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Dr.Skorn
Mongkolsuk received his B.Sc.
(Hons) in pharmacology from King's
College, University of London, in
1980. A year later, he graduated from
Chelsea College, University of London
with an M.Sc. degree in Biochemistry.
He was also awarded the Sigma Prize
for the best overall performance in
biochemistry from Chelsea College.
He later pursued with Professor Paul
S. Lovett from the University of Maryland
Baltimore County in 1985. Subsequently,
he moved to Laboratory of Biochemistry,
National Cancer Institute, National
Istitutes of Health, USA for his postdoctoral
reseach with Dr.Maxine F. Singer.
Upon returning to Thailand, he joined
the Department
of Microbiology, Faculty of Science,
Mahidol University in 1987 and
later moved to the Department
of Biotechnology at the same institution.
In 1989, he was appointed Head of
the Laboratory of Biotechnology, Chulabhorn
Research Institutes where he is currently
directing an active laboratory. He
is also an Associate Professor at
the Department of Biotechnology, Faculty
of Science, Mahidol University. Dr.Skorn's
research since joining Mahidol University
and the Chulabhorn Research Institute
has focused on how environmental pollutants
such as pesticides and heavy metals
affect oxidative stress response of
soil bacteria, Xanthomonas. He has been awarded many prizes for
his accomplishments in research, such
as the Outstanding Young Scientist
Award (1991), Taguchi Prize for an outstanding researcher from
the Thai Society for Biotechnology
(1997). Outstanding Scientist Award from the Foundation of the Promotion
of Science and Technology under the
patronage of His Majesty the King
in 1998 and Mahidol University
Prize for Research (2000).
Since joining Mahidol University
and the Chulabhorn Research Institute,
Dr.Skorn's research has focused on
the oxidative stress response of soil
and phytopathogen Xanthomonas.
The work initially started with detailed
physiological characterization of
oxidant inducible stress responses.
Then, he addressed the molecular cloning
of genes involved in peroxide stress
protection, such as catalase and alkyl
hydroperoxide reductase. Characterization
of these genes has lead to in depth
study on their regulation and the
peroxide sensor and transcription
regulator OxyR. The work in his laboratory
lead to the discovery of a novel family
of genes designated ohr for
organic hydroperoxide resistance gene.
Subsequent work in his and other laboratories
around the world has found that ohr is widely distributed in both Gram
positive and Gram negative bacteria
and play an important role in protecting
bacteria from highly toxic organic
peroxide. In Xanthomonas and
other Gram negative bacteria, ohr by organic peroxide. This work has
lead to the discovery of a novel family
of transcription regulators and organic
peroxide sensor OhrR.
The future work in Dr.Skorn's laboratory
will involve detailed characterization
of the OhrR family of transcripton
reguators and organic peroxide sensors.
The sensing mechanism and binding
of the protein will be elucidated.
Moreover, bacteria such as Agrobacterium and P. aeroginosa have multiple
copies of ohrR in their genome.
The work will define the function
of these different copies and determine
if there is any cross regulation between
them. The target genes for regulation
by OhrR often involve organic peroxide
metabolism. The genes coding for ohr,
glutathione transferase, and chloroperxidase
will be studied and their biochemical
mechanisms and physiological roles
elucidated. In addition, the ability
of heavy metals and pesticides to
modulate oxidative stress response
will be monitored in soil bacteria
and shrimp pathogens such as Vibrio
harveyi.
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