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Contact Details:Tel: 028 7032 4755 Fax: 028 7032 4375 Email: g.mcmullan@ulster.ac.uk
Main Research Interests:Thermophiles Organophosphonate biosynthesis and metabolism Proteomics. Professor McMullan and his team are investigating a group of aerobic thermophiles easily recovered from temperate Irish soils (as well as environments at elevated temperature!). They are near to completion of the genome sequence of one representative isolate, Geobacillus thermoleovorans, and are currently using the information to answer some fundamental biological issues (for example the genetic determinants of thermophily in this isolate), in addition to investigating gene products of potential pharmaceutical use. A second project is aimed at understanding the biochemical pathways involved in the synthesis and catabolism of a group of natural organophosphonate compounds. These organophosphorus molecules are of interest to a range of industries due to their bioactive properties and are being investigated as potential antibacterial, antiviral and anticancer agents. Research Focus:Professor McMullan’s research is focused upon the use of genomic information to provide a deeper understanding of how microorganisms function. In the past 10 years there has been a dramatic growth in the availability of genetic data for microorganisms as a number of groups around the world have sequenced the genomes of over 500 organisms. These microorganisms include many disease-causing bacteria in addition to others exploited by the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. By using this genetic information to understand how microorganisms function under different conditions, such as evading the human immune system, it is possible to identify new drug targets or to identify new products of commercial value. Professor McMullan and his team have developed a range of techniques to enable the exploitation of microbial genomic information, including a platform of techniques to study the proteins expressed within a bacterial cell at a given time. This work has involved collaboration with leading scientists at the University of Georgia at Athens (USA) and within the company, Applied Biosystems, a life science technology provider. This strategy has allowed us Professor McMullan and his team to identify cellular signaling mechanisms within a bacterium called Ochrobactrum anthropi, the cause of an increasing number of hospital acquired infections, that could allow this organism to resist ‘attack’ by macrophages used as part of the human response to infection (see Figure below taken from Graham RL; Sharma MK; Ternan NG; Weatherly DB; Jackson PJ; Tarleton RL; McMullan G; A semi-quantitative GeLC-MS analysis of temporal proteome expression in the emerging nosocomial pathogen Ochrobactrum anthropi.; Genome Biol.; 2007; 8, R110). Research Publications (since 2000):Graham RL, Graham C, Theakston D, McMullan G, Shaw C; Elucidation of trends within venom components from the snake families Elapidae and Viperidae using gel filtration chromatography; Toxicon, 51: 121-129, 2008 Graham RL, Pollock CE, O’Loughlin SN, Ternan NG, Weatherly DB, Jackson PJ, Tarleton RL, McMullan G; Multidimensional analysis of the insoluble sub-proteome of Oceanobacillus iheyensis HTE831, an alkaliphilic and halotolerant deep-sea bacterium isolated from the Iheya ridge; Proteomics; 7: 82-91, 2007 Graham RL, Sharma MK, Ternan NG, Weatherly DB, Jackson PJ, Tarleton RL, McMullan G; A semi-quantitative GeLC-MS analysis of temporal proteome expression in the emerging nosocomial pathogen Ochrobactrum anthropi; Genome Biology; 8: R110, 2007 Graham RLJ, Graham C, McMullan G; Microbial proteomics: a mass spectrometry primer for biologists; Microbial Cell Factories, 6: 26, 2007 Panas P, McMullan G and Dooley JSG; RT-TGGE as a guide for the successful isolation of phosphonoacetate degrading bacteria; Journal of Applied Microbiology, 103: 237-244, 2007 Graham RL, O’Loughlin SN, Pollock CE, Ternan NG, Weatherly DB, Jackson PJ, Tarleton RL, McMullan G; A combined shotgun and multidimensional proteomic analysis of the insoluble subproteome of the obligate thermophile, Geobacillus thermoleovorans T80; Journal of Proteome Research, 5: 2465–2473, 2006 Graham RL, Pollock CE, Ternan NG, McMullan G; Top-Down Proteomic Analysis of the Soluble Sub-Proteome of the Obligate Thermophile, Geobacillus thermoleovorans T80: Insights into Its Cellular Processes; Journal of Proteome Research, 5: 822– 828, 2006 Graham RL, Pollock CE, O’Loughlin SN, Ternan NG, Weatherly DB, Jackson PJ, Tarleton RL, McMullan G; Multidimensional proteomic analysis of the soluble subproteome of the emerging nosocomial pathogen Ochrobactrum anthropi; Journal of Proteome Research, 5: 3145-3153, 2006 O’Loughlin SN, Graham RL, McMullan G, Ternan NG; A role for carbon catabolite repression in the metabolism of phosphonoacetate by Agromyces fucosus; FEMS Microbiology Letters, 261: 133-140, 2006 Panas P, Ternan NG, Dooley JSG, McMullan G; Detection of phosphonoacetate degradation and phnA genes in soil bacteria from distinct geographical origins suggest its possible biogenic origin; Environmental Microbiology; 8: 939-945, 2006 Pavlostathis SG, Marchant R, Banat IM, Ternan NG, McMullan G; High growth rate and substrate exhaustion results in rapid cell death and lysis in the thermophilic bacterium Geobacillus thermoleovorans; Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 95: 84-95, 2006 McMullan G, Christie JM, Rahman TJ, Banat IM, Ternan NG and Marchant R; Habitat, applications and genomics of the aerobic, thermophilic genus Geobacillus; Biochememical Society Transactions, 32: 214-217, 2004 (Review) Obojska A, Ternan NG, Lejczak B, Kafarski P and McMullan G; Organophosphonate Utilization by the Thermophile Geobacillus caldoxylosilyticus T20; Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 68: 2081-2084, 2002 Ternan NG and McMullan G; Iminodiacetate and nitril-otriacetate degradation by Kluyveromyces marxianus IMB3; Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 290: 802-805, 2002 Ternan NG and McMullan G; Utilisation of aminome-thanesulfonate by Chromohalobacter marismortui VH1; FEMS Microbiology Letters, 207: 49-53, 2002 McMullan G, Meehan C, Conneely A, Kirby N, Robinson T, Nigam P, Banat IM, Marchant R, Smyth WF; Microbial decolourisation and degradation of textile dyes; Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 56: 81-87, 2001 (Review) Meehan C, Bjourson AJ, McMullan G; Paenibacillus azoreducens sp. nov., a synthetic azo dye decolorizing bacterium from industrial wastewater; International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 51:1681-1685, 2001 Robinson T, McMullan G, Marchant R, Nigam P; Remediation of dyes in textile effluent: a critical review on current treatment technologies with a proposed alternative; Bioresource Technology, 77: 247-55, 2001 (Review) Hayes VEA, Ternan NG and McMullan G; Organophosphonate metabolism by a moderately halophilic bacterial isolate; FEMS Microbiology Letters, 186: 171-175, 2000 Kapdan IK, Kargia F, McMullan G, Marchant R; Effect of environmental conditions on biological decolorization of textile dyestuff by C. versicolor; Enzyme and Microbial Technology, 26: 381-387, 2000 Kirby N, Marchant R, McMullan G; Decolourisation of synthetic textile dyes by Phlebia tremellosa; FEMS Microbiology Letters, 188: 93-96, 2000 Meehan C, Banat IM, McMullan G, Nigam P, Smyth F, Marchant R; Decolorization of Remazol Black-B using a thermotolerant yeast, Kluyveromyces marxianus IMB3; Environment International, 26: 75-79, 2000 Ternan NG and McMullan G; The utilisation of 4-aminobutylphosphonate as sole nitrogen source by a strain of Kluyveromyces fragilis; FEMS Microbiology Letters, 184: 237-240, 2000 For further information please contact: |
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