Research Supervisor Connect
Natural product molecules made by bacteria and fungi are a hugely important source of drug starting points but it is now thought that we have hardly scratched the surface of the potential diversity in nature. The central aim of this project will be to develop new molecular genetic methods with which to open up the unexplored chemical diversity and screen the outputs for valuable new compounds.
Camperdown - School of Medical Sciences
Recent genome and metagenome sequencing methods have revealed that bacteria and fungi encode a huge pool of as yet unexplored specialized metabolites (aka natural products). The majority of the coding potential lies in organisms that have not yet been cultivated or are “cryptic” and not synthesized under typical laboratory conditions. Because these molecules are genetically encoded it should be possible to use genetic and genomic methods to unlock the potential coding capacity, making them accessible to screening cascades for bioactives in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical sectors. The aim of the project will be to develop new methods with which to access novel bioactive molecules and then exploit them in bioactivity screens.
Mirubactin C rescues the lethal effect of cell wall biosynthesis mutations in Bacillus subtilis.
Kepplinger B, Wen X, Tyler AR, Kim BY, Brown J, Banks P, Dashti Y, Mackenzie ES, Wills C, Kawai Y, Waldron KJ, Allenby NEE, Wu LJ, Hall MJ, Errington J.Front Microbiol. 2022 Oct 13;13:1004737. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1004737.
Discovery of Demurilactone A: A Specific Growth Inhibitor of L-Form Bacillus subtilis.
Dashti Y, Tajabadi FM, Wu LJ, Sumang FA, Escasinas A, Ellis Allenby NE, Errington J.ACS Infect Dis. 2022 Nov 11;8(11):2253-2258. doi: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.2c00220.
Mode of Action and Heterologous Expression of the Natural Product Antibiotic Vancoresmycin.
Kepplinger B, Morton-Laing S, Seistrup KH, Marrs ECL, Hopkins AP, Perry JD, Strahl H, Hall MJ, Errington J, Allenby NEE.ACS Chem Biol. 2018 Jan 19;13(1):207-214. doi: 10.1021/acschembio.7b00733.
The opportunity ID for this research opportunity is 3162