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Reposted by Lucy Crouch

Hall Lab @halllab.bsky.social · 27d

Excited to share our @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social led by Magda showing how Bif has co-evolved with different animal hosts 🐒🐭🐷🐦

Key takeaways:
🔹 Host ancestry + diet shape Bif evolution
🔹 Mammals enriched for carb-busting enzymes
🔹 Untapped diversity in non-human hosts = new probiotic potential

Cell Host & Microbe @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social · 27d

Bifido adaptations across hosts

@halllab.bsky.social survey insects, reptiles, birds & mammals to uncover how Bifidobacterium adapts to hosts. Bifidobacterium & host exhibit strong co-phylogenetic associations, driven by vertical transmission & dietary selection
www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

Host-specific microbiome and genomic signatures in Bifidobacterium reveal co-evolutionary and functional adaptations across diverse animal hosts

Bifidobacterium are beneficial members of the microbiota across animal hosts. Kujawska et al. demonstrate that bifidobacteria have likely co-evolved more closely with mammals, particularly primates, a...

www.cell.com

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Lucy Crouch @lucyicm.bsky.social · Sep 3

...opportunities always popping up across the College and wider Institute. Definitely get in touch with our HoD Prof Joan Geoghegan if you are interested

Lucy Crouch @lucyicm.bsky.social · Sep 3

I should also say, from a personal perspective, being in the Department of MIM is lovely - I have great colleagues and I find it to be a very positive environment. We have great grant writing support from each other and from the grant submission team. There are also loads of exciting...

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Lucy Crouch @lucyicm.bsky.social · Sep 3

There is a new position open in the Department of Microbes, Infection and Microbiomes! This is for someone in the area of microbial genomics 🧬 Please re-post and send to people, thank you!
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOO184/a...

Assistant Professor (Research and Education) in Bacterial Genomics at University of Birmingham

Recruiting now: Assistant Professor (Research and Education) in Bacterial Genomics on jobs.ac.uk. Click for details and explore more academic job opportunities on the top job board

www.jobs.ac.uk

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Lucy Crouch @lucyicm.bsky.social · Aug 27

We screened several uncharacterised putative PNGases and discovered PNGaseL has very broad activity against N-glycans from mammalian, insect and plant-derived proteins. This enzyme has fantastic practical applications and is on sale at our industrial partner Ludger www.ludger.com/product-cata...

PNGase L

www.ludger.com

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Lucy Crouch @lucyicm.bsky.social · Aug 27

New paper! The characterisation of PNGaseL published in The Royal Society Open Science New Talent Collection. This paper describes a successful bioprospecting-to-commercialisation project royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... #glycotime @cassiebakshani.bsky.social

PNGaseL from Flavobacterium akiainvivens targets a diverse range of N-glycan structures | Royal Society Open Science

Peptide:N-glycosidases (PNGases) are used by a wide range of organisms to remove N-glycan structures from proteins for use as either nutrients or in glycoprotein processing. PNGaseF is the most well-characterized enzyme of this family and is widely used ...

royalsocietypublishing.org

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Reposted by Lucy Crouch

Kat Coyte @coytelab.bsky.social · Aug 12

A new 4 year PostDoc position in our lab! Modeling + experiments to explore dynamics of carbon fixing hot-spring microbiomes. Part of an exciting multidisciplinary team with Sophie Nixon, @brockhurstlab.bsky.social & others

Please share & get in touch if interested!

tinyurl.com/e7j7bha3

Research Associate in Microbiome Ecology:Oxford Road

www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk

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Reposted by Lucy Crouch

Nigel Brown @nigel-brown.bsky.social · Aug 15

Feeding Britain is circulating a petition to urge the Government to extend the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme during the school holidays in England through to the next general election.

Please do sign and circulate the petition:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Petition to extend The HAF Programme

Dear Prime Minister, We are writing to urge you to extend the Government’s support for the provision of meals and activities, for children and young people during school holidays, through to the next...

docs.google.com

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Lucy Crouch @lucyicm.bsky.social · Jul 18

Thanks Alex! we will consider your comments

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Lucy Crouch @lucyicm.bsky.social · Jul 18

Hi Chris, for B.bifidum I can't see any putative high-mannose breakdown CAZymes, but other species do have these. There has been a characterisation in B. longum.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Mechanism of high-mannose N-glycan breakdown and metabolism by Bifidobacterium longum - Nature Chemical Biology

The human gut Bifidobacterium longum can use host N-glycans as carbon and energy sources via a specific and cooperative multienzymatic system.

www.nature.com

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Lucy Crouch @lucyicm.bsky.social · Jul 18

We also generated a model for host glycan breakdown for Bifidobacterium bifidum based on this and previously published works.

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Lucy Crouch @lucyicm.bsky.social · Jul 18

The structure reveals a C-shaped pocket that likely accommodates peptides and modelling of peptides into this pocket supports this hypothesis.

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Lucy Crouch @lucyicm.bsky.social · Jul 18

Biochemical characterisation revealed that this enzyme has a preference for N-glycans attached to peptides rather than denatured or native proteins, which suggests that microbes with these enzymes target these types of glycoproteins for use as a nutrient source.

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Lucy Crouch @lucyicm.bsky.social · Jul 18

Here we describe the first structure of a PNGaseA superfamily member. This structure has the canonical PNGase two β-sandwich catalytic module (pink/gold), but also a large unique β-sheet cradle (silver).

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Lucy Crouch @lucyicm.bsky.social · Jul 18

New Pre-print! “PNGaseA-mediated N-glycan stripping from peptides by infant-derived Bifidobacterium bifidum”. This is the first manuscript from the Bifidobacterium and breast milk project🍼🤱👶in collaboration with van Sinderen and Lovering groups
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

PNGaseA-mediated N-glycan stripping from peptides by infant-derived Bifidobacterium bifidum

N-glycans are highly common sources of nutrition for human colonic-dwelling bacteria. These microbes have evolved a several methods to remove N-glycans from proteins; herein we describe the biochemica...

www.biorxiv.org

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Lucy Crouch @lucyicm.bsky.social · Jul 17

New paper from Andy Lovering's group defining pentameric porin-like superstructures in Gram-negative bacteria 🦠@unibirmingham.bsky.social @imibirmingham.bsky.social

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Reposted by Lucy Crouch

Jean-Michel Ané @jeanmichelane.bsky.social · Jun 6

The latest publication from our lab!

The famous "glomalin" from arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi is not a protein but a polysaccharide from AM fungi, so we renamed it "glomalose". Glomalin-related proteins are bacterial proteins stuck in this glomalose.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

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Lucy Crouch @lucyicm.bsky.social · Jun 5

If you would like to buy some from Ludger:
www.ludger.com/product-cata...

PNGase L

www.ludger.com

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Lucy Crouch @lucyicm.bsky.social · Jun 5

Very pleased to present the next pre-print from our lab #glycotime We showcase PNGaseL from Flavobacterium akiainvivens that we hope will be a useful tool for the glyco community 🍬🧪👩‍🔬 Special shout out to @cassiebakshani.bsky.social and Paulina (Ludger)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

PNGaseL from Flavobacterium akiainvivens targets a diverse range of N-glycan structures

PNGases are used by a wide range of organisms to remove N-glycan structures from proteins for use as either nutrients or in glycoprotein processing. PNGaseF is the most well-characterised enzyme of th...

www.biorxiv.org

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Lucy Crouch @lucyicm.bsky.social · May 23

Thanks very much Jose! I can't take credit for the title, it was an idea of one of the other amazing supervisors 😆

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Lucy Crouch @lucyicm.bsky.social · May 23

🍄The Last of Us - NIHR HPRU PhD opportunity🍄 Very exciting project on developing a genomic epidemiology toolkit for fungal outbreaks with @mcdonaldmeganc.bsky.social @drjorhodes.com @scalene.bsky.social and the Mycological Reference Lab Bristol www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

The Last of Us: Developing a Genomic Epidemiology Toolkit for Fungal Outbreaks at University of Birmingham on FindAPhD.com

PhD Project - The Last of Us: Developing a Genomic Epidemiology Toolkit for Fungal Outbreaks at University of Birmingham, listed on FindAPhD.com

www.findaphd.com

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Reposted by Lucy Crouch

Sebastian S. Cocioba @atinygreencell.bsky.social · May 2

I got hit by some rather sudden and extreme financial hardship so if anyone is in need of remote wetlab contract research, strictly BSL1, do let me know. Currently scrambling for gigs.

Plant, Bacterial, Archaeal Non-model Bioeng
Custom Lab Hardware
Turn Key Genetic Design

Please repost for reach 💚

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Lucy Crouch @lucyicm.bsky.social · Apr 14

Our lovely project student Sophia Hill is taking part in Pint of Science @pintofscience.uk this year! 21st May 7.30 pm The Night Owl Digbeth 🧪👩‍🔬 @unibirmingham.bsky.social
pintofscience.co.uk/event/molecu...

Molecular Battlefield: Microbes, Mutations & Medical Frontiers

Life’s smallest players spark its biggest challenges—and breakthroughs. From decoding how infant gut bacteria thrive on human milk, to battling antibiotic-…

pintofscience.co.uk

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Lucy Crouch @lucyicm.bsky.social · Apr 6

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/h...

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Lucy Crouch @lucyicm.bsky.social · Apr 4

There's an explanation towards the end of the article. In low fibre diets, the colonic microbiota must turn to mucin to survive. This leads to thinner mucus layers #inmice I would recommend many of Mahesh Desai's papers www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

A Dietary Fiber-Deprived Gut Microbiota Degrades the Colonic Mucus Barrier and Enhances Pathogen Susceptibility

Regular consumption of dietary fiber helps prevent erosion of the intestinal mucus barrier by the gut microbiome, blunting pathogen infection and reducing the incidence of colitis.

www.cell.com

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