Jing-Ke Weng

Research Overview

Natural product biochemistry, plant abiotic and biotic interactions, carbon sequestration, agricultural biotechnology, food allergy, drug discovery

Plant metabolism is a treasure trove for multifaceted scientific exploration that can impact plant biology, biochemistry, evolutionary biology, and biomedical research. The extraordinary chemodiversity within the plant kingdom suggests an immense wealth of unknown biochemistry and relevant biological functions waiting to be discovered. Additionally, plant metabolic systems display significant depth and richness in their phylogenetic distribution, offering a unique arena for studying the evolutionary mechanisms and trajectories of complex metabolic traits. Given that numerous plants are renowned for their properties to influence human consciousness and to treat various diseases, leveraging such traditional knowledge through contemporary scientific methods opens up new opportunities to enhance our understanding of human biology and to devise new therapies inspired by natural products. The Weng Lab is interested in addressing four fundamental questions concerning plant metabolism: (I) How do diverse metabolic traits evolve in plants? (II) How do metabolic systems organize at the subcellular, cellular, tissue, and even interspecies levels to achieve efficient metabolic output in their native plant hosts? (III) What are the biological functions and action mechanisms of discrete plant specialized metabolites in their native plant hosts and/or in the context of treating human diseases? (IV) How can we effectively utilize synthetic biology strategies to engineer the sustainable production of valuable plant-derived natural products?