Microbiology
The research interests of this group are wide ranging, and encompass
the study of prokaryotic and eukaryotic diversity, industrial,
agricultural, environmental, marine, medical and gut microbiology,
virus-host interaction, viral characterisation and evolution, and the
adaptation of medically-important microbial pathogens to antibiotics
and environmental stress through mutation(s).
- Environmental microbiology research investigates the key factors influencing biofilm development in natural and industrial settings, using traditional methods and molecular techniques of DNA sequencing, microarray, proteome and metabolome analysis. Marine systems are one area of interest, particularly interactions between microbes and host organisms such as sponges.
- Health-related water microbiology research evalutes the source, diversity and survival of human pathogenic viruses and indicator bacteria in shell- fish, marine and freshwater environments, and the risks to humans and the ecosystem.
- Work is ongoing to explore microbial biodiversity in extreme environments, ranging from the desiccated, sub-zero Dry Valleys of Antarctica to geothermal and hydro-thermal vents. Organisms from these studies can be used to design isolation strategies for genes which code for enzymes that have potential uses for industry.
- Industrial microbiology explores the metabolic abilities of microbial cells to develop new technologies and novel products for industrial applications. Current studies are focused on pigment production via microbial fermentation to be used as natural colorants in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Investigation of microbial processes in wastewater treatment is another key area and is the focus of a microbial genome sequencing and functional genomics programme.
- Medical microbiology studies of pathogenic yeasts and bacteria, including the investigation of metabolic attributes that enable different Candida species to survive and grow within the environment of healthy individuals, unraveling the metabolism of pathogenic bacteria in vivo using metabolomics and systems biology.
- Plant pathology, including the characterisation of new viruses from horticultural and native plants, development of diagnostic methods for plant pathogens, studies of the molecular interactions between mycoviruses and their fungal hosts.
- Evolution and genetics of microorganisms, including evolutionary bioinformatics, yeast ecology and genetics (especially wine yeasts), and evolutionary genetics of viruses.
Academic Staff
Professor Richard Gardner - wine yeast genetics
Dr Matt Goddard - evolutionary genetics, population genetics and adaptive evolution of natural and wild yeast populations.
Professor Gillian Lewis - environmental microbiology, public health and risk assessment, water quality, virology, microbial ecology.
Associate Professor Mike Pearson - plant virology, mycoviruses, virus and fungal molecular diagnostics, diseases of temperate and tropical crops
Professor Allen Rodrigo - evolutionary bioinformatics, including phylogenetic methodology, evolutionary genetics of viruses, and computational evolutionary biology.
Dr Augusto Simoes-Barbosa - Lecturer
Dr Mike Taylor - marine microbiology, symbiosis, microbial community ecology, marine biotechnology.
Dr Susan Turner - environmental and industrial microbiology, wastewater treatment, functional genomics, molecular microbial ecology.
Dr Silas Villas-Boas - Microbial metabolism and metabolomics, industrial microbiology, medical microbiology, metabolic engineering, and systems biology.
Associate Professor Tony Roberton - Mucin and Anaerobic Microbiology
Dr Susanne Schmitt - Marine Microbiology Laboratory