Professor Andy Lovering

Supervisor Details

Contact Details

Professor Andy Lovering

School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham

Scientific Background

Research Interests

We take on a variety of projects, but typical areas include:

Invasion – how are prey cells recognized, and how do predators breach the outer membrane? This is a multifactorial process – no genetic resistance to predation has ever been observed (in contrast to bacteriophages and their receptors, which are subject to a relatively rapid development of resistance).
Protection – what factors prevent Bdellovibrio from killing itself? We published the first such example of a predator self-immunity protein in 2015 (an interesting case of evolution shaping one protein to block two enzymes): Nature Commun. 2015 Dec 2;6:8884.
Signalling – what are the stimuli that govern switching between the different lifecycle stages (swim > recognition > adhere > enter > metabolize > divide > exit)? Some of these pathways utilize the second messenger cyclic-di-GMP (common to many bacteria, but used herein to regulate predation).
Metabolism – predators are very distinct, often losing pathways for amino acid and vitamin biosynthesis, but encoding a massive array of novel proteases, lipases, nucleases and transporters.
Motility – prey density is high in biofilms; predators can exploit this by using a cryptic form of motility (“smooth gliding” – that pushes the cell over surfaces, utilizing a motor that runs on a helical thread around the cell periphery).

Research Groups

Structural and Molecular Cell Biology

Supervision Style

In three words or phrases: Encouraging, enthusiastic, aim to inspire.

Provision of Training

We aim to provide training that allows a full grasp of the path from gene to structure to function; students become proficient at structural biology, with additional skills that can be project-specific (e.g. assays for enzymatic projects, protein complexes for signalling projects, investigative biochemistry for projects of novel function).

Progression Monitoring and Management

I expect the group to support, develop and converse as a team, and to take interest in the breadth of what we study. Management comes from me as team lead, and progression results from a combination of self-drive and co-operative decision making.

Communication

This is largely at the students discretion, in the style that suits them best. As a group, we do a lot of idea/result discussion as informal conversation, and hold more standard one-on-one meetings if there is more intricate planning to be done. Science is ultimately a mixture of fun (new results) within the context of something more formal (student career progression), and we aim to keep a good balance throughout.

PhD Students can expect scheduled meetings with me:

In a group meeting

At least once per fortnight

In year 1 of PhD study

At least once per fortnight

In year 2 of PhD study

At least once per fortnight

In year 3 of PhD study

At least once per fortnight

These meetings will be mainly face to face, and I am usually contactable for an instant response on every working day.

Working Pattern

Certain tasks in my lab need to occur at set times, and students need to be able to commit to a rota/timetable shared with other members of the team.

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

Current Projects (2025-26)

Primary supervisor for:

A Path from Understanding to Engineering and Deploying Predatory Adhesins Against Superbugs

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).

A Path from Understanding to Engineering and Deploying Predatory Adhesins Against Superbugs

Secondary Supervisor(s): Dr Tim Knowles

University of Registration: University of Birmingham

BBSRC Research Themes: Sustainable Agriculture and Food (Animal Health and Welfare, Microbial Food Safety)

Project Outline

Gram-negative superbugs are a major cause of concern and new approaches are required to help tackle them in both healthcare and agriculture. One potential method is to “learn” from nature – in this regard, our lab studies the proteins utilised by predatory bacteria, namely Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus (1). We use a combination of x-ray crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy, biophysical approaches, assays and protein engineering (using AI and protein design) to describe how Bdellovibrio and related predators kill their bacterial prey.

Recent work from our lab and collaborators discovered how Bdellovibrio initially recognize their prey, using a toolkit of ~1000 amino acid long fibres (with diverse ends) to bind to epitopes on the prey cell envelope (2). Our structural studies found that this fibre superfamily exists beyond predators and is likely used for all manner of recognition purposes in the microbial world (e.g. symbioses; our study looked at six fibres, we have found several thousand and they are extremely diverse).

The aim of this project is to take inspiration from the above study and begin to characterize and utilize fibre diversity. The student will express several diverse fibre tips, and use structural biology and binding assays to work out which molecules/polymers they bind and how specificity is achieved. The project will then progress onto using these fibres, employing “generative diffusion” (3) and other design tools to turn them into unique double-headed protein agents that can agglutinate bacteria. In the timecourse of the project, the student may also investigate other protein families likely used by predators – such “side projects” offer training in using structural biology to describe bacterial lifestyles (4).

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37535060/

2. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-023-01552-2

3. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06415-8

4. Take a look at our recent publications in Pubmed!

Co-supervisor on projects with Dr Tim Knowles.

Previous Projects (2024-25)

Primary supervisor for:

Structure & Function of Predatory Bacteria Surface Recognition

Co-supervisor on projects with Dr Graeme Kettles and Dr Tim Knowles.

Previous Projects (2023-24)

Primary supervisor for:

Structure & Function of Predatory Bacteria Surface Recognition