Bacteria make a remarkable array of natural products with potent biological activities.
Many of these molecules have important medicinal and agricultural applications, including antibiotics, antifungals and anti-cancer agents. For example, over two-thirds of clinically used classes of antibiotic are made by the actinomycetes, which are filamentous bacteria commonly found in the soil and associated with plants.
An understanding of the biosynthesis of these molecules can inform the discovery of new natural products with clinically-promising activities, such as antibiotics active towards multidrug-resistant bacteria or new anti-cancer agents.
Research in the Truman group is focused on three interrelated research areas:
Selected Publications
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Eyles TH,Vior NM,Truman AW (2021)Understanding thioamitide biosynthesis using pathway engineering and untargeted metabolomicsChemical Science (12)Publisher's version: 2041-6539
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Santos Aberturas J., Chandra G., Frattaruolo L., Lacret R., Pham T. H., Vior N. M., Eyles T. H., Truman A. W. (2019)Uncovering the unexplored diversity of thioamidated ribosomal peptides in Actinobacteria using the RiPPER genome mining tool.Nucleic Acids ResearchPublisher's version: 0305-1048
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Eyles T. H., Vior N. M., Truman A. W. (2018)Rapid and robust yeast-mediated pathway refactoring generates multiple new bottromycin-related metabolites.ACS Synthetic Biology (7)Publisher's version: 2161-5063
Opportunities
Informal enquiries to join the group from interested Postgraduate and Postdoctoral Scientists are always welcomed.