Nak Hyun (Nak) Kim
Assistant Scientist, BI Plant Science, Biology Department
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Biology Department
Bldg. 463
P.O. Box 5000
Upton, NY 11973-5000
(631) 344-6307
nkim@bnl.gov
Nak Hyun Kim earned his Ph.D. in Bioscience and Technology - Plant Pathology from Korea University in South Korea and joined Jeff Dangl Lab at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for a Post Doc where he discovered that the plant “helper” NLR immune receptors function as calcium-permeable cation channels post activation. He joined the Biology Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory in 2024 and established his own research focusing on bioenergy crop fungal diseases.
Kim’s group focuses on deciphering plant immune receptor mechanisms, plant–microbe interactions, pathogen effector functions and disease resistance in bioenergy crops. We aim to identify and study novel genes from both host and the pathogen that determine the disease outcome. We utilize multipronged approach combining genetics, genomics, proteomics, multiscale and multimodal bioimaging, structural biology and directed evolution to achieve our goals.
Expertise | Research | Education | Publications
Expertise
Molecular Plant Pathology
Plant Immune Receptor Signaling
Research Activities
Pathogen effectors and virulence factors play a crucial role in disease development. We deploy protein-protein interaction sequencing (PROPER-seq) to reveal host-pathogen protein interactions at the transcriptome scale and spatial transcriptomics to identify key pathogen effectors and host target proteins. The protein-protein interactome data is then used to train AI/ML models to predict effector targets. The identified effector-target interaction is then functionally characterized via multiscale and multimodal bioimaging, protein biochemistry and structural biology.
We perform in-vitro directed evolution on host susceptibility factors to engineer a novel host protein that retains normal function while evading pathogen effector interaction. Then we utilize CRISPR-Cas9-based prime editing tools to exchange susceptible host protein to an engineered protein.
Using CRISPRi, we screen pathogen genes that are essential for pathogen growth and pathogenesis. The candidate genes are screened for effective RNA silencing, and ideal sequences are engineered to generate cross-kingdom RNA interference mitigation against the pathogen.
Education
PhD, Bioscience and Technology (Plant Pathology major) Korea University, Seoul, South Korea February 2013
PhD Thesis: Molecular, Immunocytological and Metabolic Studies of the AvrBsT, AvrBsT-SGT1-PIK1 Complex, Pepper Arginine Decarboxylase, Heat Shock Protein 70, Aldehyde Dehydrogenase and Protease Inhibitor in Plant Cell Death and Defense Responses to Microbial Pathogens.
Selected Publications
- Jacob P, Kim NH, Wu F, et al (2021) Plant "helper" immune receptors are Ca 2+ -permeable nonselective cation channels. Science 373:420–425. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abg7917
- Yang Y, Kim NH, Cevik V, et al (2022) Allelic variation in the Arabidopsis TNL CHS3/CSA1 immune receptor pair reveals two functional cell-death regulatory modes. Cell Host & Microbe 30:1701-1716.e5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2022.09.013
- Kim NH, Jacob P, Dangl JL (2022) Con-Ca2+-tenating plant immune responses via calcium-permeable cation channels. New Phytologist 234:813–818. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.18044
- Wang Z, Liu X, Yu J, et al (2023) Plasma membrane association and resistosome formation of plant helper immune receptors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 120:. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2222036120
- Yang Y, Furzer OJ, Fensterle EP, et al (2024) Paired plant immune CHS3-CSA1 receptor alleles form distinct hetero-oligomeric complexes. Science 383:. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adk3468
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Biology Department
Bldg. 463
P.O. Box 5000
Upton, NY 11973-5000
(631) 344-6307
nkim@bnl.gov
