Aloysius Wong, Ph.D.

Educational Background

09/2011 – 07/2014 PhD in Bioscience
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia
04/2010 – 07/2011 MPhil in Biotechnology
University of Cambridge, UK
09/2006 – 12/2009 BSc (Hons) in Biotechnology
UCSI University, Malaysia

Academic Experience

02/2016 – 07/2016 Postdoctoral Researcher
Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC)
French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) campus, France
08/2014 – 01/2016 Postdoctoral Fellow
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia

Courses Taught

  1. General Biology I (BIO1300)
  2. Principles of Biology (BIO1000)
  3. Biology & Society (BIO1200)
  4. Introduction to Sustainability (SUST1000)
  5. Bioinformatics (BIO4913 – Special Topics)
  6. Cell Signaling (BIO4913 – Special Topics)
  7. The biochemistry of multidrug resistant bacteria (BIO4913 – Summer Special Topics)
  8. Independent Research in Biology (BIO4963)
  9. Advanced Systems Biology: Gene and Protein Systems (STME 5260)
  10. Transition to Kean (GE1000)

Research Interest

Dr. Wong seeks to understand from a molecular perspective, how plants despite being sessile and immobile, can efficiently perceive environmental (biotic and abiotic) signals and launch short- and long-term biological responses that enable them to survive in environments considered hostile to plants. The broader aim of his research is to apply this knowledge for potential biotechnological innovations that can generate stress- and disease-tolerant crops. Currently, research in Dr. Wong’s lab focuses on three main areas: 1) Plant cell signaling, 2) Sustainable horticulture with artificial lights, and 3) Probiotics and antibiotic resistance. His team employs a combination of approaches including but not limited to, molecular biology, biochemistry, cell biology, microbiology, systems biology, structural and computational biology, to address specific questions within the research themes.

Journal Articles

  1. Wong A* & Gehring C (2022). New horizons in plant cell signaling. J. Mol. Sci. 23(10): 5826. (*Corresponding author)
  2. Wong A*, Matijasic BB, Ibana JA & Lim RLH (2022). Editorial: Antimicrobial resistance along the food chain: are we what we eat? Front. Microbiol. 13: 881882. (*Corresponding author)
  3. Wang Y, Dong J, Wang J, Chi W, Zhou W, Tian Q, Hong Y, Zhou X, Ye H, Tian X, Hu R* & Wong A*. Assessing the drug resistance profiles of oral probiotic lozenges. J. Oral Microbiol. 14(1): 2019992. (*Corresponding author)
  4. Choo SW, Chong JL, Gaubert P, …Wong A, et al. (2022). A collective statement in support of saving pangolins. Sci. Total Environ. 824: 153666.
  5. Wong A, Bi C, Pasqualini S & Gehring C (2022). Abscisic acid (ABA) signaling: finding novel components off the beaten track. Plant Growth Regul. doi:10.1007/s10725-022-00823-y
  6. Wong A*, Hu N, Tian X, Yang Y & Gehring C (2021). Nitric oxide sensing revisited. Trends Plant Sci. 26(9), 885-897. (*Corresponding author)
  7. Wong A*, Tian X, Yang Y & Gehring C (2021). Identification of potential nitric oxide-sensing proteins using the H-NOX motif. Mol. Plant 14(2), 195-197. (*Corresponding author)
  8. Al-Younis I, Moosa B, Kwiatkowski M, Jaworski K, Wong A* & Gehring C (2021). Functional crypto-adenylate cyclases operate in complex plant proteins. Front. Plant Sci. 12: 711749. (*Corresponding author)
  9. Marondedze C, Elia G, Thomas L, Wong A & Gehring C (2021). Citrullination of proteins as a specific response mechanism in plants. Front. Plant Sci. 12:638392.
  10. Kwiatkowski M, Wong A, Kozakiewicz A, Gehring C & Jaworski K (2021). A tandem motif-based and structural approach can identify hidden functional phosphodiesterases. Comput. Struct. Biotechnol. J. 19(2021), 970-975.
  11. Duszyn M, Świeżawska-Boniecka B, Wong A, Jaworski K & Szmidt-Jaworska A (2021). In vitro characterization of guanylyl cyclase BdPepR2 from Brachypodium distachyon identified through a motif-based approach. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 22(12), 6243. doi:10.3390/ijms22126243.
  12. Kwiatkowski M, Wong A, Kozakiewicz-Piekarz A, Gehring C & Jaworski K (2021). In search of monocot phosphodiesterases: identification of a calmodulin stimulated phosphodiesterase from Brachypodium distachyon. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 22(17): 9654.
  13.  Zhou W, Chi W, Shen W, Dou W, Wang J, Tian X, Gehring C & Wong A (2021) Computational identification of functional centers in complex proteins: a step-by-step guide with examples. Front. Bioinform. 1:652286. doi:10.3389/fbinf.2021.652286.
  14. Wong A, Donaldson L, Portes MT, Eppinger J, Feijó J & Gehring C (2020). The Arabidopsis Diacylglycerol Kinase 4 is involved in nitric oxide-dependent pollen tube guidance and fertilization. Development 147(8), dev183715. doi:10.1242/dev.183715.
  15. Wang Y, Jiang Y, Deng Y, Yi C, Wang Y, Ding M, Liu J, Jin X, Shen L, He Y, Wu X, Chen X, Sun C, Zheng M, Zhang R, Ye H, An H & Wong A (2020). Probiotic supplements: hope or hype? Front. Microbiol. 11: 160.
  16. Romero-Barrios N, Monachello D, Dolde U, Wong A, Clemente HS, Cayrel A, Johnson A, Lurin C & Vert G (2020). Advanced cataloging of lysine-63 polyubiquitin networks by genomic, interactome, and sensor-based proteomic analyses. Plant Cell 32(1), 123-128.
  17. Ruzvidzo O, Gehring C & Wong A (2019). New perspectives on plant adenylyl cyclases. Front. Mol. Biosci. 6:136.
  18. Freihat LA, Wheeler JI, Wong A, Turek I, Manallack DT & Irving HR (2019). IRAK3 modulates downstream innate immune signalling through its guanylate cyclase activity. Sci. Rep. 9(1): 15468.
  19. Zarban R, Vogler M, Wong A*, Eppinger J, Al-Babili S & Gehring C (2019). Discovery of a nitric oxide-responsive protein in Arabidopsis thaliana. Molecules 24(15): 2691. (*Corresponding author)
  20. Su B, Qian Z, Li T, Zhou Y & Wong A (2019). PlantMP: a database for moonlighting plant proteins. Database (Oxford) 2019(2019): baz050
  21. Bianchet C#, Wong A#, Quaglia M, Alqurashi M, Gehring C, Ntoukakis V & Pasqualini S (2019). An Arabidopsis thaliana leucine-rich repeat protein harbors an adenylyl cyclase catalytic center and affects responses to pathogens. J. Plant. Physiol. 232(2019), 12-22. (#Co-first author)
  22. Xu N*, Wang Y*, Zhu J, Ding M, Liu J, Jin X, He Y, Shen L, Jiang Y, Wang Y & Wong A (2018). Development of an online tracking tool for antibiotic resistance. Basic. Clin. Pharmacol. Toxicol. 124(52): 12.
  23. Al-Younis I, Wong A, Lemtiri-Chlieh F, Schmӧkel S, Tester M, Gehring C & Donaldson L (2018). The Arabidopsis thaliana K+-uptake permease 5 (AtKUP5) contains a functional cytosolic adenylate cyclase essential for K+ transport. Front. Plant Sci. 2018(9): 1645.
  24. Marondedze C, Liu X, Huang S, Wong C, Zhou X, Pan X, An H, Xu N, Tian X & Wong A (2018). Towards a tailored indoor horticulture: A functional genomics guided phenotypic approach. Hortic. Res. 2018(5): 68.
  25. Chatukuta P, Dikobe TB, Kawadza DT, Sehlabane KS, Takundwa MM, Wong A, Gehring C & Ruzvidzo O (2018). An Arabidopsis clathrin assembly with a predicted role in plant defense can function as an adenylate cyclase. Biomolecules 23(2): E15.
  26. Wong A*, Tian X, Gehring C & Marondedze C (2018). Discovery of novel functional centers with rationally designed amino acid motifs. Comput. Struct. Biotechnol. J. 16(2018), 70-76. (* Corresponding author)
  27. Xu N, Fu D, Li S, Wang Y & Wong A (2018). GCPred: a web tool for guanylyl cyclase functional centre prediction from amino acid sequence. Bioinformatics 34(12), 2134-2135.
  28. Ooi A, Lemtiri-Chlieh F, Wong A& Gehring C (2017). Abscisic acid regulates the conductance of the guard cell outward rectifying K+-channel. Mol. Plant 10(11), 1469-1472.
  29. Zheng M, Zhang R, Tian X, Zhou X, Pan X & Wong A (2017). Assessing the risk of probiotic dietary supplements in the context of antibiotic resistance. Front. Microbiol. 8: 908.
  30. Wheeler J, Wong A, Marondedze C, Arnoud G, Kwezi L, Freihat L, Jignesh V, Misjudeen R, Irving H & Gehring C (2017). The brassinosteroid receptor BRI1 can generate cGMP enabling cGMP-dependent downstream signaling. Plant J. 91(4), 590-600.
  31. Ooi A, Wong A, Esau L, Lemtiri-Chlieh F & Gehring C (2016). A guide to transient expression of membrane proteins in HEK-293 cells for electrophysiological characterization. Front. Physiol. 7: 300.
  32. Ooi A#, Wong A#, Ng TK, Marondedze C, Gehring C & Ooi BS (2016). Growth and development of Arabidopsis thaliana under single-wavelength red and blue laser light. Sci. Rep. 6: 33885. (#Co-first author)
  33. Al-Younis I, Wong A & Gehring C (2015). The Arabidopsis thaliana K+-uptake permease 7 (AtKUP7) contains a functional cytosolic adenylate cyclase catalytic centre. FEBS Lett. 589(24 Part B), 3848-3852.
  34. Wong A, Gehring C & Irving HR (2015). Conserved functional motifs and homology modeling to predict hidden moonlighting functional sites. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 82, 1-8.
  35. Wong A, Ngu DYS, Dan LA, Ooi ASL & Lim RLH (2015). Detection of antibiotic resistance in probiotics of dietary supplements. Nutr. J. 14: 95.
  36. Domingos P, Prado, AM, Wong A, Gehring C & Feijo J (2015). Nitric oxide: A multitasking gas in plants. Mol. Plant 8(4), 506-520.
  37. Marondedze C, Wong A, Groen AJ, Serrano N, Jankovic B, Lilley KS, Gehring C & Thomas L (2014). Exploring the Arabidopsis proteome: Influence of protein solubilization buffers on proteome coverage. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 16(1), 857-870.
  38. Wong A & Gehring C (2013). The Arabidopsis thaliana proteome harbors undiscovered multi-domain molecules with functional guanylyl cyclase catalytic centers. Cell Commun. Signal. 11(1): 48.

Conference Proceedings

  1. Wong A (2018). Development of an online tracking tool for antibiotic resistance. Proceedings of the 2018 Americas Conference on Medical Imaging and Clinical Research (AMICR 2018). December 23-25, 2018, Panama City, Panama.
  2. Xu N, Zhang C, Lim LL & Wong A (2018). Bioinformatic analysis of nucleotide cyclase functional centers and development of ACPred webserver. Proceedings of the 2018 ACM International Conference on Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, and Health Informatics (BCB’18). August 29-September 1, 2018, Washington DC, USA.
  3. Lu L, Michelena T, Wong A, Zhang C & Meng Y (2018). The inhibition of acetylcholinesterase by a brain-targeting polylysine-apoE peptide: biochemical and structural characterizations. Proceedings of the 40th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (IEEE EMBC’18). July 17-21, 2018, Honolulu HI, USA.

Book Chapters

  1. Wong A, Thomas L, Gehring C & Marondedze C (2016). Proteomics of fruit development and ripening. In Sunil Pareek (Ed.), Postharvest Ripening Physiology of Crops: CRC Press/Taylor & Francis, 413-448.
  2. Marondedze C, Wong A, Thomas L & Gehring C (2016). Non-canonical cyclic mono-nucleotides in plants. In R. Seifert (Ed.), From canonical to non-canonical cyclic nucleotides as second messengers: Pharmacological Implications, Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Switzerland 1-17 doi: 10.1007/164_2015_35
  3. Wong A & Gehring C (2013). Computational identification of candidate nucleotide cyclases in higher plants. In C. Gehring (Ed.), Cyclic Nucleotide Signaling in Plants, Methods Mol. Biol. 1016, 195-205, Humana Press

Patent

  1. Laser-based agriculture system, Ooi BS, Wong A & Ng TK. US 16/846,613; US20200236876A1, July 30, 2020.

Grants

  1. National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 32100581) – PI
    Category: Youth Fund
    Project Title: CryptoSignals: unraveling the signaling roles of cryptic moonlighting sites in complex proteins
    Duration: 2022-01-01 to 2024-12-31 (Amount: 300,000 RMB)
  2. National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31850410470) – PI
    Category: International (Regional) Cooperation and Exchange Project
    Project Title: Towards a highly tailored indoor horticulture: A functional genomics guided phenotypic approach.
    Duration: 2019-01-01 to 2020-12-31 (Amount: 399,600 RMB)
  3. Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. LQ19C130001) – PI
    Category: Youth Fund
    Project Title: 高级定制的室内园艺:一种功能基因组学引导的表现型途径
    Duration: 2019-01-01 to 2021-12-31 (Amount: 97,000 RMB)
  4. Wenzhou Municipal Key Lab for Applied Biomedical and Biopharmaceutical Informatics – Group leader
    Duration: 2021-01-01 to 2022-12-31 (Amount: 800,000 RMB)
  5. International Collaborative Research Program (Grant No. ICRP202202) – PI
    Project Title: Demystifying the signaling roles of molecular tuners in complex plant proteins
    Duration: 2022-05-01 to 2024-04-30 (Amount: 300,000 RMB)
  6. Student partnering with Faculty (SpF) II, III, IV, V & VI(Grant No. WKU201617002, WKU201718009, WKU201819002, WKU201920009 & SpF2021002) – PI
    Project Title: Probiotics and antimicrobial resistance
    Duration: 2016-01-11 to 2022-08-31 (Amount: 141,000 RMB)

Awards

  1. High-level Top Talent Award in Zhejiang Province
  2. 2018/2019 Wenzhou-Kean University Chancellor’s Distinguished Award
  3. 2018 Wenzhou-Kean University Student Research Days Keynote Speaker
  4. 2015 Young Investigator Award by Young Scientist Network Malaysia & Malaysia Academy of Sciences
  5. 2013 DOW Chemicals Sustainability Innovation Student Challenge (DOW SISCA) Award Winner (10-2013)
  6. 2011 KAUST PhD Fellowship and Provost Awards

Websites

Research News