Publications

Filamentous plant pathogens, including fungi and oomycetes, cause some of the most devastating plant diseases. These organisms serve as ideal models for understanding the intricate molecular interplay between plants and the invading pathogens. Filamentous pathogens secrete effector proteins via haustoria, specialized structures for infection and nutrient uptake, to suppress the plant immune response and to reprogram plant metabolism. Recent advances in cell biology have provided crucial insights into the biogenesis of the extrahaustorial membrane and the redirection of host endomembrane trafficking toward this interface. Functional studies have shown that an increasing number of oomycete effectors accumulate at the perihaustorial interface to subvert plant focal immune responses, with a particular convergence on targets involved in host endomembrane trafficking. In this review, we summarize the diverse mechanisms of perihaustorial effectors from oomycetes and pinpoint pressing questions regarding their role in manipulating host defense and metabolism at the haustorial interface.

Journal article

Hailu E, Cantillon D, Madrazo C, Rose G, Wheeler PR, Golby P, Adnew B, Gagneux S, Aseffa A, Gordon S, Comas I, Young DB, Waddell SJ, Larrouy-Maumus G, Berg Set al., 2024,

Lack of methoxy- mycolates characterizes the geographically restricted lineage 7 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (May, 10.1099/mgen.0.001011, 2023)

, MICROBIAL GENOMICS, Vol: 10, ISSN: 2057-5858

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Journal article

van Thor J, 2024,

Kilohertz droplet-on-demand serial femtosecond crystallography at the European XFEL station FXE

, Structural Dynamics, Vol: 11, ISSN: 2329-7778

X-ray Free Electron Lasers (XFELs) allow the collection of high-quality serial femtosecond crystallography data. The next generation of megahertz superconducting FELs promises to drastically reduce data collection times, enabling the capture of more structures with higher signal-to-noise ratios and facilitating more complex experiments. Currently, gas dynamic virtual nozzles (GDVNs) stand as the sole delivery method capable of best utilizing the repetition rate of megahertz sources for crystallography. However, their substantial sample consumption renders their use impractical for many protein targets in serial crystallography experiments. Here, we present a novel application of a droplet-on-demand injection method, which allowed operation at 47 kHz at the European XFEL (EuXFEL) by tailoring a multi-droplet injection scheme for each macro-pulse. We demonstrate a collection rate of 150 000 indexed patterns per hour. We show that the performance and effective data collection rate are comparable to GDVN, with a sample consumption reduction of two orders of magnitude. We present lysozyme crystallographic data using the Large Pixel Detector at the femtosecond x-ray experiment endstation. Significant improvement of the crystallographic statistics was made by correcting for a systematic drift of the photon energy in the EuXFEL macro-pulse train, which was characterized from indexing the individual frames in the pulse train. This is the highest resolution protein structure collected and reported at the EuXFEL at 1.38 Å resolution.

Journal article

Bentham AR, Wang W, Trusch F, Varden FA, Birch PRJ, Banfield MJet al., 2024,

The WY Domain of an RxLr Effector Drives Interactions with a Host Target Phosphatase to Mimic Host Regulatory Proteins and Promote Phytophthora infestans Infection.

, Mol Plant Microbe Interact, Vol: 37, Pages: 239-249, ISSN: 0894-0282

Plant pathogens manipulate the cellular environment of the host to facilitate infection and colonization that often lead to plant diseases. To accomplish this, many specialized pathogens secrete virulence proteins called effectors into the host cell, which subvert processes such as immune signaling, gene transcription, and host metabolism. Phytophthora infestans, the causative agent of potato late blight, employs an expanded repertoire of RxLR effectors with WY domains to manipulate the host through direct interaction with protein targets. However, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the interactions between WY effectors and their host targets remains limited. In this study, we performed a structural and biophysical characterization of the P. infestans WY effector Pi04314 in complex with the potato Protein Phosphatase 1-c (PP1c). We elucidate how Pi04314 uses a WY domain and a specialized C-terminal loop carrying a KVxF motif that interact with conserved surfaces on PP1c, known to be used by host regulatory proteins for guiding function. Through biophysical and in planta analyses, we demonstrate that Pi04314 WY or KVxF mutants lose their ability to bind PP1c. The loss of PP1c binding correlates with changes in PP1c nucleolar localization and a decrease in lesion size in plant infection assays. This study provides insights into the manipulation of plant hosts by pathogens, revealing how effectors exploit key regulatory interfaces in host proteins to modify their function and facilitate disease. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY 4.0 International license.

Journal article

Pawar S, Huxley PJ, Smallwood TRC, Nesbit ML, Chan AHH, Shocket MS, Johnson LR, Kontopoulos D-G, Cator LJet al., 2024,

Variation in temperature of peak trait performance constrains adaptation of arthropod populations to climatic warming

, Nature Ecology and Evolution, Vol: 8, Pages: 500-510, ISSN: 2397-334X

The capacity of arthropod populations to adapt to long-term climatic warming is currently uncertain. Here we combine theory and extensive data to show that the rate of their thermal adaptation to climatic warming will be constrained in two fundamental ways. First, the rate of thermal adaptation of an arthropod population is predicted to be limited by changes in the temperatures at which the performance of four key life-history traits can peak, in a specific order of declining importance: juvenile development, adult fecundity, juvenile mortality and adult mortality. Second, directional thermal adaptation is constrained due to differences in the temperature of the peak performance of these four traits, with these differences expected to persist because of energetic allocation and life-history trade-offs. We compile a new global dataset of 61 diverse arthropod species which provides strong empirical evidence to support these predictions, demonstrating that contemporary populations have indeed evolved under these constraints. Our results provide a basis for using relatively feasible trait measurements to predict the adaptive capacity of diverse arthropod populations to geographic temperature gradients, as well as ongoing and future climatic warming.

Journal article

King FJ, Yuen ELH, Bozkurt TO, 2024,

Border control: manipulation of the host-pathogen interface by perihaustorial oomycete effectors

, Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, Vol: 37, Pages: 220-226, ISSN: 0894-0282

Filamentous plant pathogens, including fungi and oomycetes, cause some of the most devastating plant diseases. These organisms serve as ideal models for understanding the intricate molecular interplay between plants and the invading pathogens. Filamentous pathogens secrete effector proteins via haustoria, specialized structures for infection and nutrient uptake, to suppress the plant immune response and to reprogram plant metabolism. Recent advances in cell biology have provided crucial insights into the biogenesis of the extrahaustorial membrane and the redirection of host endomembrane trafficking toward this interface. Functional studies have shown that an increasing number of oomycete effectors accumulate at the perihaustorial interface to subvert plant focal immune responses, with a particular convergence on targets involved in host endomembrane trafficking. In this review, we summarize the diverse mechanisms of perihaustorial effectors from oomycetes and pinpoint pressing questions regarding their role in manipulating host defense and metabolism at the haustorial interface. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.

Journal article

Tu Y, Das A, Redwood-Sawyerr C, Polizzi KMet al., 2024,

Capped or uncapped? Techniques to assess the quality of mRNA molecules

, CURRENT OPINION IN SYSTEMS BIOLOGY, Vol: 37, ISSN: 2452-3100

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Journal article

Gumbs R, Scott O, Bates R, Böhm M, Forest F, Gray CL, Hoffmann M, Kane D, Low C, Pearse WD, Pipins S, Tapley B, Turvey ST, Jetz W, Owen NR, Rosindell Jet al., 2024,

Global conservation status of the jawed vertebrate Tree of Life

, Nature Communications, Vol: 15, ISSN: 2041-1723

Human-driven extinction threatens entire lineages across the Tree of Life. Here we assess the conservation status of jawed vertebrate evolutionary history, using three policy-relevant approaches. First, we calculate an index of threat to overall evolutionary history, showing that we expect to lose 86-150 billion years (11-19%) of jawed vertebrate evolutionary history over the next 50-500 years. Second, we rank jawed vertebrate species by their EDGE scores to identify the highest priorities for species-focused conservation of evolutionary history, finding that chondrichthyans, ray-finned fish and testudines rank highest of all jawed vertebrates. Third, we assess the conservation status of jawed vertebrate families. We found that species within monotypic families are more likely to be threatened and more likely to be in decline than other species. We provide a baseline for the status of families at risk of extinction to catalyse conservation action. This work continues a trend of highlighting neglected groups—such as testudines, crocodylians, amphibians and chondrichthyans—as conservation priorities from a phylogenetic perspective.

Report

Moffett E, Gayford J, Woodward G, Pearse Wet al., 2024,

Biodiversity and ecosystem function: a global analysis of trends

Journal article

Yoon S, Bae HE, Hariharan P, Nygaard A, Lan B, Woubshete M, Sadaf A, Liu X, Loland CJ, Byrne B, Guan L, Chae PSet al., 2024,

Rational approach to improve detergent efficacy for membrane protein stabilization

, Bioconjugate Chemistry, Vol: 35, Pages: 223-231, ISSN: 1043-1802

Membrane protein structures are essential for the molecular understanding of diverse cellular processes and drug discovery. Detergents are not only widely used to extract membrane proteins from membranes but also utilized to preserve native protein structures in aqueous solution. However, micelles formed by conventional detergents are suboptimal for membrane protein stabilization, necessitating the development of novel amphiphilic molecules with enhanced protein stabilization efficacy. In this study, we prepared two sets of tandem malonate-derived glucoside (TMG) variants, both of which were designed to increase the alkyl chain density in micelle interiors. The alkyl chain density was modulated either by reducing the spacer length (TMG-Ms) or by introducing an additional alkyl chain between the two alkyl chains of the original TMGs (TMG-Ps). When evaluated with a few membrane proteins including a G protein-coupled receptor, TMG-P10,8 was found to be substantially more efficient at extracting membrane proteins and also effective at preserving protein integrity in the long term compared to the previously described TMG-A13. This result reveals that inserting an additional alkyl chain between the two existing alkyl chains is an effective way to optimize detergent properties for membrane protein study. This new biochemical tool and the design principle described have the potential to facilitate membrane protein structure determination.

Journal article

Murphy RA, Pizzato J, Cuthbertson L, Sabnis A, Edwards A, Nolan L, Vorup-Jensen T, Larrouy-Maumus G, Davies Jet al., 2024,

Antimicrobial peptide glatiramer acetate targets Pseudomonas aeruginosa lipopolysaccharides to breach membranes without altering lipopolysaccharide modification

, npj Antimicrobials and Resistance, Vol: 2, ISSN: 2731-8745

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are key components of innate immunity across all domains of life. Natural and synthetic AMPs are receiving renewed attention in efforts to combat the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis and the loss of antibiotic efficacy. The gram-negative pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the most concerning infecting bacteria in AMR, particularly in people with cystic fibrosis (CF) where respiratory infections are difficult to eradicate and associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Cationic AMPs exploit the negatively charged lipopolysaccharides (LPS) on P. aeruginosa to bind and disrupt bacterial membrane(s), causing lethal damage. P. aeruginosa modifies its LPS to evade AMP killing. Free-LPS is also a component of CF sputum and feeds pro-inflammatory cycles. Glatiramer acetate (GA) is a random peptide co-polymer—of glycine, lysine, alanine, tyrosine—used as a drug in treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS); we have previously shown GA to be an AMP which synergises with tobramycin against CF P. aeruginosa, functioning via bacterial membrane disruption. Here, we demonstrate GA’s direct binding and sequestration/neutralisation of P. aeruginosa LPS, in keeping with GA’s ability to disrupt the outer membrane. At CF-relevant LPS concentrations, however, membrane disruption by GA was not strongly inhibited. Furthermore, exposure to GA did not result in increased Lipid A modification of LPS or in increased gene expression of systems involved in AMP sensing and LPS modification. Therefore, despite the electrostatic targeting of LPS by GA as part of its activity, P. aeruginosa does not demonstrate LPS modification in its defence.

Thesis dissertation

Morrison A, 2024,

Development of Improved Cultivation Methods for Environmental Microorganisms

Cultivation of bacteria remains an essential prerequisite for numerous research and biotechnological applications. Despite their ubiquity, only a minority of environmental bacteria are cultivable using standard techniques. Therefore, a vast microbial ‘dark matter’ awaits exploration for valuable therapeutics or research potential. Despite innovations in enhanced cultivation techniques, limitations remain including throughput, dependencies on environmental factors or abrupt transitions of microorganisms from native to laboratory conditions. This thesis addresses these challenges with the development, optimisation, and experimental assessment of two novel cultivation methodologies. The first methodology allows for the gradual transition and acclimatisation of microorganisms from native environments to culture media using the novel Enhanced Domestication (EDEN) device. Compared to the instantaneous transition, acclimatisation of pond water bacteria to R2A culture media significantly enhanced cultivation diversity, colony yield and greater taxonomic range of isolates including those previously reported to be recalcitrant to cultivation. Moreover, likely novel taxa cultivated with EDEN exhibited antimicrobial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The second methodology involves the development of a cell encapsulation apparatus, termed Bacterial Encapsulation and Containment (BEAD), enabling microinjection and cultivation of bacteria within alginate hydrogel beads using an automated pneumatic pump system. The performance of in situ cultivation with BEAD-encapsulated bacteria were assessed using the newly developed cultivation cassettes growth chambers. The findings propose enhanced cultivation strategies to unlock the biosynthetic potential of uncultured environmental bacteria.

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Journal article

Vieira MFM, Hernandez G, Zhong Q, Arbesu M, Veloso T, Gomes T, Martins ML, Monteiro H, Frazao C, Frankel G, Zanzoni A, Cordeiro TNet al., 2024,

The pathogen-encoded signalling receptor Tir exploits host-like intrinsic disorder for infection

, COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY, Vol: 7

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Journal article

Olechnowicz A, Blatkiewicz M, Jopek K, Isalan M, Mielcarek M, Rucinski Met al., 2024,

Deregulated transcriptome as a platform for adrenal Huntington’s disease-related pathology

, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vol: 25, ISSN: 1422-0067

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects mainly the central nervous system (CNS) by inducing progressive deterioration in both its structure and function. In recent years, there has been growing interest in the impact of HD on peripheral tissue function. Herein, we used the R6/2 mouse model of HD to investigate the influence of the disease on adrenal gland functioning. A transcriptomic analysis conducted using a well-established quantitative method, an Affymetrix array, revealed changes in gene expression in the R6/2 model compared to genetic background controls. For the first time, we identified disruptions in cholesterol and sterol metabolism, blood coagulation, and xenobiotic metabolism in HD adrenal glands. This study showed that the disrupted expression of these genes may contribute to the underlying mechanisms of Huntington’s disease. Our findings may contribute to developing a better understanding of Huntington’s disease progression and aid in the development of novel diagnostic or therapeutic approaches.

Journal article

Neyret M, Le Provost G, Boesing AL, Schneider FD, Baulechner D, Bergmann J, de Vries FT, Fiore-Donno AM, Geisen S, Goldmann K, Merges A, Saifutdinov RA, Simons NK, Tobias JA, Zaitsev AS, Gossner MM, Jung K, Kandeler E, Krauss J, Penone C, Schloter M, Schulz S, Staab M, Wolters V, Apostolakis A, Birkhofer K, Boch S, Boeddinghaus RS, Bolliger R, Bonkowski M, Buscot F, Dumack K, Fischer M, Gan HY, Heinze J, Hoelzel N, John K, Klaus VH, Kleinebecker T, Marhan S, Mueller J, Renner SC, Rillig MC, Schenk NV, Schoening I, Schrumpf M, Seibold S, Socher SA, Solly EF, Teuscher M, van Kleunen M, Wubet T, Manning Pet al., 2024,

A slow-fast trait continuum at the whole community level in relation to land-use intensification

, NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, Vol: 15

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Report

Benton J, Jimenez Zarco J, Banks A, Kakadellis S, Lee KY, Lee PH, Romain C, Wright S, von Holstein Iet al., 2024,

Using microbes to remove microplastics from wastewater and sewage sludge

, London, Publisher: Institute for Molecular Science and Engineering, Briefing paper No. 11

Microplastics are a widespread form of plastic pollution. There is increasing evidence that they are a threat to human health and the environment. Microplastics in domestic and industrial wastewater become concentrated in sewage sludge during wastewater treatment processes. In 2020, water companies in England produced more than 800,000 tonnes of sewage sludge from urban wastewater. More than 90% of UK sewage sludge is spread on agricultural land as a fertilizer and soil conditioner. This provides a pathway for microplastics to enter the terrestrial environment. There is currently no UK legislation defining safe limits for microplastics in sludge and soils but future regulation is a possibility. There is currently no technology available to remove microplastics from wastewater treatment processes or the resulting sludge. Safe limits for microplastics in treated sewage sludge, soils and water bodies should be identified. This will require a survey of the extent of microplastic pollution throughout the UK, including concentration, identity and characteristics of microplastics in each environmental reservoir, and understanding how microplastics affect different living organisms. Microbes or fungi that break down plastic could be added to existing wastewater treatment process to remove microplastics and prevent their release into the environment. Alternatively, only the active enzymes (rather than the live microorganisms) could be added to the process. Currently, only polyester microplastics (11% of the total microplastic burden) could be treated in this way. Different microorganisms would have to be discovered or developed to tackle other common microplastic polymers such as polypropylene or polyethylene.

Journal article

Drury JP, Clavel J, Tobias JA, Rolland J, Sheard C, Morlon Het al., 2024,

Limited ecological opportunity influences the tempo of morphological evolution in birds

, Current Biology, Vol: 34, Pages: 661-669.E4, ISSN: 0960-9822

According to classic models of lineage diversification and adaptive radiation, phenotypic evolution should accelerate in the context of ecological opportunity and slow down when niches become saturated.1,2 However, only weak support for these ideas has been found in nature, perhaps because most analyses make the biologically unrealistic assumption that clade members contribute equally to reducing ecological opportunity, even when they occur in different continents or specialize on different habitats and diets. To view this problem through a different lens, we adapted a new phylogenetic modeling approach that accounts for the fact that competition for ecological opportunity only occurs between species that coexist and share similar habitats and diets. Applying this method to trait data for nearly all extant species of landbirds,3 we find a widespread signature of decelerating trait evolution in lineages adapted to similar habitats or diets. The strength of this pattern was consistent across latitudes when comparing tropical and temperate assemblages. Our results provide little support for the idea that increased diversity and tighter packing of niches accentuates evolutionary slowdowns in the tropics and instead suggest that limited ecological opportunity can be an important factor determining the rate of morphological diversification at a global scale.

Journal article

Guder F, Coatsworth P, Bozkurt O, Cotur Y, Collins AS-P, Olenik S, Zhou Z, Naik A, Asfour T, Gonzalez-Macia L, Chao D-Yet al., 2024,

Time-resolved chemical monitoring of whole plant roots with printed electrochemical sensors and machine learning

, Science Advances, Vol: 10, ISSN: 2375-2548

Traditional single-point measurements fail to capture dynamic chemical responses of plants, which are complex, nonequilibrium biological systems. We report TETRIS (time-resolved electrochemical technology for plant root environment in situ chemical sensing), a real-time chemical phenotyping system for continuously monitoring chemical signals in the often-neglected plant root environment. TETRIS consisted of low-cost, highly scalable screen-printed electrochemical sensors for monitoring concentrations of salt, pH, and H2O2 in the root environment of whole plants, where multiplexing allowed for parallel sensing operation. TETRIS was used to measure ion uptake in tomato, kale, and rice and detected differences between nutrient and heavy metal ion uptake. Modulation of ion uptake with ion channel blocker LaCl3 was monitored by TETRIS and machine learning used to predict ion uptake. TETRIS has the potential to overcome the urgent “bottleneck” in high-throughput screening in producing high-yielding plant varieties with improved resistance against stress.

Journal article

D'Amato R, Taxiarchi C, Galardini M, Trusso A, Minuz RL, Grilli S, Somerville AGT, Shittu D, Khalil AS, Galizi R, Crisanti A, Simoni A, Muller Ret al., 2024,

Anti-CRISPR Anopheles mosquitoes inhibit gene drive spread under challenging behavioural conditions in large cages

, NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, Vol: 15

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Journal article

Karamanos TK, Matthews S, 2024,

Biomolecular NMR in the AI-assisted structural biology era: Old tricks and new opportunities

, BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-PROTEINS AND PROTEOMICS, Vol: 1872, ISSN: 1570-9639

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Journal article

Ahmadi Y, Umrekar TR, Mutter N, Beeby M, Barišić Iet al., 2024,

DNA origami-enhanced binding of aptamers to Staphylococcus aureus cells

, Biosensors and Bioelectronics: X, Vol: 16

The combination of DNA origami nanostructures and aptamers provides a powerful technology for diagnostic assays. Here, we functionalized a DNA origami nanostructure with a Protein-A binding aptamer to target Staphylococcus aureus bacterial cells. Using an enzyme-linked oligonucleotide assay (ELONA), we semi-quantitatively analyzed and compared the interaction of the aptamer and aptamer-modified DNA origamis with Staphylococcus aureus bacterial isolates. The results showed that aptamer-functionalized DNA nanostructures bind with five times higher affinity (KD: 34 ± 5 nM) compared to the aptamer alone (KD: 160 ± 9 nM). Visualising the interaction of bacterial cells and nanostructures with electron cryotomography further confirmed the aptamer-mediated specific interaction of DNA nanostructures with bacterial cells.

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Journal article

Patterson C, Hazime K, Zelenay S, Davis Det al., 2024,

Prostaglandin E₂ impacts multiple stages of the natural killer cell antitumor immune response

, European Journal of Immunology, Vol: 54, ISSN: 0014-2980

Tumor immune escape is a major factor contributing to cancer progression and unresponsiveness to cancer therapies. Tumors can produce prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), an inflammatory mediator that directly acts on Natural killer (NK) cells to inhibit antitumor immunity. However, precisely how PGE2 influences NK cell tumor-restraining functions remains unclear. Here, we report that following PGE₂ treatment, human NK cells exhibited altered expression of specific activating receptors and a reduced ability to degranulate and kill cancer targets. Transcriptional analysis uncovered that PGE₂ also differentially modulated the expression of chemokine receptors by NK cells, inhibiting CXCR3 but increasing CXCR4. Consistent with this, PGE₂-treated NK cells exhibited decreased migration to CXCL10 but increased ability to migrate toward CXCL12. Using live cell imaging, we showed that in the presence of PGE2, NK cells were slower and less likely to kill cancer target cells following conjugation. Imaging the sequential stages of NK cell killing revealed that PGE₂ impaired NK cell polarization, but not the re-organization of synaptic actin or the release of perforin itself. Together, these findings demonstrate that PGE₂ affects multiple but select NK cell functions. Understanding how cancer cells subvert NK cells is necessary to more effectively harness the cancer-inhibitory function of NK cells in treatments.

Journal article

Keeping T, Harrison SP, Prentice IC, 2024,

Modelling the daily probability of wildfire occurrence in the contiguous United States

, Environmental Research Letters, Vol: 19, ISSN: 1748-9326

The development of a high-quality wildfire occurrence model is an essential component in mapping present wildfire risk, and in projecting future wildfire dynamics with climate and land-use change. Here, we develop a new model for predicting the daily probability of wildfire occurrence at 0.1° (∼10 km) spatial resolution by adapting a generalised linear modelling (GLM) approach to include improvements to the variable selection procedure, identification of the range over which specific predictors are influential, and the minimisation of compression, applied in an ensemble of model runs. We develop and test the model using data from the contiguous United States. The ensemble performed well in predicting the mean geospatial patterns of fire occurrence, the interannual variability in the number of fires, and the regional variation in the seasonal cycle of wildfire. Model runs gave an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.85–0.88, indicating good predictive power. The ensemble of runs provides insight into the key predictors for wildfire occurrence in the contiguous United States. The methodology, though developed for the United States, is globally implementable.

Journal article

Mutemi DD, Tuju J, Ogwang R, Nyamako L, Wambui KM, Cruz IR, Villner P, Yman V, Kinyanjui SM, Rooth I, Ngasala B, Färnert A, Osier FHAet al., 2024,

Antibody-dependent respiratory burst against Plasmodium falciparum Merozoites in individuals living in an area with declining malaria transmission

, Vaccines, Vol: 12, ISSN: 2076-393X

Malaria transmission intensity affects the development of naturally acquired immunity to malaria. An absolute correlate measure of protection against malaria is lacking. However, antibody-mediated functions against Plasmodium falciparum correlate with protection against malaria. In children, antibody-mediated functions against P. falciparum decline with reduced exposure. It is unclear whether adults maintain antibody-mediated functions as malaria transmission declines. This study assessed antibody-dependent respiratory burst (ADRB) in individuals from an area with declining malaria transmission. In an age-matched analysis, we compare ADRB activity during high versus low malaria transmission periods. Age significantly predicted higher ADRB activity in the high (p < 0.001) and low (p < 0.001) malaria transmission periods. ADRB activity was higher during the high compared to the low malaria transmission period in older children and adults. Only older adults during the high malaria transmission period had their median ADRB activity above the ADRB cut-off. Ongoing P. falciparum infection influenced ADRB activity during the low (p = 0.01) but not the high (p = 0.29) malaria transmission period. These findings propose that naturally acquired immunity to P. falciparum is affected in children and adults as malaria transmission declines, implying that vaccines will be necessary to induce and maintain protection against malaria.

Journal article

Arraiano-Castilho R, Bidartondo MI, Niskanen T, Brunner I, Zimmermann S, Senn-Irlet B, Frey B, Peintner U, Mrak T, Suz LMet al., 2024,

Climatic shifts threaten alpine mycorrhizal communities above the treeline

, FUNGAL ECOLOGY, Vol: 67, ISSN: 1754-5048

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Journal article

Leung PB, Matanza XM, Roche B, Ha KP, Cheung HC, Appleyard S, Collins T, Flanagan O, Marteyn BS, Clements Aet al., 2024,

Shigella sonnei utilises colicins during inter- bacterial competition

, MICROBIOLOGY-SGM, Vol: 170, ISSN: 1350-0872

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Journal article

Currie D, Wong N, Zane I, Rix T, Vardakastanis M, Claxton A, Ong KKV, Macmorland W, Poivet A, Brooks A, Niola P, Huntley D, Montano Xet al., 2024,

A Potential Prognostic Gene Signature Associated with p53-Dependent NTRK1 Activation and Increased Survival of Neuroblastoma Patients

, CANCERS, Vol: 16

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Divorce is linked with extra-pair paternity in a monogamous passerine

Comparison of manual, machine learning, and hybrid methods for video annotation to extract parental care data

Assessing above and belowground recovery from ammonium sulfate addition and wildfire in a lowland heath: mycorrhizal fungi as potential indicators

Border control: manipulation of the host–pathogeninterface by perihaustorial oomycete effectors

Lack of methoxy- mycolates characterizes the geographically restricted lineage 7 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (May, 10.1099/mgen.0.001011, 2023)

Kilohertz droplet-on-demand serial femtosecond crystallography at the European XFEL station FXE

The WY Domain of an RxLr Effector Drives Interactions with a Host Target Phosphatase to Mimic Host Regulatory Proteins and Promote Phytophthora infestans Infection.

Variation in temperature of peak trait performance constrains adaptation of arthropod populations to climatic warming

Border control: manipulation of the host-pathogen interface by perihaustorial oomycete effectors

Capped or uncapped? Techniques to assess the quality of mRNA molecules

Global conservation status of the jawed vertebrate Tree of Life

Biodiversity and ecosystem function: a global analysis of trends

Rational approach to improve detergent efficacy for membrane protein stabilization

Antimicrobial peptide glatiramer acetate targets Pseudomonas aeruginosa lipopolysaccharides to breach membranes without altering lipopolysaccharide modification

Development of Improved Cultivation Methods for Environmental Microorganisms

The pathogen-encoded signalling receptor Tir exploits host-like intrinsic disorder for infection

Deregulated transcriptome as a platform for adrenal Huntington’s disease-related pathology

A slow-fast trait continuum at the whole community level in relation to land-use intensification

Using microbes to remove microplastics from wastewater and sewage sludge

Limited ecological opportunity influences the tempo of morphological evolution in birds

Time-resolved chemical monitoring of whole plant roots with printed electrochemical sensors and machine learning

Anti-CRISPR <i>Anopheles</i> mosquitoes inhibit gene drive spread under challenging behavioural conditions in large cages

Biomolecular NMR in the AI-assisted structural biology era: Old tricks and new opportunities

DNA origami-enhanced binding of aptamers to Staphylococcus aureus cells

Prostaglandin E₂ impacts multiple stages of the natural killer cell antitumor immune response

Modelling the daily probability of wildfire occurrence in the contiguous United States

Antibody-dependent respiratory burst against Plasmodium falciparum Merozoites in individuals living in an area with declining malaria transmission

Climatic shifts threaten alpine mycorrhizal communities above the treeline

<i>Shigella</i><i> sonnei</i> utilises colicins during inter- bacterial competition

A Potential Prognostic Gene Signature Associated with p53-Dependent NTRK1 Activation and Increased Survival of Neuroblastoma Patients

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Biodiversity and ecosystem function: a global analysis of trends

Development of Improved Cultivation Methods for Environmental Microorganisms

Using microbes to remove microplastics from wastewater and sewage sludge

Postgraduate research

Useful links for researchers