Dr Maria Makarova

Supervisor Details

Contact Details

Department of Metabolism and Systems Science, University of Birmingham

Scientific Background

Research Interests

I’m interested in uncovering how cells allocate resources and preserve metabolic balance. To address this, we ask how cells regulate the distribution of metabolic flux across pathways under diverse environmental and genetic conditions. Using yeast as a model, our research has revealed fundamental principles of metabolic organization, adaptation, and resilience, offering insights into how evolution shapes and constrains cellular metabolism.

Building on these insights, we are now focusing on the metabolic engineering of Schizosaccharomyces japonicus. Instead of adding entirely new synthetic pathways, we build on its natural evolutionary adaptations, especially its ability to tolerate the toxicity of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs). By enhancing and redirecting its existing metabolism, we aim to improve sustainable MCFA production. This strategy connects evolutionary biology with synthetic design, turning a naturally robust yeast into a promising platform for green biomanufacturing.

Research Groups

Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research (IMSR)

Supervision Style

In three words or phrases: supportive, guiding, teaching and inclusive.

Provision of Training

I prefer to take responsibility for your technical training at first, leading to more independence later.

Progression Monitoring and Management

I will set out my expectations of your progression on a weekly/monthly basis. If these progression criteria are not met we will always discuss a plan of action together.

Communication

I am known to email my team/PhD students at all hours of the day and night, however I will not expect you to do the same.

Meetings

PhD Students can expect scheduled meetings with me at least once per week. These meetings will be face-to-face. I am usually contactable for an instant response on every working day.

Working Patterns

The timing of work in my lab is completely flexible, and (other than attending pre-arranged meetings), I expect students to manage their own time.

Notice Period for Feedback

I need at least 1 week's notice to provide feedback on written work of up to 5000 words.

MIBTP Project Details

Primary supervisor for:

How membrane lipids and oxygen shape fungal growth and host invasion

See the PhD Opportunities section to see if this project is currently open for applications via MIBTP.

Please Note: The main page lists projects via BBSRC Research Theme(s) quoted and then relevant Topic(s).

How membrane lipids and oxygen shape fungal growth and host invasion

Secondary Supervisor(s): Prof Rebecca Drummond

University of Registration: University of Birmingham

BBSRC Research Themes:

Understanding the Rules of Life (Immunology, Microbiology)

Project Outline

Fungal infections kill millions of people each year. Among the most difficult are the Mucorales, which cause mucormycosis in people with diabetes or compromised immunity, with mortality frequently exceeding 50%.

Mucorales are dimorphic, switching between yeast-like and filamentous growth in response to oxygen and carbon dioxide. The two forms do different things: hyphae invade tissue, whereas yeast-like cells proliferate and disperse. The signalling behind the switch is well described, but how the cell executes it is not.

Building a hypha demands sustained membrane delivery to a small, highly curved apex. That apex requires a specific lipid environment, built from sterols and unsaturated fatty acids, neither of which can be made without molecular oxygen. Does oxygen availability therefore constrain which geometries a fungus can build?

Aims:

Determine how membrane composition, organisation and mechanics change as Mucor transitions between yeast-like, germling and hyphal forms across defined oxygen tensions, and how oxygen affects both the lipids produced and their transport to the growing apex.

Establish whether membrane biophysics constrains morphological switching. Manipulate sterol and fatty acid metabolism (genetically and phamacologically) to test whether altering membrane properties changes the ability of cells to build and maintain polarised growth, and whether this acts independently of calcineurin. Combine imaging with modelling to relate lipid composition, curvature and cell shape.

Determine how oxygen availability constrains polarised growth during infection. Test whether spores pre-conditioned under low oxygen show reduced apical membrane organisation and delayed germ tube formation after phagocytosis by primary macrophages, in vitro and in vivo using the peritoneal model. Compare fungal morphology between organs with contrasting oxygen exposure, such as lung and kidney medulla, using lipid metabolism mutants from Aim 2 where available.