1pm, Wednesday
6 December 2023

L4

This is a departmental event for all staff and students. Please come along! Refreshments will be provided outside L4 after the talks.

"Atomic and Molecular Level Imaging of Macromolecular Systems & Mechanisms ", Dr Evelina Liarou

With the use of cutting-edge characterization tools my research aims to shine a light on the visualization of fundamental chemical reactions that govern the formation and behaviour of what is conventionally called a “polymer”. Through atomic resolution electron microscopy, we aim to overwrite the existing stochastic polymerization mechanisms by imaging the fundamental processes of macromolecular synthesis (initiation, propagation, termination), how polymer chains grow individually and the way they interact with each other. In this context, the mechanisms that govern the polymer self-assembly and degradation are monitored at the molecular and atomic level, to provide visual insights on the interactions of single polymer chains with their environment. The combinatorial examination of polymer fundamentals allows access to unprecedented microscopical and spectroscopical findings, which lead to the visual perception of, thus far static, polymerization characteristics (e.g., dispersity, molar mass, tacticity).

"Evolution-guided discovery and engineering of bacterial natural products", Dr Alex Mullins

Bacteria are an important source of bioactive compounds used in the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries, and are essential to combatting ongoing global challenges in health and food security. Before joining Warwick Chemistry, my research focused on biological control of crop pathogens and explored the diversity of bacterial polyynes as potent biopesticidal metabolites. Insights into the phylogenetic distribution of polyynes yielded the discovery of a novel polyyne in Pseudomonas bacteria. This class of natural product has continued to demonstrate itself as an effective anti-fungal, and a promising future biopesticide.

As part of my BBSRC Discovery Fellowship at the University of Warwick, I will apply my background in bacterial genomics and bioinformatics to explore the evolution and natural variation of another class of natural product, non-ribosomal peptides. The observed natural recombination events within non-ribosomal peptides synthetase genes demonstrate the proof-of-concept that these large modular multi-enzyme systems can be engineered to biosynthesise derivatives with significant skeletal modifications and biological efficacy. Mimicking Nature to manipulate NRPS assembly lines provides an avenue to rationally engineer non-ribosomal peptides for pharmaceutical and agricultural benefit.