Research

My research interests span the fields of synthetic biology, biochemistry, and environmental microbiology. Current projects include engineering bacterial nano- and micro-compartment systems for synthetic biology applications and developing bio-cement curing processes.

Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2012

B.S. in Biochemistry, Tufts University, 2006

1. Lee, T-H., Carpenter, T. S., D'haeseleer, P., Savage, D. F., and Yung, M. C. (2019) Encapsulin carrier proteins for enhanced expression of antimicrobial peptides. Biotechnol. Bioeng. Available online https://doi.org/10.1002/bit.27222.
2. Yung, M. C.,* Bourguet, F. A., Carpenter, T. S., and Coleman, M. A. (2017) Re-directing bacterial microcompartment systems to enhance recombinant expression of lysis protein E from bacteriophage X174 in Escherichia coli. Microb. Cell Fact. 16, 71. (*denotes first and corresponding author)
3. Overton, K. W., Park, D. M., Yung, M. C., Dohnalkova, A. C., Smit, J., & Jiao, Y. (2016) Two outer membrane proteins contribute to Caulobacter crescentus cellular fitness by preventing intracellular S-layer protein accumulation. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 82, 6961–6972.
4. Park, D. M., Reed, D. W., Yung, M. C., Eslamimanesh, A., Lencka, M. M., Anderko, A., Fujita, Y., Riman, R. E., Navrotsky, A., & Jiao, Y. (2016) Bioadsorption of rare earth elements through cell surface display of lanthanide binding tags. Environ. Sci. Technol. 50, 2735–2742.
5. Yung, M. C., Park, D. M., Overton, K. W., Blow, M. J., Hoover, C. A., Smit, J., Murray, S. R., Ricci, D. P., Christen, B., Bowman, G. R., & Jiao, Y. (2015) Transposon mutagenesis paired with deep sequencing of Caulobacter crescentus under uranium stress reveals genes essential for detoxification and stress tolerance. J. Bacteriol. 197, 3160-72.
6. Yung, M. C. & Jiao, Y. (2014) Biomineralization of uranium by PhoY phosphatase activity aids cell survival in Caulobacter crescentus. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 80, 4795-804.
7. Yung, M. C., Ma, J., Salemi, M., Phinney, B. S., Bowman, G. R., & Jiao, Y. (2014) Shotgun proteomic analysis unveils survival and detoxification strategies by Caulobacter crescentus during exposure to uranium, chromium, and cadmium. J. Proteome Res. 13, 1833-1847.
8. Cho, M., Brigham, C. J., Sinskey, A. J. & Stubbe, J. (2012) Purification of a polyhydroxybutyrate synthase from its native organism, Ralstonia eutropha: Implications in the initiation and elongation of polymer formation in vivo. Biochemistry 51, 2276-2288.
9. Beeby, M., Cho, M., Stubbe, J. & Jensen, G. J. (2012) Growth and localization of polyhydroxybutyrate granules in Ralstonia eutropha. J. Bacteriol. 194, 1092-1099.
10. Korendovych, I. V., Cho, M., Makhlynets, O. V., Butler, P. L., Staples, R. J. & Rybak-Akimova, E. V. (2008) Anion and carboxylic acid binding to monotopic and ditopic amidopyridine macrocycles. J. Org. Chem. 73, 4771-4782.
11. Korendovych, I. V., Cho, M., Butler, P., Staples, R. J., & Rybak-Akimova, E. V. (2006) Anion binding to monotopic and ditopic macrocyclic amides. Org. Lett. 8, 3171-3174.