Exploring and Exploiting Microbial Diversity

This is a well-established and internationally recognised group, led by Professor David Pearce, who undertake work in the following four key activity areas of activity:

1) Biotechnology (*in collaboration with Applied Chemistry)

Microbial enzymes as biocatalysts (through our Nzomics Innovation Unit*)
Novel antimicrobials*
Microbial diagnostics*
Microbial induced calcite precipitation

2) Ecology

Molecular ecology and the microbiome in human health
Food chains and agriculture
Environmental microbiology and extreme environments

3) Pathogenicity

Control of parasitic arthropods
Virulence determinants in pathogenic streptococci & mycolic acid containing actinobacteria
Eukaryotic and prokaryotic virology

4) Systematics

Systematics and taxonomy of bacteria
Genomics, metabolomics and proteomics of prokaryotes
Bacterial cell envelope architecture and biosynthesis

The Exploring and Exploiting Microbial Diversity Research Group aims to contribute applied science approaches to underpinning aspects of healthcare and extending understanding of disease processes. We are funded by industry, charities, the European Union and research council grants.

We welcome interest from potential doctoral and post-doctoral researchers interested in working with us.

Facilities

Our research is supported by biochemistry, molecular biology and -omics laboratories with extensive capacity for microbial cell culture.

Key resources include:

High throughput DNA sequencing platforms, including PacBIO (see NU-OMICS)
Proteomics facilities
Bioinformatics infrastructure
Pilot scale fermentation suite
Analytical chemistry

Our Staff

Professor Gary Black

Enzyme discovery, characterisation, development and microbial production for biocatalysis
Microbial proteomics and metabolomics

Professor Meng Zhang

Activation of urease in Bacillus subtilis
Optimization of microbial induced calcite processes in the built environment

Professor David Pearce

Microbial ecology (functional diversity and adaptation)
Environmental microbiology
Life in extreme environments

Dr Darren Smith

Bacteriophages in microbial communities
Phage-microbe interactions and pathogenicity
Modulating communities using bacteriophages

Dr Simon Bridge

Viral infections and lipid metabolism
Host responses to viral pathogens
Viral triggers of autoimmunity
Microbial community profiles in the gut in health and disease

Dr Lynn Dover

Microbial responses to metal ions as nutrients and antimicrobials
Cell envelope biology of Rhodococcus (Prescottella) equi and other mycolic acid-containing Actinobacteria

Dr Edward Fox

Ecology and selection of foodborne bacterial pathogens through food chains
Genomics of foodborne pathogens to understand virulence, stress tolerance and antimicrobial resistance
Biocontrol strategies targeting key foodborne pathogens by exploiting food chain microbiomes

Dr Amanda Jones

Prokaryotic systematics, particularly of the Actinobacteria
Medical diagnostics, notably for non-tuberculous mycobacteria

Dr Ciarán Kelly

Engineering biology for real-world impact: from scalable synthetic metabolism to microbes for sustainable agriculture

Dr Angela Sherry

Microbial ecology of the natural environment (soils, sediments, indoor air microbiome, indoor surfaces/biomaterials, microbial mats)
The role of carbonate-precipitating microorganisms in CO₂ sequestration
Microbial: textile biohybrids for innovative cleaning biotechnologies
Microbial transformations in soils for understanding crop protection product degradation
Microbial persistence in soils for understanding the benefits of engineered strains linked to food security

Dr Andrew Nelson

Role of the microbiome in health and disease
Functional analysis of microbial communities

Dr Vartul Sangal

Virulence evolution in bacteria
Prokaryotic systematics via next-generation sequencing

Professor Iain Sutcliffe

Bacterial cell envelopes: lipoglycans and lipoproteins
Microbial systematics; Chair, International Committee for Systematics of Prokaryotes (ICSP)

Dr Bert Van Loo

The study of adaptive enzyme evolution and harnessing knowledge from in vivo adaptation to inform protein engineering strategies.
Divergent adaptive evolution of substrate specificity in phospho- and sulfohydrolases in various protein families, in particular the evolution of specificity towards particular sulfated algal polysaccharides such as carrageenan, fucoidan and ulvan in several sulfatase subfamilies.
Natural and laboratory-enhanced adaptive evolution of enzymes and pathways that degrade xenobiotic compounds, in particular man-made environmental pollutants such as halogenated hydrocarbons and recalcitrant polyolefinic plastics.

Professor Chris van der Gast

The role of the human microbiome in health and disease
The role of the respiratory and gut microbiomes in cystic fibrosis

Dr Kate Randall

Environmental Molecular Microbial Ecologist studying the effects of anthropogenic and environmental change on microbial communities within terrestrial and aquatic systems
Rhizosphere microbiome interactions
Multiple stressor interactions
Multitrophic interactions

Dr Rajesh Reddy Bommareddy