MBB News

University Open Days in 2013

The next University Open Days are on July 9, July 10 and September 14 2013. We would prefer you to register in advance so we can plan numbers but this is not strictly necessary. You will have a chance to hear about MBB and have a tour of our teaching facilities. There are many other things on display at the open days, including our sister biology departments, accommodation and campus tours, and information about student life.

The Department also has open days for students who have applied via UCAS and accompanying people. Because of space restrictions these are not open to other visitors. Please contact us for more information via the link on the left.

Research from MBB: How bacterial cells grow

Bacterial cells are surrounded by a cell wall made out of a mesh of carbohydrates and peptides, which provides their structural strength. Many antibiotics (eg penicillin and vancomycin) work by disrupting synthesis of the cell wall, so it is important to understand how it is assembled. New research from MBB, published in the journal Nature Communications (2013, volume 4, page 1496) shows how the bacterium E. coli does it.

E. coli is rod shaped, and it has been known for a long time that it grows by inserting extra material into the cell wall to make the rod longer, until the cell is long enough to divide into two. The general assumption has been that the new material is added in strips into the middle of the rod. Prof Simon Foster in MBB has been collaborating with colleagues in the Department of Physics in Sheffield to develop new high-resolution microscopy techniques. They have shown that that the new material is added in patches (see picture on right), specifically to regions of the cell wall that are thinnest, and therefore that E. coli has a mechanism for detecting these weaker patches. This finding opens up routes for developing new antibiotics.

Congratulations to new appointment on a prestigious research fellowship

Congratulations to new research academic Dr Sherif El-Khamisy, who has been awarded a Lister Research Prize Fellowship by the Lister Institute of Preventative Medicine. Many Lister fellows have gone on to distinguished research careers, including two current professors in MBB, Jon Waltho and David Rice.

Dr El-Khamisy starts (as a Reader) in MBB in August 2013, and writes:

Our research is focused on understanding mechanisms of repairing oxidative and topoisomerase-mediated DNA damage and their association with human disease, such as cancer and neurodegeneration. Particularly, we are interested in studying how enzymes that repair trapped topoisomerases, such as tyrosyl DNA phosphodiesterase 1 (TDP1) and the newly discovered enzyme TDP2, participate in protecting our genetic material from genotoxic stress. The goal of our work is to expand our knowledge of DNA repair and translate this data into tangible ideas and next-generation treatment paradigms with improved patient quality-of-life. I enjoy playing squash and losing to my daughter at chess but my main recreation is sleeping.

New appointmen: Karim Sorefan

Karim joined the Department in May 2013, afer postdoctoral appointments in the John Innes Centre and Univesity of East Anglia. He writes:

I am interested in the molecular mechanisms that regulate plant development. My lab has a particular focus on understanding the function of small RNAs. Small RNAs may be tiny in stature, being only 20-30 nucleotides long, but they have a huge role in controlling biological processes. It is estimated that 40% of the human genes are targeted by small RNAs. In plants, small RNAs have many biological functions including the regulation of stress responses, epigenetic states and plant stem cell development.

All above ground plant tissues are derived from a small mound of undifferentiated stem cells called the meristem. My lab is interested in meristem differentiation, and how it is regulated by a network of transcription factors that control small RNA pathways. We are using next generation sequencing approaches to investigate the global expression patterns of genes and small RNAs.

New appointment: Stuart Casson

Stuart will arrive in August 2013 from the University of Bristol. He writes:

My research is focused on understanding the environmental and genetic control of plant development. I began my research career with Prof Keith Lindsey at Durham University studying the molecular genetics of plant embryogenesis and root development. I followed this with a move to the laboratory of Prof Alistair Hetherington at the University of Bristol where I began to use the stomatal system and developed my research on the environmental regulation of plant development and plant water use.

Stomata are found on the surface of plant leaves and consist of a pair of specialised guard cells surrounding a microscopic pore. They regulate gas exchange, primarily carbon dioxide and water, between the plant and the environment and are are considered to be one of the key innovations that allowed plants to colonise the land. In the short term, plants are able to regulate the aperture of the stomatal pore via changes in guard cell turgor. My research however, is interested in a longer term developmental response, whereby plants can modulate the number of stomata on their leaves in response to environmental change. In particular, I have focused on how light signals influence these changes in stomatal development and have demonstrated that the red light photoreceptor, phytochrome B, is a key component of light mediated changes in stomatal development. Sheffield has vast expertise in plant biology ranging from the molecular to global level, particularly in stomatal biology, and I’m looking forward to continuing my research in such a vibrant environment.

New appointment: Robert Fagan

Robert joined the Department in January 2013 after Postdoctoral positions at Imperial College London and a PhD from Trinity College Dublin. He writes:

My work focuses on the hospital superbug Clostridium difficile. C. difficile is a common member of the bacterial community in a healthy human gut. Treatment with antibiotics causes widespread disruption to this community and allows C. difficile to flourish.

I am primarily interested in how the bacterium colonises the human gastrointestinal tract. To that end my lab studies how the bacterium first secretes and then assembles the myriad proteins which coat the bacterial cell surface. These proteins mediate the interactions between the bacterium and its host, as well as carrying out many other essential tasks in the life cycle of the organism. Each C. difficile cell is covered with a continuous protein layer made up of about 500,000 individual proteins assembled into a symmetrical paracrystalline array or S-layer. Assembly of this layer requires enormous energy expenditure by the bacteria and its correct assembly is essential for bacterial survival and colonisation of the host.

New appointment: Matt Johnson

Matt first came to Sheffield as an undergraduate in 2000, before going on to complete a PhD in Professor Peter Horton's laboratory in 2007. From 2007-2011 he worked as a Posdoctoral Researcher in the lab of Professor Alexander Ruban at Queen Mary University of London before returning to Sheffield in 2011 as a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship. He writes:

My research is focused on the role of thylakoid membrane organisation in photosynthesis, the process that uses solar energy to transform water and carbon dioxide into the energy we consume and the oxygen we breathe. The enzymatic fixation of carbon dioxide into carbohydrate in the chloroplast stroma requires energy in the form of ATP and reducing power in the form of NADPH, which are provided by photosynthetic electron transport in the thylakoid membrane. The thylakoid membrane houses several major pigment-protein complexes involved in electron transport including photosystem II (the water-splitting enzyme), cytochrome b6f, photosystem I and ATP synthase. The efficiency of photosynthesis depends upon the rate of excitation energy transfer, the diffusion of electron carriers and the effectiveness of regulatory and repair processes, which in turn depend upon the spatial organisation of the pigment-protein complexes in the membrane.

I use a multidisciplinary approach combining high resolution imaging techniques such as atomic force microscopy, affinity-mapping AFM and stochastic super-optical microscopy (STORM/ PALM) with membrane biochemistry to elucidate how these complexes are spatially organised within the membrane. These state-of-the-art single molecule techniques allow me to gently image the membranes in their natural liquid environment thus preserving the native organisation of the pigment-protein complexes within. Armed with the complete picture of how the protein complexes of photosynthesis fit together in the membrane we can identify new genetic targets for improving the efficiency of photosynthesis for increased food and biofuel production. Understanding natural photosynthetic membrane organisation will also allow us to better imitate nature and so improve the design of artificial solar cells and carbon capture devices to provide green energy and a low carbon future for the planet.

Outside work I spend my time playing cricket for the University Staff Sunday XI, as Vice-Captain of the team (see photo) and preparing for my new life as a father- due to commence October 2013...

MBB researcher reaches out into the local community

MBB postdoctoral researcher Nathan Adams is not your average scientist. In addition to his day job in the Department, he works as a demonstrator for BBC Science, on shows such as Bang Goes the Theory and the One Show, as well as for the Royal Society of Chemistry and Biological Society, and enjoys going out there and enthusing others about science – he regularly goes out on the road giving talks enlivened with hands on experiments. In March 2013, the University of Sheffield organised an evening of talks and demonstrations on science and engineering, and Nate gave his ‘Kitchen Science Carnage’ talk to schoolchildren, showing how organic polymers can be used to absorb shock (see picture in the news item below), and setting fire to hydrogen bubbles (see picture below and on the Steel Science site). The show was so impressive that it made it on to BBC’s Look North.

But his interests extend also into the relationship between art and science. In a derelict urban site close to the University, Nate is creating an Installation called Neurone. This is an imaginative look at how neurones interact to create a thinking brain. It is constructed from hundreds of LEDs plus lots of wiring, netting and code that enables it to respond to you. For more, look here.

Six new lecturers appointed to department

In the last few months, we have appointed six new lecturers to the department. Left to right:

• Stéphane Mesnage joined in August 2012 from the University of Paris. He works on the bacterial cell wall.
• Matt Johnson joined in August 2012 following research posts at Queen Mary University of London and Sheffield. He works on the photosynthetic membrane in plants.
• Robert Fagan joined in January 2013 from Imperial College London. He works on the human pathogen ('superbug') Clostridium difficile, and how it interacts with its human host.
• Sherif El-Khamisy joins in August 2013 from the University of Sussex. He works on the repair of single-strand breaks in DNA, particularly using yeast as a model organism.
• Stuart Casson joins in August 2013 from the University of Bristol. He works on plant development, in particular the development of leaf iridescence and stomata.
• Karim Sorefan joined in May 2013 from University of East Anglia and works on the function of short RNA sequences.

Discovery Night March 18 2013

The University put on a series of demonstrations and exhibitions as part of the Sheffield Festival of Science and Engineering on March 18 2013. Several members of MBB took part. Shown here (left to right) are Dr Nate Adams, who is demonstrating the remarkable properties of polymers by hitting one hard with a hammer with his fingers underneath; Dr John Olsen, explaining the finer points of Atomic Force Microscopy; Rebecca Lowry ( a former undergraduate in MBB, now doing a PhD in the Dental school) showing how to make a model of bacterial flagella; and Dr Craven Jr who is hoping to extract sweets from a piñata, this being vaguely related to cancer. Nate was interviewed on BBC Radio Sheffield, and appeared on BBC Look North setting fire to bubbles containing hydrogen.

MBB wins silver in Green Impact Awards 2012/3

MBB were one of only three academic departments to get silver awards in the University's Green Impact sceme this year, which overall is calculated to have saved well over 300 tons of CO₂ and £70,000 in the last year.

Research grants to MBB staff

Research grants announced in 2012 include grants to Profs Kathryn Ayscough, Alastair Goldman, Simon Foster, David Kelly, Stuart Wilson and Mike Williamson and Dr Jim Gilmour. There is not much money around for research at the moment, so these represent excellent achievements and genuine recognition for the quality of the research being carried out.

Congratulations to new PhD graduates 2012

In 2012, 26 students successfully defended their PhDs, and we congratulate them on their excellent achievement. In alphabetical order:

• Mohammed Al Malki (Gilmour): Molecular identification and characterisation of extremely acid tolerant microorganisms isolated from Rivelin and Limb valleys
• Heba Alhamal (Hornby): Tandem affinity purification of McrBC complex and mapping inactive mutations in McrC using error-prone PCR
• Nagat Ali (Gray): The function of guard cell expressed genes in Arabidopsis thaliana
• Reda Hassan Amasha (Wainwright): Studies on the environmental microbiology and biogeochemistry of desert surface soils
• Carlos Avila Ramirez (Poole): Response of Campylobacter jejuni to oxygen limitation and the caecal environment
• Claudine Bisson (Rice): Substrate and inhibitor binding in IGPD2
• Lesley Bowman (Poole): The impact of peroxynitrite on Escherichia coli
• Ruth Brown (Ayscough): Identification of novel endocytic cargo molecules in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
• Chung-Te Chang (Wilson): SRAG functions as a new mRNA export co-adaptor
• Adam Croucher (Goldman): Investigation of the expression and function of meiotic genes in human tumours
• Hugh Dannatt (Waltho): The role of enzyme dynamics in catalysis by ß-phosphoglucomutase
• Adham El-Shawaidhe (Staniforth): Role of human cystatin C in Alzheimer's disease
• Claudia Flemming (Artymiuk): Structural studies on DNA binding proteins
• Chris Glover (Bullough): Two-dimensional crystallisation of membrane transport proteins
• Joanna Griffin (Waltho): Investigations of the metal fluoride transition state and ground state analogue complexes of HAD superfamily proteins by NMR spectroscopy
• Abdullah Ibrahim (Gilmour): An investigation of the microbial diversity of Hoole Bank acid tar lagoon
• Yi Jin (Waltho): Metal fluorides as probes for enzyme catalysed phosphoryl transfer
• Michaela Livingstone (Wilson): Post-transcriptional gene regulation by LUZP4 and CIP29
• Tacita Nye (Poole): Dissection of the roles of individual terminal oxidases in E. coli: the third oxidase, cytochrome bdII
• Nur Zazarina Ramly (Rice): Molecular analysis on the superfamily of surface antigens from the apicomplexan parasite Eimeria tenella
• Sari Sabban (Helm): Development of an in vitro model system for studying the interaction of Equus caballus lgE with its high-affinity Fc receptor
• Sarawut Sattayakawee (Gilmour): Glucosylglycerol: A compatible solute in Arthrospira (Spirulina) platensis
• Adam Smith (Ayscough): The interactions and functions of Las17, the yeast homologue of mammalian WASP
• Martin Turner (Mitchell): An investigation of the C1D family of proteins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
• Agnieszka Urbanek (Ayscough): Regulation of actin dynamics by YSC84 and LAS17 in yeast endocytosis
• Richard Wheeler (Foster): Peptidoglycan architecture and dynamics in Gram-positive bacteria

New treatment for organophosphorus poisoning

Organophosphorus (OP) agents are used widely as pesticides, although their use has been banned in much of the developed world. It is estimated that about 200,000 people die every year from OP poisoning. There also remain large stockpiles of OP agents such as  sarin and VX, deleloped as nerve gases. There is an urgent need to develop scavengers which can inactivate OP agents, either immediately after accidental dosing or prophylactically for soldiers in danger of attack by nerve gases. Prof Mike Blackburn of MBB has been part of a collaborative team that recently reported (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 2013, vol 110(4), page 1243 the development of such a scavenger, which effectively protected mice against the nerve agent VR. More details can be found from the University of Sheffield's news feed.

Congratulations to Roger Anderson!

We are delighted to announce that in December 2012, our Director of Studies, Deputy Head of Department and head of teaching, Roger Anderson, was promoted to Professor, in recognition of his significant role in teaching and administration within the Department and across the University over many years. He was also elected a Fellow of the Society of Biology in January 2013, awarded to those who have made 'a prominent contribution to the advancement of biological sciences'.

Exciting research from MBB in 2012

Staff from MBB have published four papers during 2012 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS). This journal only publishes exceptional science, and these papers make important contributions.

• Prof Waltho published work in May (page 6910), looking at how the enzyme β-phosphoglucomutase catalyses the transfer of a phosphate group. This enzyme is a representative of the general group of enzymes called kinases, which are major drug targets, and accelerate reaction rates up to a remarkable 1021 times. His work showed that the enzyme works not just by binding the substrate correctly, but it also provides an adaptable environment that directs the whole pathway of phosphate transfer, and at the same time makes unwanted side reactions less favourable.
• Prof Hunter published work on photosynthesis on page 8570. All organisms that carry out photosynthesis have to deal with a major problem: how to convert light energy to chemical energy without damaging the cell as a result of oxidation. Solving this problem will be vital to the development of more efficient solar cells. Previous work from Sheffield has looked at how plants overcome the problem: this work looked at photosynthetic bacteria, and showed that the bacteria are protected by the red carotenoid pigment called spheroidene, which mops up the reactive oxygen.
• Prof Green published work on page 15734, looking at how the gut bacterium E. coli senses the presence of oxygen. This process is vital, because E. coli has to adapt very rapidly between growing without oxygen (in the gut) and growing with oxygen (outside the body): it is its ability to do this that allows it to act as a food-borne pathogen. He showed that it uses a sensing molecule that has iron atoms at its core, which cycles between oxidised and reduced states using an evolutionarily ancient mechanism.
• Prof Waltho published the fourth of these papers in November, on page 19563. The question was a fundamental one: how proteins fold up so quickly to their complicated three-dimensional shapes. The classic explanation is that proteins follow a smooth pathway, not unlike skiing down a bumpy hillside. Using a novel experimental approach, he showed that the ride is much bumpier than this: at every point and on every scale, there are big energy barriers. This slows down the folding, but also helps the protein avoid going down blind alleys.

MBB wins Green award

The University recently started a 'Labs Switch Off' campaign, encouraging us all to switch off unwanted equipment and thus save electricty. MBB are the first winners, having reduced our energy consumption by 14% compared to the same time last year.

Researchers' Night in the Festival of the Mind

The University of Sheffield opened its doors in September 2012 for the Festival of the Mind. As part of this, MBB researchers took part in Researchers' Night on September 28, with a varied set of contributions, covering (left to right) the use of Atomic Force Microscopy to investigate structures in bacteria, extracting DNA from strawberries, the history of the discovery of penicillin (in Sheffield), and whether life arrived on earth from outer space.

 

Graduation party 2012

As usual, we celebrated our new graduates with a party in July: a celebration lunch, speeches, prizes, tours of the Department, the graduation ceremony itself, and of course lots of photos. To see many more pictures, visit our Facebook page.

New Head of Department

We are happy to report that Prof Dave Hornby has done his bit for the Department and has been replaced by the new Head, Prof Alastair Goldman (the one in the tasteful green and pink gown in the photo). Dave is smiling broadly over his shoulder.

New insight into protein production

Prof Stuart Wilson in MBB, in collaboration with scientists at Harvard University, has published important research in the journal Nature Communications (2012, Vol 3 page 1006). In humans, DNA is copied to RNA in the nucleus, and the RNA then is exported from the nucleus into the cytoplasm to be made into protein. Errors in this process lead to a wide range of diseases including motor neuron disease, myotonic dystrophy and cancer. His work explains how RNA is tagged to allow it to leave the nucleus. He comments: "Until now, it has not been clear how the cell knows when the mRNA should be given a passport allowing passage to the cytoplasm. Now we have identified how the passport is issued." It turns out that it requires a protein called TREX.

Science Brainwaves receives the Sir Walter Bodmer award

Science Brainwaves is an enthusiastic group of science communicators, made up of undergraduate, Masters and PhD students from science departments at the University of Sheffield, as well as postdocs. They organise a wide variety of activities in and around Sheffield, with the aim of showing that science is fun and that scientists are not mad boffins in white coats. They are a branch of the British Science Association, in fact the most active group outside London, which is why they were awarded the 2012 Sir Walter Bodmer Award, recognising the achievement of volunteers within the BSA. The awarding committee gave special praise to Tacita Nye, a PhD student from MBB, who chaired it in 2011-12 until she stood down in order to write up her PhD thesis.

Science Brainwaves organises a wide range of outreach activities for schoolchildren, including the popular A question of taste, in collaboration with the University of Sheffield and the Association for Science and Discovery Centre, supported by the Wellcome Trust, in which students carry out analysis of their own DNA to investigate their sense of taste. They have organised sell-out events for the general public, including pub quizzes, film nights, a radio show at Sheffield Live, and hands-on talks such as Weird physics, Science of cocktails, Botany of gin and Better looking, better loving.

For more details, see our more detailed news item, visit Brainwaves’ web site, or view their excellent video.

Science Brainwaves is part of the British Science Association, Registered Charity 212479 and SCO39236.

Developing links with the University of Sharjah

Staff from MBB, led by Emeritus Prof Mike Fowler (programme director for the course), have been helping the University of Sharjah develop a new degree programme in Biotechnology, as a collaborative venture with the University of Sheffield. The first 8 graduates from the 4-year course graduated in June 2012, and the course continues to grow in popularity, with well over 360 currently enrolled. We are delighted to welcome some students from the course to Sheffield over the summer of 2012, who are visiting as part of the Erasmus programme.

The course has been awarded an International Recognition Certificate by the Society of Biology, and is the first international course to receive such recognition. UK-based external examiners have visited Sharjah, reported on the first cohort to graduate, and approved the standards of the course.

Sharjah is the third largest emirate within the UAE and borders Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The University of Sharjah was founded in 1997; the Biotechnology course is the flagship course of the Department of Applied Biology and is now the largest course within the College of Sciences.

Senate Award for teaching for Dr Anderson

We are delighted to report that Dr Roger Anderson, our Head of Teaching, was recently awarded a 2012 Senate Award for his sustained contributions to teaching and learning in the University.

Latest careers data for MBB graduates

Data are now available for undergraduate students graduating in summer 2011. Students are surveyed in the December following their graduation. The results show a very consistent pattern over the last few years, with about 90% of graduates in work or further study (a very high figure by comparison to national averages), and 80% of these in graduate level jobs. Graduates continue to find jobs in major biology-based employers such as GE Healthcare and Sanofi-Aventis. There is a trend for an increasing number of our graduates to go on to further study. Of the 2011 graduates, 22 went on to PhDs, 10 to Masters courses and 4 to PGCEs. Further details can be found on our Careers page.

Green Impact award for MBB

MBB won a bronze award for Green Impact at a ceremony led by the Vice-Chancellor in April 2012. Green Impact is a flagship project run by the National Union of Students, designed to help staff change environmental practices, and the award recognises the effect already achieved by practical changes in working practices.

MBB student success

We congratulate final year student Sav Cardamone and his dance partner Charlie Lowe. At the Inter-Varsity Dance Competition in Blackpool on March 4 2012, they won the award for Varsity Most Promising Couple as well as winning in Ballroom and Latin categories.

Breakthrough in fight against meliodosis

Meliodosis is a disease that affects millions of people in South East Asia and North Australia and is one of the top three causes of death by infectious disease in some regions. It is caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei, but the molecular basis of pathogenicity is poorly defined. An international team led by Prof David Rice of MBB and including scientists from Malaysia and Singapore, as well as other research labs in the UK, has stumbled across a previously unknown toxin while investigating proteins of unknown function in B. pseudomallei.

This work, published in the journal Science in the 11 November 2011 issue (Vol 334, page 821), identifies an enzyme called Burkholderia Lethal Factor 1 as the toxin, and shows that it has a similar structure to a toxin produced by the well-known bacterium Escherichia coli. Crucially, the structures of their active sites are very similar (Figure). This provided the crucial clue as to how it works: it turns out that although the reaction it catalyses is identical (deamidation of a glutamine), the biological consequence is quite different. In B. pseudomallei, it deamidates a protein required for translation of RNA into protein, and thereby halts protein synthesis in infected human cells. This work paves the way for the design of drugs against meliodosis. The team are also working on the possibility of using the toxin to target cancer cells and kill them.

This figure shows a comparison of the active sites of B. pseudomallei toxin (blue) and the related E. coli toxin (red). The crucial catalytic residues are Cys94 and His106, which are in very similar spatial positions.

100% success in national student satisfaction survey

The results for the 2011 Student Satisfaction Survey are now out. MBB scored a remarkable 100% score for overall student satisfaction over all its courses: see this link for more detail.

Research grants awarded in 2011

To do research, you need people, equipment and chemicals. These all cost money, and most research funding is obtained from research grants, which are provided by government and charities as a result of a competitive process, with the judges being other research scientists. This means that obtaining a research grant is recognition that your research is seen as internationally excellent. We are happy to announce grant funding in 2011 spanning a wide range of research areas in the department:

• A grant to Prof Williamson to study the structure and function of a protein involved in the formation of cysts in the kidney
• A grant to Prof Gray to study the development of stomata (the pores on plant leaves that allow water to evaporate)
• A grant to Prof Piper to study how the chaperone Hsp90 is involved in causing cancer
• A grant to Prof Artymiuk to develop agonists and antagonists of human growth hormone (see the news item below about spin-out companies)
• A grant to Prof Foster to develop a vaccine against Staphylococcus aureus (also described in the news item about spin-out companies)
• A grant to Prof Sudbery to investigate hyphae in the pathogenic fungus Candida albicans (see the news item Research Highlights ftrom MBB in 2010 for more details on this story)
• A grant to Prof Kelly to understand how the food pathogen Salmonella grows and survives
• A grant to Prof Wilson to study the export of RNA from the nucleus to the cytoplasm

Congratulations to new PhD graduates 2011

In 2011, 39 PhD students graduated (compared to 24 in 2010!), and we congratulate all of them on their hard work and achievement.

• Rebecca Jones (Dr Mitchell) A study into the nuclear exosome cofactor, Rrp47
• Fawaz Alshammari (Dr Wainwright) Application of molecular identification of ultrasmall bacteria
• Susana Gomez Escalante (Prof Piper) Studies on the human and yeast VNC-Y5 myosin folding molecular chaperone
• Yvonne Rauter (Prof Foster) The interaction of Staphylococcus aureus and human skin fatty acids
• Holly Smith (Prof Poole) The response of Campylobacter jejuni to oxygen and toxic haem ligands
• Nagah Abubaker (Dr Gilmour) Molecular identification and physiological characterisation of bacteria to grow at high salinity
• Andrew Hitchcock (Prof Kelly) The role of the twin-arginine translocase in the assembly and function of the electron transport chains in the pathogen Campylobacter jejuni
• Soheil Aghamohammedzadeh (Prof Ayscough) The assembly and disassembly of endocytic complexes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
• Farhat Marston (Dr Craven) NMR structure analysis and identification of the DNA binding site of the C-terminal domain of the Bacillus subtilis protein DnaD
• Pawel Gardzielewski (Dr Hettema) Studies on the role of Pex25p in peroxisome maintenance
• Jonathan Smart (Prof Kelly) The role of molybdenum and tungsten in Campylobacter jejuni
• Chatchawal Phansopa (Prof Kelly) Structural and biochemical characterisation of major antigenic proteins of Campylobacter jejuni
• Cassandra Terry (Prof Bullough) Assembly of the Bacillus exosporium
• James Marston (Prof Waltho) Kinases: charge balance & structural tightening in the transition state
• Hannah Regan (Prof Sudbery) Molecular mechanisms of hyphal growth in Candida albicans
• Samir AlHarbi (Prof Hornby) Design and analysis of DNA polymerase for use in random mutagenesis
• Stephen Harper (Dr Rafferty) Structural investigation of tungstate and molybdate transport in Campylobacter jejuni
• Rebecca Hill (Prof Rice) Pilot studies on the purification and analysis of macromolecular protein complexes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
• Mostafa Ismaeil Omar Ibrahim (Prof Waltho) Biophysical studies of the structure and backbone dynamics of gsPGK using NMR relaxation methods
• Thibaut Angevin (Dr Goldman) Role of cohesin complex subunit SCC3 in DNA-damage response pathways in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae
• Abimael Cruz (Prof Rice) Structural studies on BPSL1549 protein, a putative determinant of pathogenicity in Burkholderia pseudomallei
• Daniel Canniffe (Prof Hunter) Engineering the haem and chlorophyll biosynthetic pathways
• Khalid Al'Abri (Dr Wainwright) Use of molecular approaches to study the occurrence of extremophiles and extremodures in non-extreme environments
• Ismaeel Bozakouk (Prof Foster) Characterization of the effect of mammalian serum on Staphylococcus aureus
• Sulaiman Alnaimat (Dr Wainwright) A contribution to the study of biocontrol agents, apitherapy and other potential alternatives to antibiotics
• Robert Paramore (Dr Staniforth) Studies on the mechanism of amyloid formation by cystatin B
• Laila Alfageih (Prof Hornby) Biochemical and genetic studies of bacterial C5-DNA methyltransferases
• Muhammad Sameer Qureshi (Prof Hornby) Development and analysis of a generic high-throughput proteomic methodology for systematic isolation and characterisation of eukaryotic recombinant protein complexes as a key to deciphering and mapping the cellular interactome
• Bassam Al-Johny (Dr Wainwright) Studies on silicon microbiology
• Andrew Proudfoot (Prof Williamson) Structural studies of the enzyme NADPH: protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase
• Salah Hajomer (Dr Wainwright) Studies on the autecology of the fungus Aureobasidium pullulans
• Mohamed Bumadian (Dr Gilmour) Molecular identification and physiological characterisation of extremely halotolerant bacteria isolated from a freshwater environment
• Roderick Katete (Prof Hornby) Biophysical characterisation of the manganese transporter MntH from Enterococcus faecalis
• Chatrudee Suwannachart (Dr Rafferty) Investigation of actin regulatory proteins
• James Lightfoot (Dr Martinez-Perez) The roles of SCC-2 during C. elegans meiosis
• Kathrine Mcaulay (Prof Foster) Glycosylation of Staphylococcus aureus surface proteins
• Fabia Allen (Dr Baker) Structural studies of SFSA, a novel nuclease
• Amy Bottomley (Prof Foster) Identification & characterisation of the cell division machinery
• Peter Adams (Prof Hunter) Structure, organisation and assembly of light-harvesting complexes in bacterial photosystems

Major new undergraduate text from Department

Prof Mike Williamson published the major textbook called How Proteins Work in July 2011. This is the second important textbook to be written by staff in MBB, following on from Prof Pete Sudbery's Human Genetics (see below).

MBB to provide science education in national project

Postgraduate students in MBB have obtained support for an innovative science education project. In association with the UK Association for Science and Discovery Centres and the Wellcome Trust, they will deliver a workshop to school pupils in Sheffield, exploring their ability to taste a bitter chemical called phenylthiocarbamide (PTC). This is determined by genetic makeup, and about 30% of people cannot taste it at all. The workshop will involve DNA isolation, PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and gel electrophoresis. The project is to be delivered by Science Brainwaves, whose Director is a PhD student in MBB. For more detail about Science Brainwaves, see the science outreach link below, and for more on this story see this link.

MBB teacher wins Students’ Union Personal Tutor of the Year Award

At their annual Academic Awards ceremony on May 12 2011, The Students’ Union presented an award for Personal Tutor of the Year to Dr Rosie Staniforth, a lecturer in MBB. One of her tutees commented ‘She is always available for personal one-to-one sessions and was incredibly supportive of any decisions I have made, both academic and personal.’ Dr Staniforth said "It is a great honour to receive this award. I am extremely touched but also highly encouraged to feel that I can make a difference simply by providing the care and attention they so very much deserve." The award follows one in 2009 given to Dr Charlie McDonald from MBB.

Dr Gilmour introduces microbiology to schoolchildren

Dr Jim Gilmour introduced a group of 90 13- and 14-year olds to the science of microbiology, as part of a program of encouraging local schoolchildren to consider a career in medicine. Pupils learnt about good and bad microbes. The session received a writeup in the Sheffield Star. See this link for more details.

Congratulations on MBB promotion

We congratulate Dr Ewald Hettema on being promoted to Reader, in recognition of his outstanding research on peroxisomes, which are organelles found in almost all eukaryotic cells that carry out a range of both degradative and synthetic reactions.

A busy year of science outreach activities

2010/11 has seen MBB staff and students involved in a wide range of outreach activities. We have delivered creative science workshops aimed at exciting primary school pupils about science. These have covered topics such as microbes and bacteria, DNA and proteins, cells and their structures, microscopy, the use of animals in research, evolution and natural selection, as well as genetic manipulations. The photo below shows a product from a “Design a Bug” workshop, creating bacteria adapted to particular environments. In the workshops we have worked with artists from Art in the Park to enhance pupils’ experience. Pupils have produced songs, poems, short dramas, artworks and models based on the science.

Dr Sandrine Soubes collaborated with the theatre company the Babbling Vagabonds to deliver science and theatre workshops exploring the topic of Synthetic Biology in two local primary schools. The project engaged over 150 Y6 pupils who were engaged for a whole week of science and art workshops. In each school, pupils delivered a performance to the rest of the schools and parents.

At the Sheffield Children’s Festival in June 2010 we delivered science workshops to families on a busy Saturday. These were run with the help of Science Brainwaves, a group of postgraduate and undergraduate students from Sheffield, mainly from MBB, whose aim is to educate and entertain – to communicate science.

A group of postgraduates, mainly from MBB, have got together to form the Café Forum, a regular venue for presentation and lively discussion of cross-disciplinary science.

For more details and pictures click here.

Research Highlights from MBB in 2010

Members of the Department published about 90 papers in research journals in 2010. We have selected three, which are explained in more detail in the link below. The first, from Prof Sudbery, decribes how the pathogen Candida albicans pushes its way into the bloodstream to cause lethal infeactions. The second, from Prof Foster, describes how the spherical bacterium Staphylococcus aureus ‘knows’ in which direction to split in half. And the third, from Prof Williamson, describes how the binding of one protein (UBA) to another (ubiquitin) is regulated by dimerisation, faults in which lead to Paget’s disease of bone.

papers 2010

MBB develops new spin-out company

Prof Simon Foster is the founder of Absynth Biologics, a company developing vaccines and antibodies against the MRSA superbug Staphylococcus aureus. In 2010, Absynth signed an agreement with the German company MorphoSys AG to develop therapeutic targets.

We took our first venture into spin-out companies back in 2001 with Asterion, a company developing proteins that bind to cytokine receptors as treatments for a wide range of disorders, involving Prof Pete Artymiuk as a co-founder.

BioServ UK was also launched in early 2009, a company that produces quality antibodies and recombinant proteins. The company is based in the Department, with Dr Lynda Partridge as Scientific Director and Dr Simon Smith (previously a Departmental PhD student) as Technical Director. Both companies are still going strong, not a bad record in the Biotech market.

• Absynth website
• Asterion website
• Spinouts - yes or no?
• Bioserve UK website

Congratulations to Prof Peter Horton on being elected FRS

We congratulate Professor Horton as the second MBB academic to be awarded an FRS in the area of photosynthesis (see details of Prof Hunter’s award below). An FRS is the highest accolade for British scientists.

Prof Horton has wide interests in photosynthesis. A major interest has been in working out how plants respond to excess light. In this era of global climate change, excess light is a major problem, which can lead to severe damage to plant tissues. This interest has led to his being involved in Project Sunshine, a major initiative by the University of Sheffield to tackle the food and energy needs of the world in an integrated way.

• Project Sunshine
• Video clip of the award presentation
• More about the FRS award

Research grants awarded in 2010

MBB received research grants totalling over £4 million in 2010. These include:

• A grant of £499k to Dr Jim Gilmour by the Carbon Trust, for the development of new biofuels from algae. This is part of a major UK initiative to develop more ecologically friendly fuels, and has large commercial potential.
• A grant of just over £0.5m to Prof Simon Foster to study bacterial cell walls. These are major antibacterial drug targets, and the mechanisms by which bacteria remodel their cell walls and split them in two to divide are the key to developing new drugs.
• A grant of over £1m to Profs Robert Poole and Jeff Green for studying how bacteria respond to changes in oxygen levels. Bacteria that live in the gut such as E. coli grow in an environment without oxygen, but when they pass out of the gut they suddenly move into an oxygen-rich environment. They make major changes in their metabolism very quickly to cope with this, which is the key to their success, and also to their ability to act as food-borne pathogens. The grant is to develop a ‘systems biology’ approach, involving the integration of a wide range of data.
• A grant of £586k to Prof David Rice for the development of new herbicides based on X-ray crystal structures of drug targets bound to plant proteins.
• A grant of £464k to Prof Jon Waltho to study how enzymes transfer phosphate groups from one molecule to another. This enzyme activity (‘kinase’) contributes to many cancers, and the research uses basic science to address a problem of great medical importance.

Congratulations to new PhD graduates 2010

In 2010, we saw 24 PhD students graduate, and we congratulate all of them on their hard work and achievement.

• Melissa Lacey: Characterisation of Escherichia coli YfgF: a cyclic di-GMP phosphodiesterase
• Glyn Hemsworth: Structural studies on the flap endonuclease ExolX from Escherichia coli
• Jamie Jackson: Neural differentiation in human embryonic stem cells
• Tooba Alizadeh: Insight into folding and activity of phosphoryl transfer enzymes
• Christopher Penfold: Modelling meiotic chromosome behaviour in space and time
• Alastair Robertson: The role of Ysc84/SH3yl-1 in regulating actin dynamics during endocytosis
• Megan Lewis: The flavohaemoglobins of Botrytis cinera
• Mark Street: Assessing potential allergenicity of latex proteins with the aim of devising therapeutic intervention strategies
• Mustafa Alsull: Physiological and molecular characterisation of an alkalophilic Bacillus isolated from the river Lathkill in the Derbyshire Peak District
• Claire Davies: Structural studies of glutamate racemase
• Plykaeow Chaibenjawong: Desiccation tolerance in Staphylococcus aureus
• Laura Jones: Mechanisms of hyphal tip growth in the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans
• Alexis Bloom: Identification and structural insights into immobilised metal ion affinity purified nuclear protein complexes
• Esmaeil Sadroddiny: A proteomics approach to the study of the functional consequences of IgE-mediated activation of mast cells
• Samera Suleman: Molecular characterisation of peroxisome transport and biogenesis in Aspergillus nidulans
• Noha Hassuna: The role of tetraspannins in the uptake of intracellular pathogens
• Rachel Hulme: Defining the active sites of tetraspannins
• Carrie-Anne Sharma: Elucidating the topology of cystatin B amyloid fibrils
• Jill Shepherd: Roles for the adherent matrix and the cell cycle in the self-renewal and differentiation of human embryonic stem cells
• Adam Hodgson: Resection analysis of the VDE-DSB during meiosis
• Victoria Green: Structural studies of Holliday junction resolvase 67RuvC from Lactococcus lactis
• Arunya Jiraviriyakul: Strategies for generating antibodies for the study of tetraspannin proteins: Characterisation of tetraspannin Tspan11
• Hongtu Ye: Study of the structure/function relationship in canine and human IgE as the basis for the development of rational therapeutic strategies in allergic disease
• Muhammad Lokman: Development of post-meiotic germ cells from human embryonic stem cells in vitro

New edition of popular textbook on Human Genetics Feb 2010

MBB’s Professor Peter Sudbery has brought out the third edition of his popular textbook, Human Molecular Genetics, in collaboration with his son Ian.

Congratulations to Prof Neil Hunter on being elected FRS

We congratulate Professor Neil Hunter on his election to FRS. Prof Hunter works on photosynthesis, with particular interests in bacterial photosynthesis and the biosynthesis of chlorophyll. His work is therefore of great relevance to development of greener technologies and cleaner energy, as is being developed for example in the University of Sheffield’s Project Sunshine.

• Project Sunshine
• Prof Hunter's research page