Investigating the antimicrobial potential of Scottish seagrass microbiomes
Supervisors:
Dr Maxell Farrell, School of Infection and Immunity, (University of Glasgow)
Dr Julianne Megaw, School of Biological Sciences, (Queens University Belfast)
Prof Cindy Smith, James Watt School of Engineering, University of Glasgow
Dr Laurence De Clippele, School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow
Summary:
Seagrasses are aquatic plants that provide important ecosystem services including removing harmful pathogens from coastal waters. The antimicrobial activities of seagrasses come in part from their microbiomes, which produce compounds that inhibit a diversity of pathogens including viruses, fungi, protozoa, and bacteria with antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes. Despite having undergone catastrophic declines, the antimicrobial activities of UK seagrass microbiomes have not been explored.
This interdisciplinary project will blend cutting edge computational and laboratory tools to discover antimicrobial compounds produced by seagrass-associated microbes. Using metagenomics, high-throughput microbiological assays, and artificial intelligence (including Large Language Models), the student will identify novel antimicrobials, test their activities against priority human and animal pathogens, and build machine learning-based predictive models to identify likely pathogenic targets for newly described antimicrobials.
Results from this project will inform the potential for seagrass restoration as a nature-based solution to reduce pathogens from wastewater, agricultural run-off and aquaculture. Further, the hybrid computational and laboratory workflow to identify novel antimicrobials developed here can be used to guide the efficient screening and characterisation of antimicrobials from other natural sources.
This project will allow the student to develop a wide range of interdisciplinary and transferable skills from microbiology, biochemistry, bioinformatics, and computer science. This holistic skill set will prepare them for a career in either academia or industry.