Of microbes and metals: Discovery and characterization of de novo metalresistance peptides in bacteria
Supervisors:
Dr Arianne Babina, School of Infection and Immunity
Dr John Moreau, School of Geographical & Earth Sciences
Summary:
Metals are central to life: they helped spark the chemistry that gave rise to living systems and remain vital today for enzyme activity and protein stability. Yet, at high concentrations, metals can be toxic. Microbes must therefore adapt to fluctuating metal levels in their environments. These adaptations are critical not only for survival but also for shaping antimicrobial resistance, host–pathogen interactions, and global nutrient cycles.
This PhD project will use plasmid libraries containing randomly-generated DNA sequences to search for novel peptides that help bacteria tolerate toxic levels of metals such as copper and zinc. The research will investigate how these peptides work, test their activity in different microbial hosts, and optimize their function to assess potential applications in areas such as bioremediation and sustainable biotechnology. The findings will offer new insights into how new genes emerge, expand our understanding of microbial metal tolerance, and uncover peptide candidates with real-world potential in synthetic and infection biology, industrial biotechnology, and environmental microbiology.
The student will receive broad training in molecular microbiology, genetics, biochemistry, bioinformatics, experimental design, and scientific communication, preparing them for diverse careers in academia, biotechnology, synthetic biology, and applied microbiology.