Profile

Career

2002-	Professor of Biotechnology	Department of Biology, University of York
2001 - 2002	Reader in Biotechnology	University of Cambridge
1991 - 2002	Staff Fellow, Tutor and Director of Studies for Natural Sciences (Biological)	Trinity Hall, Cambridge
1990 - 2001	University Lecturer	Institute of Biotechnology, University of Cambridge
1988 - 1991	Research Fellow	Wolfson College, Cambridge
1987	PhD	University of Kent
1986 - 1990	Postdoctoral Research Associate	Institute of Biotechnology, University of Cambridge
1983	BSc Applied Biology	Hatfield Polytechnic

Research

Overview

The major research themes of our laboratory are microbial metabolism, biocatalysis and environmental biotechnology. A primary goal is to understand how microorganisms have adapted to utilise xenobiotic compounds as carbon and nitrogen sources for growth. The enzymes mediating these pathways often have potential commercial applications as recognition components in biosensors, as biocatalysts for synthetic chemistry and for the bioremediation of soil and ground water. We are now engaged in extensive structural analysis of a number of these enzymes using X-ray crystallography. Work is also focusing on generating carefully designed mutant forms of a number of these enzymes to understand their catalytic mechanisms. A principal theme of our research is the biodegradation, biotransformation and phytoremediation of explosives.

Discoveries

We discovered a novel cytochrome P450 system termed XplA/B from Rhodococcus rhodochrous (11Y) that degrades the high explosive RDX. As a model system for RDX phytoremediation, Arabidopsis expressing XplA/B were grown in RDX contaminated soil and found to remove and degrade the explosive from the soil. Our work suggests that expressing XPlA/B in landscape plants may provide a suitable remediation strategy for explosive contaminated sites.

Current projects

• Advanced optical waveguide biosensors for the detection of illicit drugs and explosives (joint with Nicholas Goddard, University of Manchester) (Funding body: BBSRC)
• Sustainable range management of RDX and TNT by phytoremediation with engineered plants (Funding body: SERDP)
• Gold phytomining (Funding body: Burgess)
• Rhizosphere bacterial degradation of RDX, Understanding and enhancement (Funding body: SERDP)
• The molecular biology of nitroamine degradation in soils (Funding body: SERDP)
• Developing a new platform technology for oxidative biocatalysis. Mining the potential of plant P450s for biohydroxylations (Funding body: CoEBio3)
• New tools for the realisation of cost-effective liquid biofuels from plant biomass (joint with Simon McQueen-Mason) (Funding body: BBSRC)
• Engineering cytochrome P450s for biohydroxylation (joint with Gideon Grogan, Department of Chemistry) (Funding body: CoEBio3)

Research group(s)

Status	Name	Project
Admin	Margaret Cafferky
Post Doctoral Fellow	Dr Hazel Housden	Biosensor development for the detection of explosives and illicit drugs
Post Doctoral Fellow	Dr Astrid Lorenz	Rhizosphere bacterial degradation of RDX, Understanding and enhancement
Post Doctoral Fellow	Dr Elizabeth Rylott	Sustainable range management of RDX and TNT by phytoremediation
Post Doctoral Fellow	Dr Astrid Lorenz	The molecular biology of nitroamine degradation is soils
Post Doctoral Fellow	Dr Katrin Besser	New tools for the realisation of cost-effective liquid biofuels from plant biomass (joint with Simon McQueen-Mason) (Funding body: BBSRC)
Post Doctoral Fellow	Dr Marcelo Kern	New tools for the realisation of cost-effective liquid biofuels from plant biomass (joint with Simon McQueen-Mason) (Funding body: BBSRC)
Research Student	Julia Schückel	Developing a new platform technology for oxidative biocatalysis: Mining the potential of plant P450s for biohydroxylations
Research Student	William Eborall	Discovering novel lignocellulose degrading enzymes from ‘gribble’ for the production of liquid biofuels (joint supervision with Simon McQueen-Mason)
Research Student	Federico Sabbadin	Engineering cytochrome P450s for biohydroxylation
Research Student	Andrew Taylor	Gold phytomining
Research Student	Chung Shion Chong	Microbial degradation of the explosive RDX
Technician	Luisa Elias	New tools for the realisation of cost-effective liquid biofuels from plant biomass (joint with Simon McQueen-Mason) (Funding body: BBSRC)

Available PhD research projects

Targeted analysis of microbial – a new approach to enzyme (for 2012 - 13)

From both a fundamental and industrial biotech viewpoint understanding the deconstruction of lignocellulose in soil and compost is of central importance. In the natural environments microbial communities can efficiently degrade or modify lignin to enable the effective enzymatic hydrolysis of the polysaccharides present in plant cell walls. Globally, this is important for cycling carbon in the environment and as potential sources of biocatalysts for efforts at converting plant biomass into biofuels and commodity chemicals. The aim of this project is to use metatranscriptomics and proteomics to determine gene- and protein-centred details to determine new mechanisms and improved methods of lignocellulose deconstruction in mixed microbial communities from composting cereal straw. The project will use proteomics analysis to interrogate the secretome of the mixed microbial communities, while SSU rRNA profiling will be carried out to provide an overview of the taxonomic composition of microbial species in the compost. Metatranscriptomics will be used to explorethe expression of genes associated with lignocellulose digestion by the mixed microbial communities. To identify new linocellulose degrading enzymes, the peptide sequences from the proteomics analysis will be used to probe the metatranscriptomic library for full and partial coding sequences. These coding sequences will be cloned, expressed and the recombinant proteins characterised. This is a collaborative project with Prof. Simon McQueen-Mason.

Publications

Selected publications

Florian, F., Martinez Fleites,M., Delenne, M., Baudendistel, N., Hauer, B., Turkenburg, J.P, Hart, S., Bruce, N.C. and Grogan, G. (2010) A Covalent Succinylcysteine-like Intermediate in the Enzyme-Catalyzed Transformation of Maleate to Fumarate by Maleate Isomerase. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 132: 11455-11457.

Beynon, E.R., Symons, Z.C., Jackson, R.G., Rylott, E.R. and Bruce, N.C. (2009). The role of oxophytodienoate reductases in the detoxification of the explosive 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene by Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol., 151: 253-261.

Jackson, R. G., Rylott, E.L., Fournier, D., Hawari, J. and Bruce, N. C. (2007) Exploring the biochemical properties and remediation applications of the unusual explosives degrading cytochrome P450 system XplA/B. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104: 16822-16827.

External activities

Memberships

• Editorial Boards: Applied and Environmental Microbiology
• Member of the College of Reviewers for the Canada Research Chairs Program
• York Science Director of CoEBio3 (Centre of Excellence in Biocatalysis, Biotransformations and Biocatalytic Manufacture)
• Co-Founder and Director of Bioniqs Ltd