Profile

Career

2006 -	Senior Lecturer	Department of Biology, University of York
2002 - 2006	Lecturer	Department of Biology, University of York
1996 - 2001	Lecturer	Dept. Mol. Biology & Biotech., University of Sheffield
1993 - 1996	Post-doc Research Associate	University of East Anglia
1993	DPhil	University of Oxford
1990	BA Biochemistry (2:i)	University of Oxford

Research

Overview

Much of the work in the laboratory currently is focused on understanding the organisation and regulation of metabolic processes (particularly respiration) in pathogenic bacterium Neisseria meningitidis and its close relatives (e.g. N. gonorrhoeae, N. lactamica). As well as growing aerobically using oxygen as a respiratory electron acceptor, these organisms can utilize alternative respiratory pathways utilizing nitrite and the important physiological messenger molecule nitric oxide. How these processes are coordinated in the bacterium, and how these processes impact on larger scale processes (e.g. disease) are key concerns. We are also interested in investigating the comparative physiology of Neisseria species – i.e. what makes closely related species distinct from one another, and how does this relate to pathogenicity. We are also interested in how microbial metabolism influences the function of microbial communities in the human body.

Discoveries

We have made progress in our understanding of regulation and structure of respiratory processes in the human pathogen Neisseria meningitidis. The identification of two nitric oxide sensing transcriptional regulators has given us insight into the way the organism deals with this key physiological toxin / signalling molecule. We have identified roles for various components of the branched respiratory chain in N. meningitidis revealing a novel mechanism for transfer of electrons between different membranes in bacteria.

Current projects

• The transcriptional response to nitric oxide in Neisseria meningitidis (Funding body: BBSRC)

Research group(s)

Status	Name	Project
Post doctoral fellow	Dr James Edwards	The transcriptional response to nitric oxide in Neisseria meningitidis
Research Student	Andrew Schofield	Analysis and modelling of respiratory metabolism in Neisseria
Research Student	Maria-Chiara Catenazzi	Comparative analysis amongst the Neisseria species. What makes N. meningitidis special?
Research Student	Stacey Edmondson	Microbial diversity in the human mouth
Research Student	Xi Li	Structure and function of respiratory components and respiratory chains in Neisseria species
Research technician	Diana Quinn	The transcriptional response to nitric oxide in Neisseria meningitidis

Available PhD research projects

Mechanisms of virulence and niche adaptation in bacterial pathogen Neisseria meningitidis

The bacterial pathogen Neisseria meningitidis can cause devastating disease in the forms of septicaemia and meningitis within hours following acquisition. Alternatively, it can colonise asymptomatically for months or years in the upper respiratory tract of healthy carriers. We are interested in the underlying factors that allow N. meningitidis to colonise the human epithelial mucosa in the pharynx and the ways in which these adaptations to the niche also form the fundamental underpinning for the virulence of the bacterium. We have identified a number of N. meningitidis species-specific colonisation determinants, and the aim of this project will be to use genetic, biochemical and microbiological approaches to characterising the roles of these genes / gene products in N. meningitidis during asymptomatic colonisation and in disease.

Publications

Selected publications

Rock JD, Thomson MJ, Read RC and Moir JWB (2007) Regulation of denitrification genes in Neisseria meningitidis by nitric oxide and the repressor NsrR J. Bacteriol. 189: 1138-1144

Heurlier K, Thomson MJ, Aziz N and Moir JWB (2008) The nitric oxide sensing repressor of Neisseria meningitidis has a compact regulon of genes involved in NO synthesis and detoxification J. Bacteriol. 190: 2488-95

Deeudom, M., Koomey, M. and Moir, J.W.B. (2008) Roles of c-type cytochromes in respiration in Neisseria meningitidis. Microbiology 154: 2857-2864

External activities

Editorial duties

• Editorial board: Microbiology