Andrew Curson
Postdoctoral Researcher
Biography
I obtained my undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics at the University of East Anglia. During my degree, I became interested in molecular microbiology and did my PhD on the molecular genetic aspects of iron uptake in the nitrogen-fixing bacterium Rhizobium leguminosarum, in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of East Anglia. After completing my PhD, my post-doctoral research focused on the molecular and biochemical analysis of the genes and proteins involved in the bacterial catabolism and synthesis of the important marine organosulfur molecule dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), which has links to global sulfur cycling, climate and marine food webs. My current project, working in the Lea-Smith lab, is to investigate the role of hydrocarbons in Cyanobacteria and marine algae to determine the role these molecules play in membranes. By studying mutants deficient in hydrocarbon production, we can assess the effects on cellular processes like cell division and photosynthesis in these hugely important groups of organisms that are highly abundant in the world’s oceans.
Recent publications
Zhang X.H., Liu J., Liu J., Yang G.P., Xue, C.X., Curson A.R.J., Todd J.D. (2019) Biogenic production of DMSP and its degradation to DMS – their roles in the global sulfur cycle. Sci China Life Sci doi: 10.1007/s11427-018-9524-y.
Williams B.T., Sweet K., Curson A.R.J., Hind, A.J. et al., (In press). Bacteria are important producers of dimethylsulfoniopropionate in marine sediments. Nat Microbiol
Curson A.R.J., Williams B.T., Pinchbeck B.J., Sims L.P., Martínez A.B., Rivera P.P.L., Kumaresan D., Mercadé E., Spurgin L.G., Carrión O., Moxon S., Cattolico R.A., Kuzhiumparambil U., Guagliardo P., Clode P.L., Raina J.B., Todd J.D. (2018) DSYB catalyses the key step of dimethylsulfoniopropionate biosynthesis in many phytoplankton. Nat Microbiol doi: 10.1038/s41564-018-0119-5.
Carrión O., Pratscher J., Curson A.R.J., Williams B.T., Rostant W.G., Murrell J.C., Todd J.D. (2017) Methanethiol-dependent dimethylsulfide production in soil environments. ISME J 11:2739-2390.
Curson A.R.J., Liu J., Bermejo Martínez A, Green R.T., Chan Y., Carrión O., Williams B.T., Zhang S.H., Yang G.P., Bulman Page P.C., Zhang X.H., Todd J.D. (2017) Dimethylsulfoniopropionate biosynthesis in marine bacteria and identification of the key gene in this process. Nat Microbiol 2:17009.
Carrión O., Curson A.R.J., Kumaresan, D., Fu, Y., Lang, A.S., Mercadé E., and Todd, J.D. (2015) A novel pathway producing dimethylsulphide in bacteria is abundant in soil environments. Nat Comm 6:6579.
Curson, A.R.J., Burns, O.J., Voget, S., Daniel, R., Todd, J.D., McInnis, K., Wexler, M., and Johnston, A.W.B. (2014) Screening of metagenomic and genomic libraries reveals three classes of bacterial enzymes that overcome the toxicity of acrylate. PLoS One 9: e97660.
Links
Contact details
Email: Andrew.Curson@uea.ac.uk