loading

賴爾珉

賴爾珉 (Lai, Erh-Min)

所長
研究員

微生物無所不在，目前科學研究證據充分顯示微生物可說是攸關地球上所有動植物生存或健康的必要元素。因此，研究微生物之間或在真核寄主中的互動關係對人類和農作物的生長發育及其健康是非常重要及熱門的研究課題。我實驗室的主要研究方向為探討病原細菌(以農桿菌為模式生物)如何演化及運用它的蛋白質分泌機制來增進其在環境中與其他微生物競爭或在寄主中的生存優勢。農桿菌為一種普遍存在於土壤中的植物病原細菌，可藉由第四型蛋白質分泌系統 (type IV secretion system, T4SS) 將 T-DNA 傳送進入植物基因體中而造成癌腫病。由於其跨界的DNA轉移能力，農桿菌有「遺傳工程師」之稱，透過它的基因轉殖能力，人類得以將外來基因導入植物細胞內，研發出各種基因轉殖作物。 本實驗室主要為研究第四型及第六型蛋白質分泌系統 (type IV and type VI secretion systems, T4SS and T6SS)的生化及生理功能，進而探討農桿菌如何運用蛋白質分泌系統來增進其感染力、植物的基因轉殖效率及在環境中的生存競爭力。 我們期望所獲得之研究成果及新知除可用於提高植物基因轉殖效率外，更可運用於相關藥物開發進而控制動植物細菌病原菌之感染。

圖一、農桿菌為一種植物病原細菌，可藉由第四型蛋白質分泌系統(type IV secretion system, T4SS) 將 T-DNA 傳送進入植物基因體中而造成癌腫病（美國加州大學戴維斯分校的榆樹癌腫病, 胡哲明先生拍攝）。藉由農桿菌傳送DNA來進行植物的短暫基因表達能夠提供一種簡單又快速的方法來分析基因的功能。因此我們發展出一種利用農桿菌於阿拉伯芥小苗進行高效率的基因短暫表達系統，稱為AGROBEST，可應用在基因功能性的分析 (Wu et al., 2014. Plant Methods)。

圖二、組成農桿菌T6SS及分泌蛋白質之基因主要位於農桿菌之線性染色體上約20-kb片斷之基因群。農桿菌在特定時機會分泌一種名為Tde ( type VI DNase effectors) 的DNA分解酶蛋白質，利用第六型分泌系統將Tde注射到所接觸到的其他細菌競爭對手的細胞內，以分解競爭對手的DNA，達到確保自己在植物宿主內的生存優勢，展現細菌生存攻防戰的新策略 (Ma et al., Cell Host Microbe, 2014)。

圖三、第六型分泌系統的毒素蛋白質並非單純被動地被運送，而在裝載過程中參與了活化T6SS鞘膜結構的組裝。顯示擁有T6SS的細菌極可能廣泛地利用此調控機制以確保能在T6SS完成結構組裝前，其效應分子已先裝載至分泌系統，進而更有效率的組裝並使用T6SS (Wu, Lien et al., EMBO Reports, 2019)。

All publications

Selected Publications

Research articles

    1. Sung LK, Lin JS, Wang YC, Wu CF, Hsu HW, Chang JH, Kuo CH* , Lai EM * (2025) Co-option of a degenerated polysaccharide transporter for type VI protein secretion across diverse α-Proteobacteria. Res Square (Preprint) https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7993693/v1
    2. Liu MS, Huang TK, Wang YC, Wang SC, Wu CH, Kuo CH, Lai EM * (2025) Floral Stage Optimization and Immune Evasion Enhance Agrobacterium-Mediated Genome Editing in Arabidopsis. New Phytologist. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70795
    3. Wu Y, Chang HY, Wu CH, Lai EM*, Kuo CH* (2025) Comparative Transcriptomics Reveals Context- and Strain-Specific Regulatory Programs of Agrobacterium During Plant Colonization. Microbial Genomics 2025 Aug;11(8).doi: 10.1099/mgen.0.001485.
    4. Lai X, Yu M, Cheng CP, Lai EM* 2025 Distinct strategies of diguanylate cyclase domain proteins on inhibition of virulence and interbacterial competition by agrobacteria. mBio:e00039-25.
    5. Lopez-Agudelo JC, Goh FJ, Tchabashvili S, Huang YS, Huang CY, Lee TK, Wang YC, Wu Y, Chang HX, Kuo CK, Lai EM, Wu CH* (2024) Rhizobium rhizogenes A4-derived strains mediate hyper-efficient transient gene expression in Nicotiana benthamiana and other solanaceous plants. Plant Biotechnology Journal pp. 1–14
    6. Santos MNM, Pintor KL, Hsieh PY, Cheung YW, Sung LK, Shih YL, and Lai EM* (2024) Agrobacteria deploy two classes of His-Me finger superfamily nuclease effectors exerting different antibacterial capacities against specific bacterial competitors. Front. Microbiol. 2024 Feb 14:15:1351590. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1351590
    7. Ali J, Yu M, Sung LK, Cheung YW, and Lai EM* (2023) A glycine zipper motif
      is required for the translocation of a T6SS toxic effector into target
      cells. EMBO Rep e56849 https://doi.org/10.15252/embr.202356849
    8. Wang SC, Chen AP, Chou SJ, Kuo CH*, and Lai EM* (2023) Soil Inoculation and Blocker-Mediated Sequencing Show Effects of the Antibacterial T6SS on Agrobacterial Tumorigenesis and Gallobiome. mBio March 6: e00177-23 https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.00177-23
    9. Yu M, Wang YC, Huang CJ, Ma LS, and Lai EM*. (2020) Agrobacterium tumefaciens Deploys a Versatile Antibacterial Strategy to Increase its Competitiveness. J Bacteriol. 2020 Nov 9:JB.00490-20. doi: 10.1128/JB.00490-20. 
    10. Lin HH, Yu M, Sriramoju MK, Hsu ST, Liu CT*, and Lai EM* (2020) A high-throughput interbacterial competition screen identifies ClpAP in enhancing recipient susceptibility to type VI secretion system-mediated attack by Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Front. Microbiol. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.03077.
    11. Santos MNM, Cho ST, Wu CF, Chang CJ, Kuo CH, and Lai EM* (2020) Redundancy and specificity of type VI secretion vgrG loci in antibacterial activity of Agrobacterium tumefaciens 1D1609 strain. Front. Microbiol. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.03004.
    12. Wu CF, Lien YW, Bondage D, Lin JS, Pilhofer M, Shih YL, Chang JH, Lai EM*. (2019) Effector loading onto the VgrG carrier activates type VI secretion system assembly. EMBO Rep. 2019 Dec 5:e47961. doi: 10.15252/embr.201947961.
    13. Wu CF, Santos Santos MNM, Cho ST, Chang HH, Tsai YM, Smith DA, Kuo CH*, Chang JH*, Lai EM* (2019) Plant pathogenic Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains have diverse type VI effector-immunity pairs and vary in in planta competitiveness. Mol Plant-Microbe Interact. Mar 4. doi: 10.1094/MPMI-01-19-0021-R.(Editor's pick)
    14. Wang YC, Yu M, Shih PY, Wu HY, Lai EM* (2018) Stable pH Suppresses Defense Signaling and is the Key to Enhance Agrobacterium-Mediated Transient Expression in Arabidopsis Seedlings. Sci Rep 8(1):17071. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-34949-9.
    15. Lin JS, P Panayiota, Wu HH, Tsai MD, Filloux A, and Lai EM* (2018) TagF-mediated repression of bacterial type VI secretion systems involves a direct interaction with the cytoplasmic protein Fha. J Biol Chem. 2018 293(23) 8829–8842. pii: jbc.RA117.001618. doi: 10.1074/jbc.RA117.001618.
    16. Shih PY, Chou SJ, Mueller C, Halkier BA, Deeken R, and Lai EM* (2018) Differential Roles of Glucosinolates and Camalexin at Different Stages of Agrobacterium-Mediated Transformation. Mol Plant Pathol. 19 (8), 1956–1970 DOI: 10.1111/mpp.12672. (recommended by Faculty 1000)
    17. Bondage D, Lin JS, Ma LS, Kuo CH, and Lai EM* (2016) VgrG C-terminus confers the type VI effector transport specificity and is required for binding with PAAR and adaptor-effector complex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Jul 5;113(27):E3931-40. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1600428113. (recommended by Faculty 1000)
    18. Ma LS, Hachani A, Lin JS, Filloux A*, and Lai EM.* (2014) Agrobacterium tumefaciens deploys a superfamily of type VI secretion DNase effectors as weapons for interbacterial competition in planta. Cell Host & Microbe. Jul 9;16(1):94-104. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2014.06.002. (recommended by Faculty 1000)
    19. Wu HY, Liu KH, Wang YC, Wu JF, Chiu WL, Chen CY, Wu SH, Sheen J, and Lai EM.* (2014) AGROBEST: an efficient Agrobacterium-mediated transient expression method for versatile gene function analysis in Arabidopsis seedlings. Plant Methods. Jun 18;10:19. doi: 10.1186/1746-4811-10-19. (recommended by Faculty 1000)
    20. Lin, J. S., Wu, H. H., Hsu, P. H., Ma, L. S., Pang, Y. Y., Tsai, M. D., and Lai, E. M.* (2014) Fha interaction with phosphothreonine of TssL activates type VI secretion in Agrobacterium tumefaciens. PLoS Pathog. Mar 13;10(3):e1003991. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1003991.

Reviews or commentaries

  • Huang TK and Lai EM* (2025) Cooperation and antagonism in Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Nature Plants 11 (5), 946-948.
  • Mijatović Scouten J, Hsieh SC, Sung LK, Wen HY, Kuo CH, Lai EM, and Chang JH*  (2025) Function, evolution, and ecology of type VI secretion systems of plant-associated bacteria. Annu. Rev. Phytopathol. 63: 4.1-4.24
  • Weisberg AJ*, Wu Y, Chang JH, Lai EM, Kuo CH* (2023) Virulence and ecology of Agrobacteria in the context of evolutionary genomics. Annu. Rev. Phytopathol. 2023 Sep 5;61:1-23. doi: 10.1146/annurev-phyto-021622-125009
  • Ali J. and Lai EM* (2023). Distinct TssA proteins converge in coordinating tail biogenesis of the type VI secretion systems. BioEssays, e2200219. https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.202200219
  • Wu HY and Lai EM* (2022) AGROBEST: a highly efficient Agrobacterium-mediated transient expression system in Arabidopsis seedlings. Methods Mol Biol Plant Synthetic Biology, 113-123. New York, NY: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1791-5_7. (Invited book chapter)
  • Lin HH, Filloux A, and Lai EM* Role of Recipient Susceptibility Factors During Contact-Dependent Interbacterial Competition. (2020) Front. Microbiol. 11:603652. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.603652.
  • Hwang HH*, Yu M, and Lai EM*. (2017) Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation: biology and applications. The Arabidopsis Book 15: e0186. USA: American Society of Plant Biologists.: e0186. doi: 10.1199/tab.0186.
  • Lien YW and Lai EM* (2017) Type VI secretion effectors: methodologies and Biology. Front Cell Infect Microbiol Jun 15;7:254. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2017.00254.
  • Yu M and Lai EM* (2017) Warfare between Host Immunity and Bacterial Weapons. Cell Host & Microbe Jan 11;21(1):3-4. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2016.12.012.
實驗室成員合照 

劉茂森 Mao-Sen Liu
專案研究員
Project Research Scientist
msliu@gate.sinica.edu.tw
黃登魁 Teng-Kuei Huang
博士後研究
Postdoctoral Fellow
tengkueih@gmail.com
王奕杰 Yi-Chieh Wang
實驗室經理 Lab Manager
 ejw@gate.sinica.edu.tw

吳宇 Yu Wu
博士候選人 Ph.D. candidate
hooyagaga@yahoo.com.tw

賴軒 Xuan Lai
博士候選人 Ph.D. candidate
d10b42001@ntu.edu.tw

哈格斯 Hagos Mohammedseid Juhar
博士候選人 Ph.D. candidate
hagos98@gmail.com

宋立綱 Li-Kang Sung
博士候選人 Ph.D. candidate
likang1994@sinica.edu.tw
溫永蕙 Yung-Hui Wen
博士候選人 Ph.D. candidate
jcat19980706@smail.nchu.edu.tw

林柔齊Jou-Chi Lin
碩士生 Master student


徐灝文 Hao-Wen Hsu
大學部學生 Undergraduate student

國內

  • 2018 傑出研究獎 - 科技部
  • 2018 深耕計畫 - 中央研究院
  • 2011 楊祥發院士傑出農業科學年輕學者獎 - 財團法人楊祥發紀念教育基金會
  • 2010 年輕學者研究著作獎 - 中央研究院