Henry Chung
Rm 403, Bio21 Institute
University of Melbourne
Phone: +61 3 8344 2369
Fax: +61 3 9347 5352
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 Expression and Functions of Cytochrome P450's in Drosophila melanogaster

Cytochrome P450s form an important superfamily of enzymes that are present in virtually all living organisms. In mammals, they are involved in the synthesis of hormones as well as the metabolisms of drugs and other xenobiotics. Similarly in insects, P450s have been implicated in insecticide resistance and been shown to encode steps in the biosynthetic pathway of the important steroid hormone, ecdysone. We are interested in studying the whole P450 family in Drosophila, elucidating their expression patterns and developmental functions using a combination of Drosophila genetics and well established molecular biology techniques. We are also interested in the regulation of Drosophila P450s and how transposable element insertions affect their regulation.
 
Refereed Publications
 
Chung, H (2007). “Evolution” of a PhD project Traffic (Melbourne University Postgraduate Association) (in press)
 
Sztal, T., Chung, H., Gramzow, L., Daborn P.J., Batterham, P. and Robin, C. (2007). Two independent duplications forming the Cyp307a genes in Drosophila. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 37, 1044-1053
 
Chung, H., Bogwitz, M.R., McCart, C., Andrianopoulos, A., ffrench-Constant, R.H., Batterham, P., and Daborn, P.J. (2007). Cis-regulatory elements in the Accord retrotransposon result in tissue-specific expression of the Drosophila melanogaster insecticide resistance gene Cyp6g1. Genetics 175, 1071–1077
 
Willoughby, L., Chung, H., Lumb, C., Robin, C., Batterham, P., and Daborn, P.J. (2006). A comparison of Drosophila melanogaster detoxification gene induction responses for six insecticides, caffeine and phenobarbital. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 36, 934-942.
 
Bogwitz, M.R., Chung, H., Magoc, L., Rigby, S., Wong, W., O'Keefe, M., McKenzie, J.A., Batterham, P., and Daborn, P.J. (2005). Cyp12a4 confers lufenuron resistance in a natural population of Drosophila melanogaster. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102, 12807-12812.
 
Tan, E.K., Chung, H., Chandran, V.R., Tan, C., Shen, H., Yew, K., Pavanni, R., Puvan, K.A., Wong, M.C., Teoh, M.L., et al. (2004). Nurr1 mutational screen in Parkinson's disease. Mov Disord 19, 1503-1505.
 
Tan, E.K., Tan, C., Fook-Chong, S.M., Lum, S.Y., Chai, A., Chung, H., Shen, H., Zhao, Y., Teoh, M.L., Yih, Y., et al. (2003). Dose-dependent protective effect of coffee, tea, and smoking in Parkinson's disease: a study in ethnic Chinese. Journal of the neurological sciences 216, 163-167.
 
Tan, E.K., Chung, H., Zhao, Y., Shen, H., Chandran, V.R., Tan, C., Teoh, M.L., Yih, Y., Pavanni, R., and Wong, M.C. (2003). Genetic analysis of Nurr1 haplotypes in Parkinson's disease. Neuroscience Letters 347, 139-142.