Professor Neil C Bruce
CNAP Chair in Biotechnology

Visit Professor Neil C Bruce's profile on the York Research Database to:

See a full list of publications

Browse activities and projects

Explore connections, collaborators, related work and more

Profile

Career

2002-	Professor of Biotechnology	CNAP, 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

Departmental roles

Chair of Departmental Research Committee

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, for the production of biofuels 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.

Projects

Development of sustainable sources of animal feed using Black Soldier Fly larvae
Sustainable range management of RDX and TNT by phytoremediation with engineered plants (Funding body: SERDP)
New tools for the realisation of cost-effective liquid biofuels from plant biomass (joint with Simon McQueen-Mason) (Funding body: BBSRC)
Targeted analysis of microbial lignocellulolytic secretomes - a new approach to enzyme discovery. biomass (Funding body: Bilateral BBSRC-FAPESP)
Exposing explosives: novel synthetic gene circuits for explosive detection via innovative waveguide sensing (Funding body: BBSRC)
Studying Effect of Dutasteride on plant growth and development using Arabidopsis. (Funded by Brunel University).
Development of Cytochrome P450 Enzymes for the Chemical Manufacturing Industries (funded body: EU FP7 Marie Curie ITN)
Phytocat (Funding body: G8 EPSRC) JC/NCB
BBSRC RICEFUELS Engineering Enzymes, bacteria and bioconversion processes for advanced biofuels from waste grain straw
BBSRC Marine Wood Borer Enzyme Programme (Start date 01 04 14)

Research group(s)

Status	Name	Project
Senior Research Associate	Liz Rylott	ESTCP - Phytoremediation of explosives from contaminated soil by transgenic grass
Research Technician	Laura Faas	Tailoring the in planta synthesis of specific NPs for production of high-value catalysts
PhD student	Nicola Oates	Degradation of lignocellulose by Graphium sp.
PhD student	Lazaina Ahmad	Binding characterisation of Arabidopsis glutatjione transferases
PhD student	Zakuan Shamsul Harumain	Mechanisms of platinum group metal uptake and tolerance in plants
PhD student	Daniel Leadbeater	Bioprospecting lignocellulolytic enzymes from salt marsh ecosystems
PhD student	Rachael Evans	Evolving microbial communities for biofuel production
PhD student	Giovanna Pesante	Physiology and enzymology of lignocellulose digestion in the shipworm Lyrodus pedicellatus
PhD student	Juliana Sanchez	Discovery of novel enzymes with lignocellulosic activity from a salt marsh environment
Research Associate	Federico Sabbadin	BBSRC - Learning from marine wood borers; enzymes and mechanisms of lignocellulose digestion
Research Associate	Katrin Besser	BBSRC - Learning from marine wood borers; enzymes and mechanisms of lignocellulose digestion
Research Associate	Dr Joe Bennett	BBSRC - RICEFUEL Engineering Enzymes, bacteria and bioconversion processes for advances biofuels from waste grain straw
Research Technician	Luisa Elias	BBSRC - Learning from marine wood borers; enzymes and mechanisms of lignocellulose digestion
Research Administrator	Margaret Cafferky	Project Administration

Department of Biology

Professor Neil C Bruce CNAP Chair in Biotechnology