The Yu-Liang Yang Laboratory is dedicated to exploring how microbial natural products participate in biological interactions and translating these fundamental discoveries into application-oriented strategies for sustainable agriculture and human health. Our research integrates natural product chemistry, mass spectrometry-based metabolomics, imaging mass spectrometry, genomic and transcriptomic analyses, and synthetic biology to systematically investigate molecular dialogues among microorganisms, plants, and pathogens—from chemical structures and biosynthetic pathways to biological functions.
Through rhizosphere microbiome analysis, in situ metabolite imaging, and pathogen transcriptomic profiling, we aim to identify protective key microorganisms and antivirulence small molecules, and to develop biocontrol and antivirulence strategies that reduce reliance on chemical pesticides. In parallel, our laboratory has established small-molecule imaging mass spectrometry approaches to visualize spatial chemical signals during microbial competition, plant infection, and metabolic exchange. We also use synthetic biology to engineer natural product biosynthetic pathways, thereby expanding the chemical diversity of natural products and enhancing their potential for scalable production.