Saccharomyces cerevisiae is an ideal eukaryotic model organism in molecular and cell biology. We are using this organism to elucidate the mechanisms which underlie DNA replication, DNA damage repair and aging in eukaryotes. Our laboratory is interested in applying single-molecule, biochemical and genetic methods to study the following areas:
1.Eukaryotic DNA replication: Using single-molecule assays, we are currently exploring the molecular process of DNA replication initiation, elongation and termination in yeast cell-free extracts. We are seeking to understand the functions of DNA replicative helicase in different steps of DNA replication.
2.Dissecting DNA repair pathways in Eukaryotes: We aim to develop microfluidic-based single-molecule approaches to study DNA repair in yeast cell-free extracts. We are most interested in exploring the mechanistic details of replication-coupled DNA repair pathways.
3.Aging in budding yeast: One of the common methods to measure aging in Sacchromyces cerevisiae is Replicative Life Span, which measure the amount of times a yeast cell buds. We are particularly interested in determining the biochemical and epigenetic events in yeast senescence and life span resetting during gametogenesis.

2003-2008
Ph.D. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Saskatchewan, Canada
2000-2003
MSc. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Saskatchewan, Canada
1994-1997
MSc. Institute of Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
1990-1994
B.S. Department of Life Sciences, Hubei University, China

2012-present
Professor, State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
2008-2012
Research fellow, Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School
1999-2000
Research assistant, Friedrich Miescher Institute, Novartis Research Foundation, Switzerland
1997-1999
Research assistant, Institute of Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

We study the molecular mechanisms of eukaryotic DNA replication, DNA damage repair and aging.

1. Fu YV, Yardimci H, Long D, The Ho V, Guainazzi A, Bermudez V, Hurwitz J, van Oijen A, Scharer O, Walter JC. (2011) Selective bypass of a lagging strand roadblock by the eukaryotic replicative DNA helicase. Cell146(6): 931-941
2. Fu YV and Walter JC (2010) DNA replication: metazoan Sld3 steps forward. Current Biology20(12): 515-517
3. Fu Y, Zhu Y, Zhang K, Yeung M, Durocher D and Xiao W (2008) Rad6-Rad18 mediates a eukaryotic SOS response by ubiquitinating the 9-1-1 checkpoint clamp. Cell 133(4): 601-611
4. Fu Y, Pastushok L and Xiao W (2008) DNA damage-induced gene expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. FEMS Microbiology Review 32(6): 908-926
5. Fu Y and Xiao W (2006) Identification and characterization of CRT10 as a novel regulator of Saccharomyces cerevisiae ribonucleotide reductase genes. Nucleic Acids Research34(6): 1876-1883
6. Fu Y and Xiao W (2006) Study of transcriptional regulation using a reporter gene assay. Methods in Molecular Biology 313:257-264 Humana Press
7. Wooff J, Pastushok L, Hanna M, Fu Y and Xiao W (2004) The TRAF6 RING finger domain mediates physical interaction with Ubc13. FEBS Letters 566(1-3): 229-233
8. Fu Y and Xiao W (2003) Functional domains required for the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mus81-Mms4 endonuclease complex formation and nuclear localization. DNA Repair 2(12): 1435-1447
9. Lambermon MH, Fu Y, Kirk DA, Dupasquier M, Filipowicz W and Lorkovic ZJ (2002) UBA1 and UBA2, two proteins that interact with UBP1, a multifunctional effector of pre-mRNA maturation in plants. Molecular and Cellular Biology 22(12): 4346-4357
10. Fu Y, Zeng JZ, Huang HM, Lin Q, Jiang X, Li Z, Zhou ZY and Huang HL (1999) Expression of the Single-chain antibody against human bladder carcinoma gene in tobacco. Progress in Natural Science 9(6): 528-530
11. Zeng JZ, Fu Y, Yu XC, Jiang X and Huang HL (1998) Research advances in plantibody engineering. Chinese Science Bulletin 43(16): 1705-1711