Laws, Andrew - Huddersfield University - Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

个人简介

Andy did his undergraduate studies at the University of Lancaster and graduated with a first class honours in Chemistry in 1984. After graduating, he moved to Sussex University to undertake a PhD in Physical Organic Chemistry where he worked on developing an understanding of the intrinsic reactivity of aromatic compounds. He completed his PhD in September 1987 and was offered the opportunity to take up a research post at Huddersfield, working with Prof. Mike Page on the mechanisms by which enzymes catalyze reactions. Andy was appointed to the academic staff in 1989 and is currently a Professor of Chemical Biology. Throughout his time at Huddersfield, Andy has been a very active researcher; working in the areas of physical organic chemistry and analytical carbohydrate chemistry. He is currently the Deputy Director of the Biomolecular Sciences Research Centre and the Director of Research for the School of Applied Sciences. Andy currently works with a team of three postgraduate research students. In his current research he is exploring the mechanisms by which bacteria resist antibiotics and this includes studies of the interactions of bacterial enzymes with biologically active molecules and the analysis of the structure of the cell wall components of bacteria (using the latest analytical techniques-high field 2D-NMR and LC-MS-MS). Andy is also involved in emerging research in biofuels. A lot of Andy’s research is performed in collaboration with European partners. Andy’s research expertise has been acknowledged through receipt of invitations: to speak at international conferences; to examine PhD students at a number of institutions and Andy is a referee for a number of international journals.

研究领域

Bacteria have evolved that are able to survive in almost all environments. Frequently many different species of bacteria live together in a diverse community enveloped in slime. The slime acts both to protect them from changes in climatic conditions and helps them to adhere and survive in their immediate environment. Bacterial ecology is often complex and poorly understood; the conditions that support bacterial life can vary enormously within a few millimetres: bacteria at the surface will enjoy an aerobic environment whilst those below may well be faced with anaerobic conditions. The slime is frequently rich in hydrated polysaccharides and it is these polysaccharides that assist bacteria to inhabit such diverse environments. These polysaccharides are either attached to the cell surface (capsular polysaccharides) or are excreted into the local environment (exopolysaccharides EPS). The complex aggregates of bacterial colonies and their associated polysaccharides are referred to as biofilms; these biofilms are of great commercial significance and they have both negative and positive attributes. The generation of biofilms in food processing, especially in the Dairy Industry, results in spoilage of food. Biofilms provide a barrier for antibacterial agents and offer protection to bacteria from antibacterial agents. Recent research has suggested that difficulties encountered in removing Listeria from food preparation surfaces are related to their ability to excrete polysaccharides. In contrast, biofilms formed by non-pathogenic bacteria or â€˜friendly bacteriaâ€™ are encouraged to enhance or protect dairy products: the lactic acid bacteria added to yoghurts generate polysaccharides which improve texture; biofilms formed on the surfaces of cheeses prevent spoilage by pathogenic strains. In my research group we are interested in developing new techniques to characterise these polysaccharides. Our existing projects have two main aims: to radically improve the procedures used to isolate these polysaccharides; to provide rapid and sensitive techniques for structural characterisation of these products.

近期论文

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Scotson, J., Laws, A., Andrews, B. and Page, M. (2016) ‘Phosphorothioate Anti-sense Oligonucleotides: The Kinetics and Mechanism of the Generation of the Sulfurising Agent from Phenylacetyl Disulfide (PADS)’ Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry . ISSN 1477-0520 Almond, M., Belton, D., Humphreys, P. and Laws, A. (2016) ‘A study of the metal binding capacity of saccharinic acids formed during the alkali catalysed decomposition of cellulosic materials: nickel complexation by glucoisosaccharinic acids and xyloisosaccharinic acids’ Carbohydrate Research , 427, pp. 48-54. ISSN 0008-6215 AL-Jasim, A., Davis, M., Cossar, D., Miller, T., Humphreys, P. and Laws, A. (2016) ‘Isolation of sophorose during sophorolipid production and studies of its stability in aqueous alkali: epimerisation of sophorose to 2-O-?-d-glucopyranosyl-d-mannose’ Carbohydrate Research , 421, pp. 46-54. ISSN 0008-6215 Jowiya, W., Brunner, K., Abouelhadid, S., Hussain, H., Nair, S., Sadiq, S., Williams, L., Trantham, E., Stephenson, H., Wren, B., Bajaj-Elliott, M., Cogan, T., Laws, A., Wade, J., Dorrell, N. and Allan, E. (2015) ‘Pancreatic Amylase is an Environmental Signal for Regulation of Biofilm Formation and Host Interaction inCampylobacter jejuni’ Infection and Immunity , 83 (12), pp. IAI.01064-15. ISSN 0019-9567 Pan, C., Rout, S., Charles, C., Doulgeris, C., McCarthy, A., Rooks, D., Loughnane, J., Laws, A. and Humphreys, P. (2015) ‘Anoxic Biodegradation of Isosaccharinic Acids at Alkaline pH by Natural Microbial Communities’ PLoS ONE , 10 (9), p. e0137682. ISSN 1932-6203 Rout, S., Charles, C., Garratt, E., Laws, A., Gunn, J. and Humphreys, P. (2015) ‘Evidence of the Generation of Isosaccharinic Acids and Their Subsequent Degradation by Local Microbial Consortia within Hyper-Alkaline Contaminated Soils, with Relevance to Intermediate Level Radioactive Waste Disposal’ PLoS ONE , 10 (3), p. e0119164. ISSN 1932-6203 Patten, D. and Laws, A. (2015) ‘Lactobacillus-produced exopolysaccharides and their potential health benefits: a review’ Beneficial Microbes , 6 (4), pp. 457-471. ISSN 1876-2883 Alba, K., Laws, A. and Kontogiorgos, V. (2015) ‘Isolation and characterization of acetylated LM-pectins extracted from okra pods’ Food Hydrocolloids , 43, pp. 726-735. ISSN 0268005X Janssen, P., Rout, S., Radford, J., Laws, A., Sweeney, F., Elmekawy, A., Gillie, L. and Humphreys, P. (2014) ‘Biodegradation of the Alkaline Cellulose Degradation Products Generated during Radioactive Waste Disposal’ PLoS ONE , 9 (9), p. e107433. ISSN 1932-6203 Rout, S., Radford, J., Laws, A., Sweeney, F., Elmekawy, A., Gillie, L. and Humphreys, P. (2014) ‘Biodegradation of the Alkaline Cellulose Degradation Products Generated during Radioactive Waste Disposal.’ PLoS ONE , 9 (9), p. e107433. ISSN 1932-6203 Alhudhud, M., Humphreys, P. and Laws, A. (2014) ‘Development of A Growth Medium Suitable for Exopolysaccharide Production and Structural Characterisation by Bifidobacteria animalis ssp. lactis’ Journal of Microbiological Methods , 100, pp. 93-98. ISSN 0167-7012 Patten, D., Leivers, S., Chadha, M., Maqsood, M., Humphreys, P., Laws, A. and Collett, A. (2014) ‘The structure and immunomodulatory activity on intestinal epithelial cells of the EPSs isolated from Lactobacillus helveticus sp. Rosyjski and Lactobacillus acidophilus sp. 5e2.’ Carbohydrate Research , 384, pp. 119-127. ISSN 00086215 Almond, M., Shaw, P., Humphreys, P., Chadha, M., Niemelä, K. and Laws, A. (2012) ‘Behavior of xyloisosaccharinic acid and xyloisosaccharino-1,4-lactone in aqueous solutions at varying pHs’ Carbohydrate Research , 363, pp. 51-57. ISSN 00086215 Ponomarov, O., Laws, A. and Hanusek, J. (2012) ‘1,2,4-Dithiazole-5-ones and 5-thiones as Efficient Sulfurizing Agents of Phosphorus (III) Compounds – A Kinetic Comparative Study’ Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry . ISSN 1477-0539 Leivers, S., Hidalgo-Cantabrana, C., Robinson, G., Margolles, A., Ruas-Madiedo, P. and Laws, A. (2011) ‘Structure of the high molecular weight exopolysaccharide produced by Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis IPLA-R1 and sequence analysis of its putative eps cluster’ Carbohydrate Research , 346 (17), pp. 2710-2717. ISSN 00086215 Humphreys, P., Laws, A. and Dawson, J. (2010) A Review of Cellulose Degradation and the Fate of Degradation Products Under Repository Conditions Cumbria, UK: Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) Laws, A., Leivers, S., Chacon-Romero, M. and Chadha, M. (2009) ‘Variation in the molecular mass of exopolysaccharides during the time course of extended fermentations of skimmed milk by lactic acid bacteria’ International Dairy Journal , 19 (12), pp. 768-771. ISSN 0958-6946 Russell, M., Laws, A., Atherton, J. and Page, M. (2009) ‘The kinetics and mechanism of the acid-catalysed detritylation of nucleotides in non-aqueous solution’ Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry , 7 (1), pp. 52-57. ISSN 1477-0539 Russell, M., Laws, A., Atherton, J. and Page, M. (2008) ‘The mechanism of the phosphoramidite synthesis of polynucleotides’ Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry , 6 (18), pp. 3270-3275. ISSN 1477-0539 Laws, A., Chadha, M., Chacon-Romero, M., Marshall, V. and Maqsood, M. (2008) ‘Determination of the structure and molecular weights of the exopolysaccharide produced by Lactobacillus acidophilus 5e2 when grown on different carbon feeds’ Carbohydrate Research , 343 (2), pp. 301-307. ISSN 00086215