Marian P. De Leon, PhD

Marian P. De Leon, PhD
Microbial and Algal Culture Collections

Dr. Marian P. De Leon is the Director of the UPLB Museum of Natural History effective 15 March 2021 and will serve for three years. She is University Researcher II and also designated as Curator of the Microbial Culture Collection of the UPLB Museum of Natural History. She pioneered researches on exploration of Philippine caves for novel and potential microorganisms as well as the antibiogram profile of pathogenic strains. Dr. De Leon is a graduate of the University of the Philippines Los Baños with BS in Food Technology (Major in Microbiology) and MS in Food Science (Major in Biochemistry). She then earned her PhD in Engineering Major in Material and Life Science from Osaka University.

Her contributions in Microbiology has been recognized by the Philippine Academy of Microbiology, Inc. and certified her as a Registered Microbiologist. She has been given a special citation from the National Academy of Science and Technology Talent Search for Young Scientist in 2018 for her works on protein engineering of Tk-subtilisin from hyperthermophilic archaeon.

In 2018, Dr. De Leon received an appointment as Visiting Associate Professor at Osaka University. In 2019, she was conferred as Certified Biosafety Officer (CBO) given by the National Training Center for Biosafety and Biosecurity and the US Department of State Biosecurity Engagement Program.

Recent Publications

Abris, MI, Palanca, MS, De Leon, MP and Banaay, CGB. 2020. Microbial Air and Water Quality Assessment of a Freshwater Limestone Cave in the Philippines and Its Implications for Ecotourism Management. Journal of Nature Studies 19(1):33-48. [Download]

De Leon, MP, AY Park, AD Montecillo, MAT Siringan, AR Rosana and SG Kim. 2018. Near-complete genome sequences of Streptomyces sp. strains AC1-42T and AC1-42W isolated from bat guano of Cabalyorisa Cave, Mabini, Pangasinan, Philippines. Microbiol Resour Announc 7:e00904-18. https://doi.org/10.1128/ MRA.00904-18. [Download]

De Leon, MP, AD Montecillo, MAT Siringan, DS Pinili, and DS Park. 2018. Bacterial diversity of bat guano from Cabalyorisa Cave, Mabini, Pangasinan, Philippines: A first report on the metagenome of Philippine bat guano. PLOS ONE 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0200095. [Download]

Pulido, M.A., Tanaka, S., Sringiew, C., You, D-J, Matsumura, H., Koga, Y., Takano, K. and Kanaya, S. 2007. Requirement for left-handed glycine residue for high stability of the Tk-subtilisin propeptide as revealed by mutational and crystallographic analyses. J. Mol. Biol. 374:1359–1373. [Download]

Pulido, M.A., Koga, Y., Takano, K. and Kanaya, S. 2007. Directed evolution of Tk-subtilisin from a hyperthermophilic archaeon: identification of a single amino acid substitution responsible for low-temperature adaptation. Prot. Eng. Des. Sel. 20:143-153. [Download]

Pulido, M.A., Saito, K., Tanaka, S., Koga, Y., Takano, K. and Kanaya, S. 2006. Ca2+-dependent maturation of Tk-subtilisin from hyperthermophilic archaeon: Propeptide is a potent inhibitor of the mature domain but is not required for its folding. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72:4154-4162. [Download]

Recent Conference Papers