Jon Marles-Wright

Structural insights into cobalamin loading and reactivation of human methionine synthase Human methionine synthase (MTR) is an essential enzyme of one carbon metabolism. Consisting of a catalytic N-half and a cobalamin binding C-half, MTR utilises this intricate organometallic cofactor in...

I am excited to share our new preprint on our structural and biochemical analyses of human methionine synthase (MTR). This was the hard work of Douglas Ferreira who carried out this research as a significant part of his PhD. #CryoEM www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Afternoon starts with former #Salgadolab student @adamcrawshaw.bsky.social getting the audience engaged on #microcrystals and @diamondlightsource.bsky.social VMXm beamline.

Another exciting day in Newcastle for structural biology! The CCP4 Structural Biology Meeting 2025 is here!

A great overview of #cryoEM in Newcastle from @jmarlesw.bsky.social at #NorthernEye opening @nusbf.bsky.social

Woo. The big day is finally here. @jmarlesw.bsky.social kicking off the Northern Eye Opening Symposium

Looking forward to catching up tomorrow.

Please join us in the North East on the 5th of November as we celebrate with a one day symposium for the launch of our BBSRC funded 100 keV Tundra TEM aka the Northern Eye:
nusbf.ncl.ac.uk/ccpem-tfs-ne...
The symposium has been kindly sponsored by
@thermofishersci.bsky.social & @ccpem.bsky.social

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...

The Quinn group are interested in stress-sensing and signalling mechanisms in human pathogenic fungi and their importance in virulence. They are also interested anti-fungal mechanisms mediated by the bacterial type-vi secretion system.
👉 @nclfungalgroup.bsky.social
www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-scie...

The Palmer group are interested in the mechanisms bacteria use to compete with one another during colonisation. Her group are focused on the type vii secretion system and the toxins it exports.
Follow @proftracypalmer.bsky.social for more insights.
www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-scie...

Next up, @nickj-dent-res.bsky.social
His group is interested in all aspects of oral biofilms and how they contribute to oral health and disease. They look at adhesion and colonisation of surfaces, intermicrobial interactions and the role of the biofilm matrix.

blogs.ncl.ac.uk/nickjakubovi...

Next introducing Dr Alessandra Dantas.

The Dantas group is interested in stress responses, antifungal resistance and in understanding the molecular mechanisms driving fungal adaptation to environmental stressors.

@alesdantas.bsky.social

www.ncl.ac.uk/dental/about...

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...

@jmarlesw.bsky.social is a structural biochemist. His group are interested in how bacteria sense and respond to their environment. Jon is Academic Lead for our Electron Microscopy Facility and is excited for our new Tundra microscope to be up and running.

www.marles-wright-lab.org

Welcome week at the university again. Number 28 for me. Looking forward to welcoming our 7th MRes Biotech and Biodesign cohort this morning.

Finally, we're recruiting!
If you'd like to do a PhD using NMR structures to study the dynamics of a metalloenzyme, then you're in luck! Come to Warsaw for this project, in collaboration with Simone Ciofi-Baffoni's group at CERM, Florence: ibb.edu.pl/app/uploads/...

A photograph of the lake at York University looking from Biology

York Uni campus looking splendid today. Visiting Biology for a viva.

a man and a woman are talking into microphones and the woman is wearing a sash that says rhode island on it ALT: a man and a woman are talking into microphones and the woman is wearing a sash that says rhode island on it

Happy April 25th to all who observe the perfect date.

Flier for the designer biology meeting.

Interested in Engineering Biology and spending a few days in the best city in the world? Designer Biology 2025 is coming to Newcastle: 29-31st July. Abstracts and registration is open: www.efbiotechnology.org/designerbiol...

Congratulations!

PhD studentship: Structural and functional characterisation of mycobacterial outer membrane proteins at Newcastle University on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - PhD studentship: Structural and functional characterisation of mycobacterial outer membrane proteins at Newcastle University, listed on FindAPhD.com

First post of the year to mark my return from maternity leave :) Excited to share the first open PhD position in my group.
Deadline end of February.
Please spread the word. www.findaphd.com/phds/projectdetails.aspx?PJID=181239

A picture of the Christmas lights on the Sheffield children’s hospital viewed from Firth Court.

Day trip to Sheffield for a very enjoyable encapsulin viva with @perbullough.bsky.social

Kinetic and structure-based comparisons of silent and stimulatory flagellin interactions with TLR5 The bacterial protein flagellin is the sole ligand of the innate immune receptor Toll-like receptor 5 (TLR5). Flagellins with strong agonism bind TLR5 at their D1 and D0 domains, while poor agonist si...

Here we delve deeper into what makes a flagellin “silent” - see Michael Bell’s cryo-EM structure of a silent flagellin from the flagellum of Roseburia hominis- it has a different charge distribution compared to FliC and it dissociates rapidly from TLR5 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

He was saying how much he is enjoying working with you. Just need to get those pesky MTA’s sorted!

A graduation photograph. Smiling graduated and me pictured with purple lighting.

A lovely winter graduation ceremony this afternoon. Posing here with some of the fab students I got to work with on the MRes Biotech and Biodesign last year. Always great to hear what they are all up to now.

Figure from Vita et al., 2016, Sci Rep: https://www.nature.com/articles/srep39065

I have a PhD position available in my group, to start in March 2025. If you have a keen interest in biochemistry and would like to study an exciting and novel class of copper proteins (aka weird Cu tubes) from bacteria, I'd love to hear from you.
You should apply here: ibb.edu.pl/app/uploads/...

So many delightful details. I love the lava ghosts inside the six.

Towards a molecular picture of the archaeal cell surface - Nature Communications The model archaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius produces several protein filaments with specialised functions, including flagellum-like archaella, Aap pili, and adhesive threads. Here, the authors descri...

#ArchaeaSky
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Every year Lis crafts amazing cakes for the kids. This year Rory’s cake really is something else!

Lovely work. Very cool to see them performing so well in vitro.