Chosun University Graduate Students Selected for Korea's First 'Spotlight Paper'

World-Renowned Journal 'Journal of Bacteriology'

From the left, Deukkyumin, Kang Bokyung, Lee Choah, Park Heejung, Park Yoonmi students. Photo by Chosun University

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] The research conducted by graduate students of the Department of Microbiology, College of Dentistry at Chosun University (Department of Dental Biotechnology) was selected as a Spotlight Article in the microbiology journal Journal of Bacteriology, published on January 2nd.

This is the first case for a domestic research team.

According to Chosun University on the 16th, the Journal of Bacteriology is a globally recognized journal with over 100 years of tradition in the field of microbiology.

Since 2015, the journal has separately selected and announced Spotlight Articles from among the papers it publishes.

The paper, co-first authored by graduate students Deukkyumin and Kang Bokyung of Chosun University, with contributions from students Lee Choah, Park Heejung, and Park Yunmi as co-authors, was published under the title “A Small Protein CydX Essential for the Assembly and Function of Salmonella Terminal Oxidase Cytochrome bd: A Phenotypic Study.”

This paper presents research findings revealing new characteristics of the terminal oxidase cytochrome bd, which is essential for energy metabolism via oxygen respiration in many pathogenic bacteria.

This enzyme does not exist in humans and is only found in bacteria, making it a very important bacterial target for new treatments against multidrug-resistant bacteria that cannot be treated with existing antibiotics. Related research is actively progressing worldwide.

The authors used Salmonella as a model strain to study new characteristics of the assembly and function of this oxidase complex, demonstrating that the assembly process of this enzyme is essential for bacterial proliferation within animal cells.

However, contrary to academic expectations and hopes, they discovered that inhibiting the activity of this enzyme actually increases resistance to bactericidal antibiotics, indicating that inhibition of this enzyme as a treatment method for multidrug-resistant bacteria requires great caution.

Professor Bang Ilsu, the supervising professor, said, “It is an honor that master’s degree graduate students led research in a difficult field requiring biochemical and genetic knowledge and published in a journal recognized worldwide in microbiology. We are very pleased to have been selected as a Spotlight Article. I am proud of all the students in the lab who participated passionately in the research, and I thank them for helping to promote Chosun University’s research capabilities to the world.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.