Prof. Jeff Errington
Director of the Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences
- Email: jeff.errington@ncl.ac.uk
- Telephone: +44 191 222 8126
- Fax: +44 (0) 191 222 7424
- Address: Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences
The Medical School
University of Newcastle
2nd Floor, Catherine Cookson Building
Framlington Place
Newcastle
NE2 4HH
UK
Research Interests
Bacterial cell biology: fundamental studies on the bacterial cell cycle and cell morphogenesis
Cell division, chromosome segregation, and the control of cell shape are some of the most fundamental problems in biology. This lab uses an array of biochemical, genetical and microscopic methods to study these problems in the bacterium Bacillus subtilis. B. subtilis is an extremely tractable experimental system, being the best characterized bacterium after E. coli. B. subtilis also offers the advantage of having two distinct cell cycle processes.
When growing normally it elongates and divides medially to produce two identical daughter cells. However, when starved, it sporulates, and this differentiation process begins with a highly asymmetric cell division. A number of breakthroughs in understanding have emerged by taking advantage of this dual life style. The new field of bacterial cell biology, which emerged in the last 10 years or so through the development of methods for imaging proteins and DNA in bacterial cells, has also had a remarkable impact. In particular, it has led to the recognition that B. subtilis and most other bacterial cells have homologues of actin and tubulin - central players in the cytoskeleton, which had previously been thought to be a eukaryotic invention. The actin homologues, called MreB proteins, form helical filaments that run around the periphery of the cell following a helical path (Jones et al. 2001 Cell 104, 913-922). They seem to control cell shape by governing the synthesis and maturation of various cell wall components (Daniel and Errington 2003 Cell 113, 767-776). Other work is aimed at understanding the segregation of chromosomes and how this is coordinated with cell division (e.g. Wu and Errington 2004 Cell 117, 915-925). Cell wall synthesis is an important target for antibiotics and understanding the function of this complex process is a major focus of the lab. Although B. subtilis is the preeminent experimental organism in the lab, other bacteria, including pathogens like Staphylococcus aureus, are also used for studies on cell division and cell wall synthesis, where they offer particular experimental advantages (E.g. Pinho and Errington 2003 Molecular Microbiology 50, 871-881).
Errington's lab is part of the new Centre for Bacterial Cell Biology in Newcastle. This is one of the world's largest groupings working on fundamental studies of tractable model bacteria. The Errington lab works particularly closely with the labs of Richard Daniel and Leendert Hamoen.
Informal enquiries from propective graduate students and post-docs are welcome at any time.
Selected Publications
- D. Claessen;R. Emmins;L. W. Hamoen;R. A. Daniel;J. Errington;D. H. Edwards. Control of the cell elongation-division cycle by shuttling of PBP1 protein in Bacillus subtilis. Mol Microbiol 2008, 68(4), 1029-46.
- R. Carballido-López, A. Formstone, Y Li, S.D. Ehrlich, P. Noirot and J Errington. Actin Homolog MreBH Governs Cell Morphogenesis by Localization of the Cell Wall Hydrolase LytE. Developmental Cell 2006, 11(3), 399-409.
- Bramkamp M, Weston L, Daniel RA, Errington J. Regulated intramembrane proteolysis of FtsL protein and the control of cell division in Bacillus subtilis. Molecular Microbiology 2006, 62(2), 580-591.
- L. J. Wu;J. Errington. Coordination of Cell Division and hromosome Segregation by a Nucleoid Occlusion Protein in Bacillus subtilis. Cell 2004, 117(7), 915-925.
- R. A. Daniel;J. Errington. Control of Cell Morphogenesis in Bacteria: Two Distinct Ways to Make a Rod-Shaped Cell. Cell 2003, 113(6), 767-776.
- L.J.F. Jones;R. Carballido-López;J. Errington. Control of Cell Shape in Bacteria: Helical, Actin-like Filaments in Bacillus subtilis. Cell 2001, 104(6), 913-922.
Postgraduate Supervision
David Adams BBSRC CASE Student with Prolysis Ltd
Muhammet Erkam Gundogdu Marie-Curie EST
Kathrin Schirner ICaMB Graduate student
Katarina Surdova Marie-Curie EST
Postodctoral Researchers and Fellows
Patri Dominguez-Cuevas EMBO / Marie-Curie Fellow
Stephan Gruber EMBO Long Term Fellow
Yoshikazu Kawai BBSRC Postdoctoral Fellow
Mark Leaver BBSRC Postdoctoral Fellow
Heath Murray HFSP Postdoctoral Fellow
Masayuki Su'etsugu JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow
Jan-Willem Veening EMBO Long Term Fellow
Senior Resesarch Associate
Dr Ling Juan WuEsteem Indicators
Appointments, honours and awards
1977 John Corran Prize for outstanding undergraduate work in genetics.
1985 Awarded Royal Society University Research Fellowship.
1990-1993 Genetics and Molecular Biology Group, Society for General Microbiology.
1990-1993 Molecular Biology and Genetics Subcommittee, SERC.
1992-1994 Editorial Board, Journal of Bacteriology.
1993-1994 Cell Committment and Differentiation Initiative Steering group, BBSRC.
1993-1994 Visiting Scholar, Biochemistry Department, University of Sydney, Australia.
1996- Editorial Board, Molecular Microbiology.
1996 Co-Organiser 44th Harden Conference of the Biochemical Society.
1997- Awarded title of Professor of Microbiology.
1997-2002 BBSRC Senior (Professorial) Research Fellowship.
1998- Director and Chief Scientific Officer, Prolysis Ltd.
1999- Trustee to the EPA Cephalosporin Research Fund.
1998 Co-organiser of Colloquium for the American Society for Microbiology.
1998- Editorial Board, Current Opinion in Microbiology.
2000-2003 Genes and Developmental Biology Committee, BBSRC.
2001 Franco Tatň Memorial Lecture (Italy)
2002 Nordström Lecture (Sweden)
2002- Elected Council Member, Society for General Microbiology
2002 Co-organiser Juan March Foundation Workshop “Bacterial Cell Division”; Madrid
2003 Elected Fellow of the Royal Society
2004 Elected to full membership of EMBO
2005 Krampitz Lecture (USA)
2005 Co-organiser 2nd ASM / SGM Conference on "Prokaryotic Development", Vancouver
2006 Co-Chair Gordon Conference on "Bacterial Cell Surfaces", USA
2006- Panel member of the Wellcome Trust Molecules, Genes and Cells Committee
2007 Elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Science
2007 Elected to the American Academy of Microbiology
2007-2009 Council of the Royal Society
2007 Highly Cited status on ISI Web of Science
2008 Kluyver Lecture of the Dutch Microbiological Society
2008 Co-Chair Gordon Conference on Bacterial Cell Surfaces
Funding
Work in the lab is supported by several grants from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). Several students and post-docs are supported directly by Fellowships from EMBO, the Human Frontier Science Programme (HFSP) and the EU Marie-Curie scheme.
Industrial Relevance
Some of the work from the Errington lab is being exploited through a spin-out company Prolysis Ltd (www.prolysis.com/), which is developing novel classes of antibiotics.
A new company Nugenis Ltd (www.nugenis.co.uk) will take over the drug screening opportunities emerging from the Errington lab as Prolysis evolves into a drug development company.
Patents
Several patents have been filed or granted on antibiotic screening methods and new antibiotic compounds
