Mark van der Giezen
Professor
Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Engineering
Bio
How microbes interact with their hosts plays an important role in human and animal health. Especially the microbes in the gut are of crucial importance. We are interested in how these microbes affect human and animal health. Research includes important human and animal pathogens but also focusses on microbes and nutrition and their role in food security.
Adaptation of microbial eukaryotes to low oxygen, as found in the gut for example, featured in several high impact publications (Nature (2003) 426, 172-176, Current Biology (2008) 18, 580-585, Current Biology (2014) 24, 1176-1186 and PLoS Biology (2017) 15(9) e2003769) and included major human pathogens such as Giardia intestinalis, Entamoeba histolytica and Blastocystis. We hope that understanding their unusual biochemistry might lead to new drug targets.
Food security research focuses at biochemistry and genomics of several important livestock and fisheries pathogens such as Aphanomyces and Fasciola hepatica. Aphanomyces causes two notifyable diseases: crayfish plague (J. Invertebr. Pathol. (2018) 156, 6-13 and Parasitol. (2019) 8, 1022-1029) and epizootic ulcerative syndrome in fish while Fasciola causes liver fluke in cattle and sheep. A project with the National Lobster Hatchery and Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Sciences (Cefas) focuses on the role of the gut microbiome on lobster health. As part of this work, we were the first to describe new pathogens of European Lobster (J. Invertebr. Pathol. (2018) 154, 109-116 and Sci. Rep. (2019) 9, 10086).
Together with colleagues at Sports and Health Sciences and our Medical School we study how fruit and vegetables improve health and cognition as it is becoming increasingly clear microbes in our alimentary tract play crucial roles in health (see for example our involvement in Free Radic. Biol. Med. (2018) 124, 21-30.)
Our lab uses a variety of techniques to answer our research questions. Molecular biology, cell biology, biochemistry, bioinformatics and next-generation sequencing methods are routinely used.
Publications in the last five years:
82. M. Hess, S.S. Paul, A.K. Puniya, M. van der Giezen, C. Shaw, J.E. Edwards, and K.C. Fliegerová (2020) Anaerobic fungi: past, present and future. Front. Microbiol., 11: 584893. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.584893.
81. C.C. Holt, D. Bass, G.D. Stentiford, and M. van der Giezen (2020) Understanding the role of the shrimp gut microbiome in health and disease. J. Invertebr. Pathol., doi.org/10.1016/j.jip.2020.107387
80. E.K. Herman, A.L. Greninger, M. van der Giezen, M.L. Ginger, I. Ramirez-Macias, H.C. Miller, M.J. Morgan, A.D. Tsaousis, K. Velle, R. Vargova, S. Rodrigo Najle, G. MacIntyre, N. Mueller, M. Wittwer, D.C. Zysset-Burri, M. Elias, C.H. Slamovits, M. Weirauch, L. Fritz-Laylin, F. Marciano-Cabral, G.J. Puzon, T. Walsh, C.Y. Chiu and J.B. Dacks (2020) A comparative 'omics approach to candidate pathogenicity factor discovery in the brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri. BioRxiv, doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.16.908186.
79. A. Thomas, R. Cutlan, W. Finnigan, M. van der Giezen, and N.J. Harmer (2019) Highly thermostable carboxylic acid reductases generated by ancestral protein reconstruction. Comm. Biol., 2, 1-12.
78. C.C. Holt, M. van der Giezen, C. Daniels, G. Stentiford, and D. Bass (2019) Spatial and temporal axes impact ecology of the gut microbiome in juvenile European lobster (Homarus gammarus). ISME J., 14, 531?543.
77. J. Huang, V. H. Nguyen, K.A. Hamblin, R. Maytum, M. van der Giezen and M. E. Fraser (2019) ATP-specificity of succinyl-CoA synthetase from Blastocystis hominis. Acta Cryst., D75, 647-659.
76. C.C. Holt, M. Stone, D. Bass, K.S. Bateman, R. van Aerle, C.L. Daniels, M. van der Giezen, S.H. Ross, C. Hooper, C. and G.D. Stentiford (2019) The first clawed lobster virus Homarus gammarus nudivirus (HgNV n. sp.) expands the diversity of the Nudiviridae. Sci. Rep., 9, 10086.
75. R. Lear, M. O'Leary, L. O'Brien Andersen, C.C. Holt, C.R. Stensvold, M. van der Giezen and J. Bowtell (2019) Tart cherry concentrate does not alter the gut microbiome, glycaemic control or systemic inflammation in a middle-aged population. Nutrients 11, 1063.
74. D. Minardi, D.J. Studholme, B. Oidtmann, T. Pretto and M. van der Giezen (2019) Improved genotyping method for the causative agent of crayfish plague (Aphanomyces astaci) based on mtDNA. Parasitol. 8, 1022-1029.
73. A.D. Tsaousis, K.A. Hamblin, C. Elliot, L. Young, A.R. Hidalgo, C.W. Gourlay, A.L. Moore and M. van der Giezen (2018) The human gut colonizer Blastocystis respires using Complex II and alternative oxidase to buffer transient oxygen fluctuations in the gut.Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol. 8, 371.
72. C. Río Bártulos, M.B. Rogers, T.A. Williams, E. Gentekaki, H. Brinkmann, R. Cerff, M.-F. Liaud, A.B. Hehl, N.R. Yarlett, A. Gruber, P.G. Kroth and M. van der Giezen (2018) Mitochondrial targeting of glycolysis in a major lineage of eukaryotes. Genome Biol. Evol.10, 2310-2325.
(previously deposited as a preprint: bioRxiv 257790; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/257790.)
71. D. Minardi, D.J. Studholme, T. Pretto, M. van der Giezen and B. Oidtmann (2018) New genotyping method for the causative agent of crayfish plague (Aphanomyces astaci) based on whole genome data. J. Invertebr. Pathol. 156, 6-13.
70. A. Vanhatalo, J.R. Blackwell, J. L'Heureux, D.W. Willians, A. Smith, M. van der Giezen, P.G. Winyard, J. Kelly and A.M. Jones (2018) Nitrate-responsive oral microbiome modulates nitric oxide homeostasis and blood pressure in humans. Free Radic. Biol. Med.124, 21-30.
69. C.R. Stensvold and M. van der Giezen (2018) Associations between gut microbiota and common luminal intestinal parasites. Trends in Parasitol. 34, 369-377.
68. C. Holt, R. Foster, C.L. Daniels, M. van der Giezen, S.W. Feist, G.D. Stentiford and D. Bass (2018) Halioticida noduliformans infection in eggs of lobster (Homarus gammarus) reveals its generalist parasitic strategy in marine invertebrates. J. Invertebr. Pathol. 154, 109-116.
67. E. Herman, M.A. Siegesmund, M.J. Bottery, R. van Aerle, M.M. Shather, E. Caler, J.B. Dacks and M. van der Giezen (2017) Membrane trafficking modulation during Entamoeba encystation. Sci. Rep. 7: 12854.
66. E. Gentekaki, B.A. Curtis, C.W. Stairs, V. Klime?, M. Eliá?, D.E. Salas-Leiva, E.K. Herman, L. Eme, M.C. Arias, B. Henrissat, F. Hilliou, M.J. Klute, H. Suga, S.-B. Malik, A.W. Pightling, M. Kolisko, R.A. Rachubinski, A. Schlacht, D.M. Soanes, A.D. Tsaousis, J.M. Archibald, S.G. Ball, J.B. Dacks, C.G. Clark, M. van der Giezen and A.J. Roger (2017) Extreme genome diversity in the hyper-prevalent parasitic eukaryote Blastocystis.PLoS Biology 15(9): e2003769.
65. R. van Aerle and M. van der Giezen (2017) Next-generation sequencing, bioinformatics, and infectious diseases. In: Genetics and evolution of infectious diseases. 2nd Ed. (Tibayrenc, M., Ed.), Elsevier, Amsterdam, 405-420.
64. K. Vashisht, S. Verma, S. Gupta, A. Lynn, R. Dixit, N. Mishra, N. Valecha, K.A. Hamblin, R. Maytum, K.C. Pandey and M. van der Giezen (2017) Engineering nucleotide specificity of succinyl-CoA synthetase in Blastocystis: The emerging role of gatekeeper residues. Biochemistry, 56, 534-542.
63. M. van der Giezen (2016) Evolution: Organelles caught in the act. Curr. Biol., 26, R913-R915.
62. M. van der Giezen (2015) Nature's magic algebra; or, how one plus one still equaled one. BioScience, 65, 832.
Qualifications:
2018 Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK
2007 Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice, Queen Mary, University of London, UK
1992-1997 PhD in Mathematical and Natural Sciences, University of Groningen, the Netherlands
1988-1992 Drs Molecular Biology & Immunology, University of Groningen, the Netherlands.
Career:
2019-present Professor of Biological Chemistry, Centre for Organelle Research, University of Stavanger, Norway
2019 Associate Professor of Evolutionary Biochemistry, School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, UK
2018 Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, UK
2018 Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK
2018 Nominated for President for the International Society of Protistologists (ISOP)
2017-present Theme Lead Aquatic Diseases for the centre for Sustainable Aquaculture Futures, UK
2014 Elected Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, UK
2009 Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Protein Research, University of Osaka, Japan
2007-2018 Senior Lecturer in Evolutionary Biochemistry, School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, UK
2004-2007 Lecturer in Microbiology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London, UK
2002-2004 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK
1998 EMBO Fellow
1997-2002 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, London, UK
1996 Visiting Scientist, Centre for the Study of Metals in Biology and Medicine, King?s College, London, UK
1992 Erasmus Studentship, Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique Moléculaires, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
