Latest Publications
Meat versus meat alternatives: which is better for the environment and health? A nutritional and environmental analysis of animal-based products compared with their plant-based alternatives
A. Coffey, Robert Lillywhite, Oyinlola Oyebode
Meat consumption plays a role in both health and environmental burden. Consumption of meat alternatives may reduce these harms. The aim was to compare meat products and their plant-based alternatives on nutritional parameters, GHGE and price to examine if it is feasible and beneficial for policymakers and health professionals to recommend meat alternatives.Overall, this paper found that meat alternatives are likely to be better for health according to most parameters, while also being more environmentally friendly, with lower GHGEs. However, the higher price of these products may be a barrier to switching to meat alternatives for the poorest in society.
The heterogeneous herd: Drivers of close-contact variation in African buffalo and implications for pathogen invasion
Julie Rushmore, Brianna R. Beechler, Hannah Tavalire, Erin E. Gorsich, Bryan Charleston, Anne Devan-Song, Caroline K. Glidden, Anna E. Jolles
Here, we analyzed African buffalo social networks to quantify variation in close contacts, examined drivers of contact heterogeneity, and investigated how the observed contact patterns affect pathogen invasion likelihoods for a wild social ungulate. Although the observed herd was well connected, with most individuals contacting each other during each bimonthly interval, our analyses revealed striking heterogeneity in close-contact associations among herd members. Network analysis showed that individual connectivity was stable over time and that individual age, sex, reproductive status, and pairwise genetic relatedness were important predictors of buffalo connectivityThese findings highlight the role susceptible calves may play in the transmission of pathogens within the herd. We also demonstrate that, at time scales relevant to infectious pathogens found in nature, the observed level of connectivity affects pathogen invasion likelihoods for a wide range of infectious periods and transmissibilities. Ultimately, our study identifies key predictors of social connectivity in a social ungulate and illustrates how contact heterogeneity, even within a highly connected herd, can shape pathogen invasion likelihoods.
Structural basis of peptidoglycan synthesis by E. coli RodA-PBP2 complex
Rie Nygaard, Chris L. B. Graham, Meagan Belcher Dufrisne, Jonathan D. Colburn, Joseph Pepe, Molly A. Hydorn, Silvia Corradi, Chelsea M. Brown, Khuram U. Ashraf, Owen N. Vickery, Nicholas S. Briggs, John J. Deering, Brian Kloss, Bruno Botta, Oliver B. Clarke, Linda Columbus, Jonathan Dworkin, Phillip J. Stansfeld, David I. Roper & Filippo Mancia
Peptidoglycan (PG) assembly requires a glycosyltransferase (GT) to generate a glycan polymer using a Lipid II substrate, which is then crosslinked to the existing PG via a transpeptidase (TP) reaction. A Shape, Elongation, Division and Sporulation (SEDS) GT enzyme and a Class B Penicillin Binding Protein (PBP) form the core of the multi-protein complex required for PG assembly. Here we used single particle cryo-electron microscopy to determine the structure of a cell elongation-specific E. coli RodA-PBP2 complex. We combine this information with biochemical, genetic, spectroscopic, and computational analyses to identify the Lipid II binding sites and propose a mechanism for Lipid II polymerization. Our data suggest a hypothesis for the movement of the glycan strand from the Lipid II polymerization site of RodA towards the TP site of PBP2, functionally linking these two central enzymatic activities required for cell wall peptidoglycan biosynthesis.
Genomic Based Analysis of The Biocontrol Species Trichoderma harzianum: A Model Resource of Structurally Diverse Pharmaceuticals and Biopesticides
Suhad AA Al-Salihi and Fabrizio Alberti
Fungi represents a rich repository of taxonomically restricted, yet chemically diverse, secondary metabolites that are synthesised via specific metabolic pathways. An enzyme’s specificity and biosynthetic gene clustering are the bottleneck of secondary metabolite evolution. Trichoderma harzianum M10 v1.0 produces many pharmaceutically important molecules; however, their specific biosynthetic pathways remain uncharacterised. Our genomic-based analysis of this species reveals the biosynthetic diversity of its specialised secondary metabolites, where over 50 BGCs were predicted, most of which were listed as polyketide-like compounds associated clusters. Revealing the biogenetic background of these natural molecules is a step forward towards the expansion of their chemical diversification via engineering their biosynthetic genes heterologously, and the identification of their role in the interaction between this fungus and its biotic/abiotic conditions as well as its role as bio-fungicide.
Effects of next-generation, dual-active-ingredient, long-lasting insecticidal net deployment on insecticide resistance in malaria vectors in Tanzania: an analysis of a 3-year, cluster-randomised controlled trial
Louisa A Messenger, Nancy S Matowo, Chad L Cross, Mohamed Jumanne, Natalie M Portwood, Jackline Martin, Eliud Lukole, Elizabeth Mallya, Jacklin F Mosha, Robert Kaaya, Oliva Moshi, Bethanie Pelloquin, Katherine Fullerton, Alphaxard Manjurano, Franklin W Mosha, Thomas Walker, Mark Rowland, Manisha A Kulkarni, Natacha Protopopof
Insecticide resistance among malaria-vector species is a pervasive problem that might jeopardise global disease-control efforts. Novel vector-control tools with different modes of action, including long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) incorporating new active ingredients, are urgently needed to delay the evolution and spread of insecticide resistance. We aimed to measure phenotypic and genotypic insecticide-resistance profiles among wild Anopheles collected over 3 years to assess the longitudinal effects of dual-active-ingredient LLINs on insecticide resistance.
LIRcentral : a manually curated online database of experimentally validated functional LIR-motifs
Chatzichristofi, Agathangelos, Sagris, Vasileios, Pallaris, Aristos, Eftychiou, Marios, Kalvari, Ioanna, Price, Nicholas, Theodosiou, Theodosios, Iliopoulos, Ioannis, Nezis, Ioannis P. and Promponas, Vasilis J
Several selective macroautophagy receptor and adaptor proteins bind members of the Atg8 (autophagy related 8) family using short linear motifs (SLiMs), most often referred to as Atg8-family interacting motifs (AIMs) or LC3-interacting regions (LIRs). AIM/LIR motifs have been extensively studied during the last fifteen years, since they can uncover the underlying biological mechanisms and possible substrates for this key catabolic process of eukaryotic cells. Prompted by the fact that experimental information regarding LIR motifs can be found scattered across heterogeneous literature resources, we have developed LIRcentral (https://lircentral.euLink opens in a new window), a freely available online repository for user-friendly access to comprehensive, high-quality information regarding LIR motifs from manually curated publications. Herein, we describe the development of LIRcentral and showcase currently available data and features, along with our plans for the expansion of this resource.