Kwang-Zin Lee
Dr. rer. nat.
Group leader
Phone: +49 641 972-19150
Email: kwang-zin.lee@ime.fraunhofer.de
Room: A 219
Building: Fraunhofer IME - Neubau
Vita
since 02/2016 |
Group leader, Insect Pathogens at the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME) |
01/2016–02/2016 |
Research scientist at the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME), Giessen, Germany |
12/2015 |
Advanced training in Research / clinical monitoring at mibeg-Institut Medizin, Cologne, Germany |
02/2010–12/2014 |
Senior scientist at the Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IBMC), Strasbourg, France |
10/2006–09/2009 |
Postdoctoral fellow at the Centre d’Immunologie de Marseille-Luminy (CIML), Marseille, France |
09/2004–07/2006 |
Postdoctoral fellow at the University of Western Ontario (UWO), London, Canada |
09/1999–08/2004 |
PhD at the Max-Planck-Institut for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany |
09/1993–08/1999 |
Diploma in Biology at the Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Germany |
Research Interests
The research in Kwang-Zin Lee’s group focus on the analysis of host-pathogen interactions, especially insect-virus interactions and the development of natural pesticides.
Insect specific viruses have the advantage to display a narrow host specificity and are generally safe for humans and wildlife. They serve as an excellent alternative to chemical insecticides, the latter implicated to have negative effects on humans and environment.
Beside the optimization and the use of natural viruses against insects, another research interest of the group is the development of genetic engineered viruses as biological pest control.
Publications
Hiebert N, Carrau T, Bartling M, Vilcinskas A, Lee KZ
(2020)
Identification of entomopathogenic bacteria associated with the invasive pest Drosophila suzukii in infested areas of Germany.
Journal of invertebrate pathology,
173
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jip.2020.107389
Hiebert, N, Kessel T, Skaljac M, Spohn M, Vilcinskas, A, Lee KZ
(2020)
The Gram-Positive Bacterium Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides Shows Insecticidal Activity against Drosophilid and Aphid Pests.
Insects,
11 (8)
Carrau T, Hiebert N, Vilcinskas A, Lee KZ
(2018)
Identification and characterization of natural viruses associated with the invasive insect pest Drosophila suzukii.
Journal of Invertebrate Pathology ,
154
(2018)
, 74-78.
Gegner T, Carrau T, Vilcinskas A, Lee KZ
(2018)
The infection of Harmonia axyridis by a parasitic nematode is mediated by entomopathogenic bacteria and triggers sex-specific host immune responses.
Scientific reports ,
8
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-34278-x
Schetelig MF, Lee KZ, Otto S, Talmann L, Stökl J, Degenkolb T, Vilcinskas A, Halitschke R
(2018)
Environmentally sustainable pest control options for Drosophila suzukii.
Journal of Applied Entomology,
142
(1-2)
, 3-17.
Lee KZ, Vilcinskas A
(2017)
Analysis of virus susceptibility in the invasive insect pest Drosophila suzukii.
Journal of Insect Pathology,
148
, 138-141.
Lee KZ, Lestradet M, Socha C, et al
(2016)
Enterocyte Purge and Rapid Recovery Is a Resilience Reaction of the Gut Epithelium to Pore-Forming Toxin Attack
Cell Host & Microbe,
20
(6)
, 693-694.
Chtarbanova S, Lamiable O, Lee KZ, Galiana D, Troxler L, Meignin C, Hetru C, Hoffmann JA, Daeffler L, Imler JL
(2014)
Drosophila C virus systemic infection leads to intestinal obstruction.
Journal of Virology,
88
(24)
, 14057–14069 .
Lestradet M, Lee KZ, Ferrandon D
(2014)
Drosophila as a model for intestinal infections.
Methods in Molecular Biology,
1197
, 11-40.
Lee KZ, Ferrandon D
(2011)
Negative regulation of immune responses on the fly.
The EMBO Journal,
30
(6)
, 988–990.
Lee KZ, Kniazeva M, Han M, Pujol N, Ewbank JJ
(2010)
The fatty acid synthase fasn-1 acts upstream of WNK and Ste20/GCK-VI kinases to modulate antimicrobial peptide expression in C. elegans epidermis.
Virulence,
1
(3)
, 113–122.
Grbic M, Khila A, Lee KZ, Bjelica A, Grbic V, Whistlecraft J, Verdon L, Navajas M, Nagy L
(2007)
Mity model: Tetranychus urticae, a candidate for chelicerate model organism.
Bioessays,
29
(5)
, 489–496.
Lee KZ, Eizinger A, Nandakumar R, Schuster SC, Sommer RJ
(2003)
Limited microsynteny between the genomes of Pristionchus pacificus and Caenorhabditis elegans.
Nucleic Acids Research,
31
(10)
, 2553–2560.
Lee KZ, Sommer RJ
(2003)
Operon Structure and Trans-Splicing in the Nematode Pristionchus pacificus.
Molecular Biology and Evolution,
20
(12)
, 2097–2103.
Sommer RJ, Carmi I, Eizinger A, Grandien K, Jungblut B, Lee KZ, Nguyen H, Pires-Da Silva A, Schlak I, Sigrist CB, Srinivasan J
(2000)
Pristionchus pacificus: a satellite organism in evolutionary developmental biology.
Nematology,
2
(1)
, 81–88.
Sommer RJ, Eizinger A, Lee KZ, Jungblut B, Bubeck A, Schlak I
(1998)
The Pristionchus HOX gene Ppa-lin-39 inhibits programmed cell death to specify the vulva equivalence group and is not required during vulval induction.
Development,
125
(19)
, 3865–3873.