简介：

　　Dr. Hongwei Yu is a tenured Professor of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia. He is also Chief Science Officer and co-founder of Progenesis Technologies, LLC, a biotechnology startup that specializes in the use of genetic engineering to render bacteria a microbial cell factory for the production of useful biopolymers.

　　Dr. Yu has received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), United States Department of Energy (DOE), the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and biotechnology companies. Dr. Yu has one patent issued, and two patents pending on the use of Pseudomonas to produce alginate. Dr. Yu has authored 44 peer-reviewed research papers, and trained Ph.D. graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.

　　Dr. Yu received his B.Sc. degree in Aquaculture from the Ocean University of China in 1983, M.Sc. in Microbiology from the University of Alberta in 1990, and Ph.D. in Molecular Pathogenesis from the University of Calgary in 1994, followed by postdoctoral training in Bacterial Genetics and Microbial Pathogenesis at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and the University of Michigan Medical School before joining the faculty at Medical School of Marshall University in 1999.

　　报告简介：

　　Bacterial biofilm formation is a major cause of chronic diseases and clinical infections. A hallmark of clinical biofilms in Cystic Fibrosis is the overproduction of a capsular polysaccharide called alginate. I will talk about what we know about the regulation and production of alginate with the focus on the signal transduction pathways. Alginate is also a useful biopolymer with pharmaceutical applications. I will also talk about the mouse model of lung infection through the exposure to bacterial aerosols and on the commercialization of bacterial alginate.