
Honorary Vice Dean / Chief Strategy Officer for International Affairs
Shir-Ly Huang
Email:sl.huang@nycu.edu.tw
Job tasks |
Negotiation representative for international program |
Affiliation | |
Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University | Professor |
Brief Experience | |
Office of International Affairs, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University | Vice President for International Affairs |
Office of International Affairs, National Yang-Ming University | Vice President for International Affairs |
International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes | Taiwan Representative |
Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Life Science, NYMU | Director |
Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, NYMU | Director |
American Society for Microbiology | Ambassador to Taiwan |
Taiwan Society of Microbial Ecology | President |
Asian Symposium of Microbial Ecology | Woman Scientist Roundtable Taiwan Representative |
Areas of Expertise |
Microbial Biochemistry,Bacterial Physiology,Proteomics,Drug Discovery |
Research Direction |
(I) The metabolism and physiology of human commensal anaerobes and their mutualistic interaction with other bacteria to promote health |
Microbes often exist in the form of multi-species communities in natural environments. Such interactive ecosystems involve processes such as metabolites cross-feeding and quorum sensing. Traditional probiotic lactic acid bacteria produce a large amount of lactic acid in the intestine, and excessive lactate accumulation in the human body is related to diseases such as arthritis and inflammation. The lactate-utilizing bacterium Veillonella dispar in the intestine can metabolize lactate and produce beneficial short-chain fatty acids, which play an important role in maintaining the gut lactate balance. Our research found that there is a mutually beneficial interaction between the lactate-producing bacterium lactobacilli and the lactate-utilizing bacterium V. dispar. The lactobacilli cross-feeds lactate and glutamate to V. dispar promoting the growth, viability, and production of short-chain fatty acids by both strains. Co-culture transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses elucidate the complex metabolic relationship, highlighting the importance of their interaction in maintaining gut lactate balance. Our studies provide novel insights and new directions for future probiotic product development.
1. Zhang, S. M., & Huang, S. L. (2023). The commensal anaerobe Veillonella dispar reprograms its lactate metabolism and short-chain fatty acid production during the stationary phase. Microbiology spectrum, 11(2), e03558-22. 2. Zhang, S. M., Hung, J. H., Yen, T. N., & Huang, S. L. (2024). Mutualistic interactions of lactate‐producing lactobacilli and lactate‐utilizing Veillonella dispar: Lactate and glutamate cross‐feeding for the enhanced growth and short‐chain fatty acid production. Microbial Biotechnology, 17(5), e14484. 3. Hung, J. H., Zhang, S. M. & Huang, S. L. (2024). Nitrate promotes the growth and the productions of short-chain fatty acids and tryptophan from commensal anaerobe Veillonella dispar in the lactate-deficient environment by facilitating the catabolism of glutamate and aspartate. Applied and Environmental Microbiology (in revision). |
(II) Microbial catabolism of toxic compounds including endocrine disrupting chemicals and surfactants/emulsifiers using biochemical, proteomic and mutagenesis approaches. |
(III)Microbial ecology/physiology of microbiome and human diseases |