Teaching, Training and Research

Courses Taught

  • Biochemistry
  • Organic Chemistry
  • General Chemistry
  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Protein Chemistry

Training and Certificates

Education
2003 Ph.D. Biochemistry (minor in Pharmacy), University of Wisconsin-Madison
1992 M.S. Organic Chemistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
1990 B.S. Chemistry and Biochemistry, Tamkang University, Taipei, Taiwan

Positions Held
2018 – present
Adjunct Faculty, Columbus State Community College
MCAT Instructor, The Princeton Review
2016 – 2018
Synthetic Biologist, Air Force Research Laboratory
2011 – 2015
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Clark University
2008 – 2011
Research Scientist, Departments of Biology and Chemistry, Washington University in St. Louis
2004 – 2008
Joint Postdoctoral Fellow, Genomic Research Center, Academia Sinica, and The Ohio State University
2003 – 2004
Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Stanford University

Peer-Reviewed Papers and Book Chapters (total 47)

  1. Tang JK, Fromme R. Crystal structure and thermal stability of hemoglobin from  thermophilic phototrophic bacterium. In preparation.
  2. Tang JK, Blankenship RE (2018) Photosynthetic electron transport. In: GCK Roberts and Watts A (ed. in chief) Encyclopedia of Biophysics, Springer-Verlag. 2nd
  3. Coles DM, Flatten L, Sydney T, Hounslow E, Saikin S, Aspuru-Guzik A, Vedral V, Tang JK, Taylor R, Smith JM, Lidzey D (2017) A nanophotonic structure containing living photosynthetic bacteria. Small 13, 1701777 (Journal Cover)
  4. Baker JM, Riester CJ, Skinner BM, Newell AW, Swingley WD, Madigan MT, Jung DO, Asao M, Chen M, Loughlin PC, Pan H, Lin Y, Li Y, Shaw J, Prado M, Sherman C, Tang JK, Blankenship RE, Zhao T, Touchman JW, Sattley WM (2017) Genome sequence of Rhodoferax antarcticusBRT; a psychrophilic purple non-sulfur bacterium from an Antarctic microbial mat. Microorganisms 5, 8
  5. Wu SG, Shimizu K, Tang JK, Tang YJ (2016) Facilitate collaborations among synthetic biology, metabolic engineering and machine learning. Rev. 3, 45-54
  6. He L, Wang Y, You L, Khin Y, Tang JK*, Tang YJ* (2015) Glycine cleavage powers photoheterotrophic growth of Chloroflexus aurantiacus in the absence of H2. Microbio. 6, 1437
  7. Wang Y, Barbeau X, Bilimoria A, Lagüe P, Couture M*, Tang JK* (2015) Peroxidase activity and involvement in the oxidative stress response of Roseobacter denitrificans truncated hemoglobin. PLoS ONE 10, e0117768
  8. Kell A, Chen J, Jassas M, Tang JK, Jankowiak R (2015) Alternative excitonic structure in the baseplate (BChl a–CsmA complex) of the chlorosome from Chlorobaculum tepidum. Phys. Chem. Lett. 6, 2702-7
  9. Wan N, Abernathy M, Tang JK, Tang YJ, You L (2015) Cyanobacterial photo-driven mixotrophic metabolism and its advantage for biosynthesis. Chem. Sci. Eng. 9, 308-16
  10. Coles DM, Yang Y, Wang Y, Grant RT, Taylor RA, Saikin SK, Aspuru-Guzik A, Lidzey DG, Tang JK*, Smith JM* (2014) Strong coupling between chlorosomes of photosynthetic bacteria and a confined optical cavity mode. Nat. Commun. 5, 5561
  11. Saikin SK*, Khin Y, Huh J, Hannout M, Wang Y, Zare F, Aspuru-Guzik A, Tang JK* (2014) Chromatic acclimation and population dynamics of green sulfur bacteria grown with spectrally tailored light. Rep. 4, 5057
  12. Sattley WM, Asao M, Tang JK, Collins AM (2014) Energy conservation in heliobacteria: Photosynthesis and Central Carbon Metabolism. In: Hohmann-Marriott MF (ed.) The Structural Basis of Biological Energy Generation. Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration 39, Springer, Dordrecht. pp. 231–247
  13. Wang Y, Freund DM, Magdaong NM, Urban VS, Frank HA, Hegeman AD, Tang JK* (2014) Impact of esterified bacteriochlorophylls on the biogenesis of the chlorosome in Chloroflexus aurantiacus. Res. 122, 69-86
  14. Luo SC, Khin Y, Huang SJ, Yang Y, Hou TY, Cheng YC, Chen HM, Chin YY, Chen CT, Lin HJ, Tang JK*, Chan JCC* (2014) Probing spatial organization of bacteriochlorophyll c by solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance. Biochemistry 53, 5515-25   
  15. Tang JK*, Saikin SK, Pingali SV, Enriquez MM, Huh J, Frank HA, Urban VS, Aspuru-Guzik A (2013) Temperature and carbon assimilation regulate the chlorosome biogenesis in green sulfur bacteria. J. 105, 1346-56
  16. Tang JK*, Xu Y, Muhlmann GM, Zare F, Khin Y, Tam SW (2013) Temperature shift effect on Chlorobaculum tepidum Photosynth. Res. 115, 23-41
  17. Tang JK, Blankenship RE (2013) Photosynthetic electron transport. In: GCK Roberts (ed. in chief), V Davidson (volume ed.) Encyclopedia of Biophysics, Springer-Verlag. pp. 1868-1873
  18. Tang JK, Feng X, Bandyopadhyay A, Pakrasi HB, Tang YJ, Blankenship RE (2013) Unique central carbon metabolic pathways and novel enzymes in phototrophic bacteria revealed by integrative genomics, 13C-based metabolomics and fluxomics. Photosynthesis Research for Food, Fuel and the Future. Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
  19. O’Dell WB, Beatty KJ, Tang JK, Blankenship RE, Urban VS, O’Neill HM (2012) Sol–gel entrapped light harvesting antennae: immobilization and stabilization of chlorosomes for energy harvesting. Mater. Chem. 22, 22582-91
  20. Tang JK, You L, Blankenship RE, Tang YJ (2012) Recent advances in mapping novel microbial metabolisms through 13C isotopic fingerprints. R. Soc. Interface 9, 2767-80
  21. Tang KH, Blankenship RE (2012) Neutron and light scattering studies of light-harvesting photosynthetic antenna complexes. Res. 111, 205-17
  22. Tang KH*, Tang YJ, Blankenship RE* (2011) Carbon metabolism pathways in phototrophic bacteria and their broader evolutionary implications. Microbio. 2, 165
  23. Tang KH, Zhu Y, Urban VS, Collins AM, Biswas P, Blankenship RE (2011) Temperature and ionic strength effects on the chlorosome light-harvesting antenna complex. Langmuir 27, 4816-28
  24. Tang KH, Barry K, Chertkov O, Dalin E, Han CS, Hauser LJ, Honchak BM, Karbach LE, Lapidus A, Larimer FW, Mikhailova N, Pitluck S, Pierson BK, Blankenship RE (2011) Complete genome sequence of the filamentous anoxygenic phototrophic bacterium Chloroflexus aurantiacus. BMC Genomics 12, 334
  25. Tang KH*, Feng X, Zhuang WQ, Alvarez-Cohen L, Blankenship RE, Tang YJ* (2010) Carbon flow of heliobacteria is more related to Clostridia than to the green sulfur bacteria. J. Biol. Chem. 285, 35104-12
  26. Feng X, Tang KH, Blankenship RE, Tang YJ (2010) Metabolic flux analysis of the mixotrophic metabolisms in the green sulfur bacterium Chlorobaculum tepidum. Biol. Chem. 285, 39544-50
  27. Tang KH, Blankenship RE (2010) Both forward and reverse TCA cycles operate in the green sulfur bacteria. Biol. Chem. 285, 35844-54
  28. Tang KH, Urban VS, Wen J, Xin Y, Blankenship RE (2010) SANS investigation of the photosynthetic machinery of Chloroflexus aurantiacus. J. 99, 2398-407
  29. Tang KH, Yue H, Blankenship RE (2010) Energy metabolism of Heliobacterium modesticaldum during phototrophic and chemotrophic growth. BMC Microbiology 10, 150
  30. Tang KH, Feng X, Tang YJ, Blankenship RE (2009) Carbohydrate metabolism and carbon fixation in Roseobacter denitrificans PLoS ONE 4, e7233
  31. Tang KH, Wen J, Li X, Blankenship RE (2009) Role of the AcsF protein in Chloroflexus aurantiacus. Bacteriol. 191, 3580-7
  32. Tang KH, Mansoorabadi S, Reed GH, Frey PA (2009) Suicide inhibition and radical triplet intermediates in reactions of 4-thia-D- and 4-thia-L-lysine with lysine 5,6-aminomutase. Biochemistry 48, 8151-60
  33. Maity A, Hsieh CP, Huang MH, Chen YH, Tang KH, Behshad E, Frey PA, Ke SC (2009) Evidence for conformational movement and radical mechanism in the reaction of 4-thia-L-lysine with lysine 5,6-aminomutase. Phys. Chem. B, 113, 12161-3
  34. Tang KH*, Niebuhr M, Tung CS, Chen SC, Chou CC, Tsai MD* (2008) Mismatched dNTP incorporation by DNA polymerase β does not proceed via globally different conformational pathways. Nucleic Acids Res. 36, 2948-57
  35. Tang KH, Niebuhr M, Aulabaugh A, Tsai MD (2008) Solution structures of 2:1 and 1:1 DNA polymerase-DNA complexes probed by ultracentrifugation and small-angle x-ray scattering. Nucleic Acids Res. 36, 849-60
  36. Tang KH, Tsai MD (2008) Structure and function of 2:1 DNA polymerase-DNA complexes. Cell Physiol. 216, 315-20
  37. Tang KH, Guo H, Yi W, Tsai MD, Wang GP (2007) Investigation of conformational states of Wzz and the Wzz•O-antigen complex under near-physiological conditions. Biochemistry 46, 11744-52
  38. Showalter AK, Lamarche BJ, Bakhtina M, Su MI, Tang KH, Tsai MD (2006) Mechanistic comparison of high-fidelity and error-prone DNA polymerases and ligases involved in DNA Chem. Rev. 106, 340-60
  39. Tang KH, Liao FY, Tsai YM (2005) The study of intramolecular tandem radical cyclizations of acyl-silanes with radicalphiles attached on silicon. Tetrahedron 61, 2037-45
  40. Berkovitch F, Behshad E, Tang KH, Enns EA, Frey PA, Drennan CL (2004) A locking mechanism preventing radical damage in the absence of substrate, as revealed by the X-ray structure of lysine 5,6-aminomutase. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 101, 15870-5
  41. Karbstein K, Tang KH, Herschlag D (2004) A base triple in the Tetrahymena group I core affects the reaction equilibrium via a threshold effect. RNA 10, 1730-9
  42. Tang KH, Casarez AD, Wu W, Frey PA (2003) Kinetic and biochemical analysis of the mechanism of action of lysine 5,6-aminomutase. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 418, 49-54
  43. Tang KH, Harms A, Frey PA (2002) Identification of a novel pyridoxal 5´-phosphate binding site in adenosyl-cobalamin-dependent lysine 5,6-aminomutase from Porphyromonas gingivalis. Biochemistry 41, 8767-76
  44. Tang KH, Chang CH, Frey PA (2001) Electron transfer in the substrate-dependent suicide inactivation of lysine 5,6-aminomutase. Biochemistry 40, 5190-9
  45. Jiaang WT, Lin HC, Tang KH, Chang LB, Tsai YM (1999) The study of kinetics of intramolecular radical cyclizations of acylsilanes via the intramolecular competition method. Org. Chem. 64, 618-28
  46. Chang SY, Jiaang WT, Cherng CD, Tang KH, Huang CH, Tsai YM (1997) Scope and limitations of intra-molecular radical cyclizations of acylsilanes with alkyl, aryl, and vinyl radicals. Org. Chem. 62, 9089-98
  47. Tsai YM, Tang KH, Jiaang WT (1996) Group transfer from silicon to carbon via tandem radical cyclizations of acylsilanes. Tetrahedron Lett. 37, 7767-70
  48. Tsai YM, Tang KH, Jiaang WT (1993) Radical cyclizations of bromoacylsilanes and intramolecular trapping of the rearranged alpha-silyloxy radicals. Tetrahedron Lett. 34, 1303-6

Service to Profession

  • 2015 – 2017 Technical Advisory Board for a DOE biofuels project
  • 2014 Co-Chair, the 31st Eastern Regional Photosynthesis Conference
  • 2013 – present Guest Associate Editor, Frontier in Microbial Physiology and Metabolism
  • 2013 Session Chair, the 16th International Congress of Photosynthesis
  • 2012 Reviewer, Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Fellowship program
  • 2011 – present Research Affiliate, Photosynthetic Antenna Research Center, DOE-EFRC
  • 2009 – present Proposal reviewer, Center for Structural Molecular Biology, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Invited Talk and Oral Presentations (Selected)

  1. Synthetic Biology for Defense workshop, Crystal City, VA (September 2017)
  2. Material Science Society (MRS) Spring conference, Phoenix, AZ (April 2017)
  3. The 31st Eastern Regional Photosynthesis Conference, Woods Hole, MA (April 2014)
  4. Merck Science Seminar, Emmanuel College, Boston, MA (September 2013)
  5. The 16th International Congress of Photosynthesis, St. Louis, MO (August 2013)
  6. The 245th ACS National Meeting and Exposition, New Orleans, LA (April 2013)
  7. The 2013 Energy Materials Nanotechnology West Meeting, Houston, TX (January 2013)
  8. Department of Electrical Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA (July 2012)
  9. Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (May 2012)