Prof. Liang, Zhao-Xun

Our lab focuses on discovering novel enzymes, pathways, and mechanisms involved in natural product biosynthesis and bacterial pathogenesis. We leverage genomics, biochemistry, and synthetic biology to awaken cryptic biosynthetic pathways, revealing new enzymatic strategies for building and modifying molecular scaffolds. Building on nature's biosynthetic diversity, we also strive to engineer microbes to produce "unnatural" natural products. With powerful DNA synthesis and genome editing tools, we redesign entire pathways by combining enzymes from different systems or creating entirely new biochemical routes. This synthetic biology approach will expand nature's chemical repertoire for drug discovery applications. Another focus of our research examines cyclic dinucleotides, key signaling molecules that regulate critical bacterial processes. These bacterial messengers function through sophisticated networks of enzymes and effector proteins, which ensure precise spatiotemporal control over bacterial behaviour. By elucidating these signaling pathways, we seek to uncover novel therapeutic targets for disrupting pathogenic infections, aiming to develop innovative antimicrobial and biofilm-disrupting strategies.

Research Areas