Chang-Jun Liu

Brookhaven National Laboratory

Biology Department
Bldg. 463
P.O. Box 5000
Upton, NY 11973-5000

(631) 344-2966
cliu@bnl.gov

Expertise | Research | Appointments | Publications | Highlights | Awards

Expertise

Chang-Jun Liu's group employs biochemistry, molecular genetics, biophysics, protein engineering, metabolic engineering, and synthetic biology approaches to understand phenylpropanoid-lignin biosynthesis and the related regulatory mechanisms controlling metabolic activity, and to optimize plant feedstocks for the more efficient utilization of lignocellulosics. He directs his research to addressing the following questions: 1) How lignin and the related simple phenolics are synthesized and incorporated into cell walls; 2) how the synthesis, deposition and assembly processes are regulated at both transcriptional and posttranslational levels; and 3) how lignification affects the structure and function of the cell walls. Ultimately, he anticipates applying the knowledge gained from such fundamental studies to develop more effective strategies to manipulate lignification process, thereby lowering the recalcitrance of cellulosic biomass and/or generating process-advantaged lignin for cost- effective production of advanced biofuels and bio-based chemicals.

Research Activities

Phenylpropanoid Metabolism: Biosynthesis, Regulation and Metabolic Engineering

Phenylpropanoid metabolism represents a substantial metabolic sink for reduced carbon. It generates C6-C3 skeleton and further elaborates a diverse array of aromatic compounds, including the methanolic soluble metabolites flavonoids, stilbenoids, coumarins, phenolic esters, and lignans, and the intractable biopolymers lignin, suberin, and proanthocyanidins. These aromatics possess diverse biological functions essential for plant growth and development, and plant-environmental interactions. Among them, lignin, a structural component of plant secondary cell wall, imparts mechanical strength, integrity, and water impermeability to plant vasculature. Lignified secondary cell walls represent the most abundant bulk biomass of terrestrial plants. They are the renewable source for production of bio-based chemicals and biofuels. However, the presence of lignin in cell wall impedes the enzymatic release of simple sugars from lignocelluloses, thus lowering the fermentative production of cellulosic biofuels. On the other hand, lignin is the most abundant renewable aromatic source that can be potentially upgraded to the higher value bioproducts. Therefore, tailoring lignin biosynthesis is essential for the efficient agro-industrial utilization of lignocelluloses.

Lignin biosynthesis is an irreversible process and is under the tight control in respect to the cellular carbon fluctuation. A better understanding of the biochemical and regulatory mechanisms controlling carbon flux channeled to phenylpropanoid-lignin pathway is critical for tailoring the biosynthetic activity. Currently Liu’s group is exploring the posttranslational regulation and macromolecular organization of phenylpropanoid-lignin biosynthesis, aiming to better understand how reduced carbon is allocated to the pathway and how reducing power (electrons) drives the biosynthesis activity. Meanwhile, as a partner of the US DOE Bioenergy Research Centers, Liu’s group is conducting lignin engineering and genetic optimization to the defined bioenergy crops to produce designer lignins and/or to reduce biomass recalcitrance for economically viable production of advanced biofuels or bio-based chemicals.   

Professional Appointments

• Associate Editor: Frontiers in Plant Sciences, Plant Metabolism and Chemodiversity section (2015-present)

• Editorial Board Member: Journal of Biological Chemistry (2020-present)

• American Association for the Advancement of Science

• American Society of Plant Biologists

• Phytochemical Society of North America

• International Collaborative Research and Renovation for Plant Metabolism, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2009-2012)

• Biochemistry and Structural Biology Graduate Program, Stony Brook University (2006-present)

Selected Publications

• Zhao X, Zhao Y, Gou M, Liu C-J (2023) Tissue-preferential recruitment of electron transfer chains for cytochrome P450-catalyzed phenolic biosynthesis. Science Advances 9:. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ade4389
• Zhao Y, Yu X, Lam P-Y, Zhang K, Tobimatsu Y, and Liu C-J* (2021) Monolignol acyltransferase for lignin p-hydroxybenzoylation in Populus. Nature Plants 7:1288–1300. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-021-00975-1
• Wang B, Zhao X, Zhao Y, Shanklin J, Zhao Q and Liu C-J* (2020) Arabidopsis SnRK1 negatively regulates phenylpropanoid metabolism via Kelch domain-containing F-box proteins. New Phytologist 229:3345–3359. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17121
• Gou M, Yang X, Zhao Y, Ran X, Song S, Liu, C-J* (2019) Cytochrome b5 Is an Obligate Electron Shuttle Protein for Syringyl Lignin Biosynthesis in Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell 31:1344–1366. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00778
• Gou M, Ran X, Martin DW, Liu C-J* (2018) The scaffold proteins of lignin biosynthetic cytochrome P450 enzymes. Nature Plants 4:299–310. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-018-0142-9
• Zhang X, Abrahan C, Colquhoun TA, Liu C-J* (2017) A Proteolytic Regulator Controlling Chalcone Synthase Stability and Flavonoid Biosynthesis in Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell 29:1157–1174. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.16.00855
• Cheng A, Zhang X, Han X, Zhang Y-Y, Gao S, Liu C-J*, Lou H-X * (2017) Identification of chalcone isomerase in the basal land plants reveals an ancient evolution of enzymatic cyclization activity for synthesis of flavonoids. New Phytologist 217:909–924. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.14852
• Gou M, Hou G, Yang H, Zhang X, Cai Y, Kai G and Liu C-J* (2016) The MYB107 Transcription Factor Positively Regulates Suberin Biosynthesis. Plant Physiology 173:1045–1058. https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.16.01614
• Cai Y, Zhang K, Kim H, Hou G, Zhang X, Yang H, Feng H, Miller L, Ralph J and Liu C-J* (2016) Enhancing digestibility and ethanol yield of Populus wood via expression of an engineered monolignol 4-O-methyltransferase. Nature Communications 7. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11989
• Zhang X, Liu C-J* (2015) Multifaceted Regulations of Gateway Enzyme Phenylalanine Ammonia-Lyase in the Biosynthesis of Phenylpropanoids. Molecular Plant 8:17–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molp.2014.11.001
• Zhang X, Gou M, Guo C, Yang H and Liu C-J* (2014) Down-Regulation of Kelch Domain-Containing F-Box Protein in Arabidopsis Enhances the Production of (Poly)phenols and Tolerance to Ultraviolet Radiation. Plant Physiology 167:337–350. https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.114.249136
• Liu C-J*, Cai Y, Zhang X, et al (2014) Tailoring lignin biosynthesis for efficient and sustainable biofuel production. Plant Biotechnology Journal 12:1154–1162. https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.12250
• Zhang K, Novak O, Wei Z, Gou M, Zhang X, Yu Y, Yang H, Cai Y, Strnad M, and Liu C-J* (2014) Arabidopsis ABCG14 protein controls the acropetal translocation of root-synthesized cytokinins. Nature Communications 5. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4274
• Zhang X, Gou M, Liu C-J* (2013) Arabidopsis Kelch Repeat F-Box Proteins Regulate Phenylpropanoid Biosynthesis via Controlling the Turnover of Phenylalanine Ammonia-Lyase. The Plant Cell 25:4994–5010. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.113.119644
• Cheng A-X, Gou J-Y, Yu X-H, Yang H, Fang X, Chen X-Y, and Liu C-J* (2013) Characterization and Ectopic Expression of a Populus Hydroxyacid Hydroxycinnamoyltransferase. Molecular Plant 6:1889–1903. https://doi.org/10.1093/mp/sst085
• Zhang K, Bhuiya M-W, Pazo JR, Miao Y, Kim H, Ralph J, and Liu C-J* (2012) An Engineered Monolignol 4-O-Methyltransferase Depresses Lignin Biosynthesis and Confers Novel Metabolic Capability in Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell 24:3135–3152. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.112.101287
• Liu C-J (2012) Deciphering the Enigma of Lignification: Precursor Transport, Oxidation, and the Topochemistry of Lignin Assembly. Molecular Plant 5:304–317. https://doi.org/10.1093/mp/ssr121
• Gou J-Y, Miller LM, Hou G, Yu X-H, Chen X-Y and Liu C-J* (2012) Acetylesterase-Mediated Deacetylation of Pectin Impairs Cell Elongation, Pollen Germination, and Plant Reproduction. The Plant Cell 24:50–65. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.111.092411

Research Highlights

• Top-10 Areas of Amazing Science at Brookhaven Lab in 2021

• Scientists ID Enzyme for Making Key Industrial Chemical in Plants 

• 'Electron Shuttle' Protein Plays Key Role in Plant Cell-Wall Construction

• New Details of Molecular Machinery that Builds Plant Cell Wall Components

• Brookhaven National Laboratory's Top-10 Science Successes of 2016

• Study Shows Trees with Altered Lignin are Better for Biofuels - http://science.energy.gov/news/featured-articles/

• Roots to Shoots: Hormone Transport in Plants Deciphered

• Enlisting Cells' Protein Recycling Machinery to Regulate Plant Products

• Scientists Create Low-Lignin Plants with Improved Potential for Biofuel Production

• Study Offers Insight into Delicate Biochemical Balance Required for Plant Growth

• Making New Enzymes to Engineer Plants for Biofuel Production

• Popping the Cork on Biofuel Agriculture

• BNL Scientist Granted Tenure

• 462nd Brookhaven Lecture Featuring Chang-Jun Liu 

Awards & Recognition

• The Excellent Presidential Scholarship Award of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (1998)

• The Director’s Award of Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology (1998)

• The Excellent Research Award, Shanghai-Beckman Life Science Foundation (1998)

• The Excellent Scientific Researcher Award, Shanghai-Unilever (Britain) Developing Foundation (1998)

• The Noble Foundation Postdoctoral Excellence Award (2003)

• Brookhaven National Laboratory Science and Technology Award (2018)