Microbes in Health and Disease

And Rachel Darnell, @rachel-darnell19.bsky.social
I am working in Prof Henrik Strahl's lab in the @cbcb-newcastle.bsky.social . I am working on how a conserved universal stress response protein functions to mitigate membrane stress using the model organism Bacillus subtilis.

Next up for RA reps , starting with Jean-Lou Reyre @jlreyre.bsky.social

After defending my PhD in France, I joined Elisabeth Lowe's lab at Newcastle University in January 2024 for a post-doctoral fellowship focused on the characterisation of novel arabinan degrading enzymes from mycobacteria.

Hi, I’m Natalia Łoś from Dr Dave Bolam’s lab. I’m currently going into the third year of my PhD working on dietary fibre degradation by the members of the human gut microbiota 😊

Follow Natalia here : @natalia-los.bsky.social

I’m Chloe, I am part of the Connolly lab and I study how the role of two-component systems differs between types of E.coli”

In MHD we are lucky enough to have an amazing group PhD Students and Research Associates. We’ve recently got some new representatives and would like give them the opportunity to introduce themselves here.

First up our two representatives for the PhD student community:

Check it out! A proper team effort from past and present group members and a great collaboration with @sergemostowylab.bsky.social

Sounds like an amazing opportunity, enjoy ☺️

Lovely if bittersweet celebration of all Robert Hirts great work at the university. You’ll be missed but at least you now have a decent football shirt to wear! @mhd-newcastle.bsky.social #dreamtheme

A new paradigm for outer membrane protein biogenesis in the Bacteroidota - Nature Structural and biochemical studies of the β-barrel-assembly machinery from Flavobacterium johnsoniae reveal a subunit composition and assembly that are distinct from those of the canonical Escherichia coli complex.

Berks and @smlea.bsky.social labs also found yet a different BAM architecture in Flavobacterium johnsoniae, another member of Bacteroidota.

doi.org/10.1038/s415...

We think this much larger BAM enables biogenesis of outer membrane β-barrel and surface-exposed lipoprotein complexes, which are a hallmark of the Bacteroidota.

Beautiful work, congratulations to all authors 🤩

Dr Manuel Banzhaf

The Banzhaf group uses high-throughput methods to dissect the life style of bacterial pathogens and how to use this knowledge to optimize antimicrobial treatments.

Follow @banzhaflab.bsky.social for more updates

Dr Emma Briggs @emmamariebriggs.bsky.social

Studies how trypanosomatid parasites regulate cell cycle arrest and proliferation in response to environmental cues—using CRISPR, microscopy and single-cell transcriptomics to uncover molecular switches and potential drug targets driving transitions

Now for a final round of PI introductions :

Professor John Common investigates the skin microbiome as an ecosystem, studying how its interactions with the host barrier and immune system contribute to diseases such as atopic dermatitis, acne, and ichthyosis

www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-scie...

Spending some time collecting memories of Harry today 🥺 - this is when he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. If anyone in the #glycotime universe has pictures or memories of Harry Gilbert they want to share please send them my way 💚

Characterisation and engineering of thermostable PLP-dependent alpha-oxoamine synthases (AOSs); versatile C-C bond forming biocatalysts The toolbox of C-C bond forming biocatalysts is forever expanding as demand increases for new and sustainable routes to organic molecules. One class o…

Interested in alpha-oxoamine synthases and their use in biotech? Here's a nice methods paper on the production and characterisation of an engineered T. maritima variant from colleagues in the @campopianogroup.bsky.social: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

There seems to quite a few new faces lately, so if I haven’t already added you, but you’d like added please let me know and for anyone interested in following more microbial natural products folks, then our starter pack is now 100 strong go.bsky.app/72NeGsT

Nice to see our summer student Niamh who did a great job in the lab this year supported by a Vacation Studentship! @proftracypalmer.bsky.social

Introducing a new gut microbiology journal, aptly titled Gut Microbiology.

All Article Publishing Charges (APCs) are waived for 2 years!

Please send your exciting research our way.

www.sciencedirect.com/journal/gut-...

Next up :

Dr Kate Duncan @kateduncan.bsky.social

The Duncan group study the chemical language of bacteria (& what influences it) for antibiotic discovery from our oceans.

Check out www.medicinesfromthesea.com for more info

The Salgado group focuses on structural and functional characterisation of proteins involved in pathogenicity pathways in C. difficile. They are particularly interested in S-layer and sporulation proteins and their role in infection.

Follow @pssalgado.bsky.social

salgadolab.org

The Bolam lab uses a range of biochemical, microbiological, genetic and structural techniques to study the molecular mechanisms utilised by our resident gut bacteria to recognise, acquire and degrade complex glycans from both dietary and host sources.

Follow @dave-bolam.bsky.social

Dr Chien-Yi Chang's lab studies how Gram-negative bacteria sense and respond to different environments using molecular and bioimaging approaches.

👉 @davychang.bsky.social

chienyichang.wixsite.com/changlab

Dr Alistair Brown’s group is interested in mycobacterial biology, focusing on antimicrobial drug discovery and elucidation of drug mechanisms of action. They aim to understand how existing and novel compounds affect mycobacterial growth, survival, and persistence.

@mycobacterium-ncl.bsky.social

The Connolly group focuses on pathogenic Escherichia coli. They study how pathogen gene expression is regulated in response host-cues and determine how these expression changes lead to infection-relevant phenotypes.

Follow @ruamicro.bsky.social for more

The @henrikstrahl.bsky.social group focuses on bacterial cell envelopes and envelope-targeting antibiotics.
Using cell biology, high-end fluorescence microscopy, genetics, and biochemistry, they study the function, biosynthesis and organisation of bacterial cell membranes.

strahllab.weebly.com

Next up,

Dr Kate Beckham @kshbeckham.bsky.social

The Beckham lab is interested mycobacterial membrane transport processes. They focusing on understanding the steps occurring at the mycobacterial outer membrane.

www.ncl.ac.uk/cbcb/staff/p...

The @stewartlab.bsky.social use systems biology and cutting-edge human intestinal organoid models to understand diet-microbe-host interaction across the life course, with the ambition to discover novel therapies to improve gut health.

www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-scie...

www.neonatalresearch.net

Day 2 of MHD introductions 😃

Dr Lis Lowe @lislowe.bsky.social

The Lowe lab is focussed on microbial glycobiology. They work on bacterial Cazymes from commensals and pathogens, and are particularly interested in enzymes that target microbial glycans such as the cell walls of Mycobacteria.

Last introduction for the today..

Dr Kesha Josts @kjosts.bsky.social

The Josts lab are working on the mechanisms of iron transport in bacterial pathogens, with a focus on Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

www.ncl.ac.uk/cbcb/staff/p...