RESEARCH AREA:

        Our major research focuses on the role of bacterial cytoskeleton proteins in bacterial division, chromosome separation, plasmid replication and bacterial shape maintenance. We try to understand the regulatory mechanism of bacterial division and develop new antibiotics targeting key proteins of bacterial division.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS: 

1. Wang Xiaoyu, Ma Xueqin, Li Zhe, Niu Mingyue, Zhai Meiting, Chen Yaodong.  A Novel Z-Ring Associated Protein ZapA-Like Protein (PA5407) From Pseudomonas aeruginosa Promotes FtsZ to Form Double Filaments.  Front Microbiol. 2021 Aug 4;12:717013. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.717013. eCollection 2021. 

2. Mujeeb ur Rahman, Zhe Li, Tingting Zhang, Shuheng Du, Xueqin Ma, Ping Wang, Yaodong Chen. Assembly properties of bacterial tubulin homolog FtsZ regulated by the positive regulator protein ZipA and ZapA from Pseudomonas aeruginosa.(2020) Sci Rep. 2020 Dec 7;10(1):21369. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-78431-x.

3. Wang Na, Bian Li, Ma X, Meng Y, Chen CS, Rahman MU, Zhang T, Li Z, Wang P, Chen Yaodong. Assembly properties of the bacterial tubulin homolog FtsZ from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2019 Nov 1;294(44):16309-16319. DOI: 10.1074/jbc.RA119.009621

4. Yaodong Chen, Ping Wang and Kevin C Slep. Mapping multivalency in the CLIP-170-EB1 microtubule plus-end complex. (2019) Journal of Biological Chemistry. 294(3):918-931. doi: 10.1074/jbc.RA118.006125

5. Haiyan Huang, Ping Wang, Li Bian, Osawa M, Harold P. Erickson and Yaodon Chen. The cell division protein MinD from Pseudomonas aeruginosa dominates the assembly of the MinC-MinD copolymers. (2018) Journal of Biological Chemistry. 293(20):7786-7795. doi: 10.1074/jbc.RA117.001513. 

6. Yaodong Chen, Haiyan Huang, Osawa M and Harold P. Erickson. ZipA and FtsA* stabilize FtsZ-GDP miniring structures. (2017) Sci Rep. 7(1):3650. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-03983-4.

7. Yaodong Chen, Katie Porter, Osawa M, Augustus AM, Milam SL, Joshi C, Osteryoung KW, Erickson HP. The Chloroplast Tubulin Homologs FtsZA and FtsZB from the Red Alga Galdieria sulphuraria Co-assemble into Dynamic Filaments. (2017) Journal of Biological Chemistry. 292(13):5207-5215. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M116.767715.