Project highlights
- Marine microbes meet omics
- World-leading supervisory team on marine microbiology and ecology
- Unique opportunity to study marine microbes at both Warwick and Plymouth.
Overview
Lipids, containing carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur, are a major component of all living cells and are constantly released into the oceans due to programmed cell death, viral infections and zooplankton grazing. Current estimates suggest that lipids can account for ~10% of total dissolved organic matter (DOC) in the oceans. However, our knowledge on the role of diverse microbial lipids in the oceans is very limited. Neither the identities of the lipids, nor the role of lipids involved in microbial interactions, have been well understood.
A major hurdle in understanding the microbial lipid cycle lies in the difficulty in characterizing and quantifying numerous lipid classes in marine samples. Commonly observed lipids in marine ecosystems include phospholipids, glycolipids and amino acid-containing lipids. Recent advances in technologies such as high-resolution liquid chromatography electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) have enabled high throughput identification and quantification of thousands of cellular lipid molecular species (Shevchenko, 2010), which now enables lipid characterization both qualitatively and quantitatively. Indeed, using high throughput lipidomics platforms at Warwick and Birmingham, we have characterized a novel sulfur-containing lipid in marine bacteria (Smith et al., 2021; Roman et al., 2024). Although this lipid appears widely distributed in the oceans, its physiological role in microbial interactions remains unestablished.
Here in this project, we will combine laboratory and microcosm studies to fully uncover the role of this lipid in bacteria phytoplankton interactions. The aim of this project is thus twofold.
Firstly, we aim to establish a high throughput workflow for simultaneous determination of common lipid species in bacteria and phytoplankton using our in house HPLC-MS platform. This will involve examining samples from a variety of phytoplankton cultures, collected via the Marine Biological Association (MBA).
Secondly, we aim to uncover the physiological role of this lipid using comparative proteomics/lipidomics. We will generate a mutant that is unable to produce this lipid. By comparing wild type bacterial strains and mutants in co-culture with phytoplankton species, we will uncover the role of this lipid in microbial-phytoplankton interactions.
CENTA Flagship
This is a CENTA Flagship Project
Host
University of WarwickTheme
- Climate and Environmental Sustainability
- Organisms and Ecosystems
Supervisors
Project investigator
- Michaela Mausz (University of Warwick, [email protected])
Co-investigators
- Yin Chen (University of Birmingham, [email protected])
- Katherine Helliwell (Marine Biological Association, [email protected])
How to apply
- Each host has a slightly different application process.
Find out how to apply for this studentship. - All applications must include the CENTA application form. Choose your application route
Methodology
Microbial lipids identification will be carried out by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS).
Nutrients and key intermediates in lipid synthesis pathways will be analysed by established chromatography techniques, such as ion-exchange chromatography and gas chromatography, and analysis guided by our previous extensive characterisation of laboratory strains.
Microbial community analyses will be carried out using amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA genes, metatranscriptomics and metagenomics. Proteomics will be carried out using in-house mass spectrometry facilities at Birmingham.
Training and skills
DRs will be awarded CENTA Training Credits (CTCs) for participation in CENTA-provided and ‘free choice’ external training. One CTC can be earned per 3 hours training, and DRs must accrue 100 CTCs across the three and a half years of their PhD.
The Supervisory team has an excellent PhD supervision record with 12 PhD students graduated from Chen’s group to date, who all published at least two papers in high profile (PNAS) or leading journals of the discipline (ISME J). This exciting project provides cutting-edge training on contemporary omics approaches, including lipidomics, proteomics and metagenomics. It will also provide excellent training in wider aspects of marine microbiology, biogeochemistry and molecular biology using cutting-edge molecular ecology techniques as well as in a variety of analytical techniques currently available at Warwick, Birmingham and the MBA, Plymouth, including gas chromatography, ion-exchange chromatography, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.
Partners and collaboration
The supervisors are world-leading experts in marine microbiology and publish regularly on high profile interdisciplinary journals (e.g. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, Current Biology) and field specific high impact journals (e.g. The ISME Journal). They have complementary expertise in marine microbiology and biogeochemical cycles. Current research in the groups is well-funded by NERC, the Leverhulme trust and The European Union. Further details on their research activities and their group members can be found via the links below.
Dr. Michaela Mausz http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/lifesci/people/dscanlan https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/lifesci/people/mmausz/
Prof Yin Chen https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/biosciences/staff/profile?ReferenceId=206313&Name=professor-yin-chen
Dr. Katherine Helliwell https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=0K3xhvoAAAAJ&hl=en
The student will also have access to research resources available at the MBA including the Plymouth Culture Collection of Marine Algae, the MBA research vessel, and seawater samples.
Further details
Informal enquires can be made to Dr Michaela Mausz ([email protected]).
To apply to this project:
- You must include a CENTA studentship application form, downloadable from: CENTA Studentship Application Form 2025.
- You must include a CV with the names of at least two referees (preferably three) who can comment on your academic abilities.
- Please submit your application and complete the host institution application process via: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/lifesci/study/pgr/studentships/nerccenta/ University of Warwick projects will be added here: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/lifesci/study/pgr/studentships/nerccenta/studentships/ and application guidance is at the bottom of this page. Complete the online application form – selecting course code P-C1PB (Life Sciences PhD); from here you will be taken through to another screen where you can select your desired project. Please enter “NERC studentship” in the Finance section and add Nikki Glover, [email protected] as the scholarship contact. Please also complete the CENTA Studentship Application Form 2025 and submit via email to [email protected]. Please quote CENTA 2025-W12 when completing the application form.
Applications must be submitted by 23:59 GMT on Wednesday 8th January 2025.
Possible timeline
Year 1
Mass spectrometry-based identification of bacterial and algal lipids in co-culturing (lipidomics).
Year 2
Uncover the biosynthetic pathway for this sulfolipid production in marine bacteria (molecular genetics).
Year 3
Lipidomics and proteomics analyses of co-cultures and comparing wild-type bacteria strains with mutants that do not produce this lipid (lipidomics and proteomics).
Further reading
Merchant SS, Helmann JD 2012 Elemental Economy: Microbial Strategies for Optimizing Growth in the Face of Nutrient Limitation. Adv Microb Physiol 60:92-210.
R Guillonneau, ARJ Murphy, ZJ Teng, P Wang, YZ Zhang, DJ Scanlan, Chen Y (2022) Trade-offs of lipid remodeling in a marine predator–prey interaction in response to phosphorus limitation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119 (36), e2203057119
Roman D, Meisinger P, Guillonneau R, Peng CC, Peltner LK, Jordan PM, Haensch V, Götze S, Werz O, Hertweck C, Chen Y, Beemelmanns C. 2024 Structure Revision of a Widespread Marine Sulfonolipid Class Based on Isolation and Total Synthesis. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 63(23):e202401195.
Smith AF, Silvano E, Päuker O, Guillonneau R, Quareshy M, Murphy A, Mausz MA, Stirrup R, Rihtman B, Aguilo-Ferretjans M, Brandsma J, Petersen J, Scanlan DJ, Chen Y. 2021 A novel class of sulfur-containing aminolipids widespread in marine roseobacters. ISME J. 15(8):2440-2453.
Shevchenko A, Simons K. 2010 Lipidomics: coming to grips with lipid diversity. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 11:593-598.