Liz Sockett

Last updated
Liz Sockett

CBE FRS
Born
Renee Elizabeth Sockett

1962 (age 59–60)
Newcastle upon Tyne
Alma mater University of Leeds (BSc)
University College London (PhD)
Awards Daiwa Adrian Prize (2007)
Scientific career
Fields Microbiology
Bdellovibrio
Institutions University of Oxford
University of Nottingham
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Thesis Biochemistry of motility and taxis in purple photosynthetic bacteria  (1986)
Website nottingham.ac.uk/life-sciences/people/liz.sockett

Renee Elizabeth Sockett CBE FRS (born 1962) is a professor and microbiologist in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Nottingham. [1] [2] [3] She is a world-leading expert on Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus, a species of predatory bacteria. [4] [5]

Contents

Early life and education

Sockett was born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1962 and completed her Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry at the University of Leeds in 1983. [6] She moved to University College London (UCL) for her postgraduate study, and was awarded a PhD in 1986 for research on the biochemistry of motility and taxis in purple bacteria. [7]

Career and research

After completing her PhD, Sockett worked as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (1986-1988)[ citation needed ] and then the University of Oxford (1988-1990)[ citation needed ]. In 1991, she was appointed as a Lecturer at the University of Nottingham and subsequently promoted to senior lecturer in 2001, Reader in 2004 and Professor in 2005. [8]

Her research group started by studying the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides . Her interests in bacterial physiology and mechanisms then turned to understanding the bacterial predator Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus . [9] [4] Bdellovibrio preys upon a wide range of bacteria including antibiotic-resistant pathogens that are harmful to human health. Sockett's lab have studied the genome of Bdellovibrio during the invasion of other bacteria. [6] Her group has identified several Bdellovibrio genes that make enzymes which break down important structural components of bacteria, and also secrete enzymes that break down chromosomes. [10] She is studying the application of predatory bacteria like Bdellovibrio to treat antimicrobial-resistant infections. [11]

Sockett's group worked together with Alexandra Willis and her PhD supervisor[ citation needed ] Serge Mostowy  [ Wikidata ] at Imperial College London to study Bdellovibrio predation in a zebrafish infection model.[ citation needed ] Zebrafish infected with a lethal dose of the antibiotic-resistant human pathogen Shigella flexneri were given Bdellovibrio as a treatment. Together, the researchers showed that Bdellovibrio could kill the Shigella, working synergistically with the zebrafishs' own immune system to promote zebrafish survival. [12] [13] [14]

Sockett and her group collaborated with Erkin Kuru at Indiana University Bloomington, using fluorescent D-amino acids (FDAAs) to illuminate the mechanisms by which Bdellovibrio invades its prey. They discovered that Bdellovibrio forms a small reinforced 'porthole' in the cell wall of its prey through which it squeezes and then re-seals from the inside. [15] [16]

She also has long-standing collaborations with Andrew Lovering at the University of Birmingham, who studies the structural biology of predatory Bdellovibrio enzymes, and Waldemar Vollmer at Newcastle University, who studies the structure of bacterial cell walls.[ citation needed ]

As part of a Human Frontier Science Program grant, Sockett collaborated with Shin-Ichi Aizawa to study the Bdellovibrio interaction with Escherichia coli . [17] Her strains appeared in electron microscope images in the 2013 book The Flagellar World. [18]

Her research has been funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Medical Research Council (MRC), Leverhulme Trust and the Wellcome Trust.[ citation needed ]

Sockett is a communicator and role model for careers in microbiology, which was recognised by the award of the Peter Wildy prize of the Society for General Microbiology in 2006, where her prize lecture was entitled Not Just Germs - Bringing Bacteria to Life. [19]

Socket is an advocate for public engagement and science outreach. [20]

Honours and awards

Sockett was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to microbiology. [21]

Sockett was interviewed on The Life Scientific by Jim Al-Khalili in 2017. [6] Other awards and honours include:

Related Research Articles

Antibiotic Antimicrobial substance active against bacteria

An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention of such infections. They may either kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria. A limited number of antibiotics also possess antiprotozoal activity. Antibiotics are not effective against viruses such as the common cold or influenza; drugs which inhibit viruses are termed antiviral drugs or antivirals rather than antibiotics.

<i>Bdellovibrio</i> Genus of bacteria

Bdellovibrio is a genus of Gram-negative, obligate aerobic bacteria. One of the more notable characteristics of this genus is that members can prey upon other Gram-negative bacteria and feed on the biopolymers, e.g. proteins and nucleic acids, of their hosts. They have two lifestyles: a host-dependent, highly mobile phase, the "attack phase", in which they form "bdelloplasts" in their host bacteria; and a slow-growing, irregularly shaped, host-independent form.

Shigellosis Medical condition

Shigellosis is an infection of the intestines caused by Shigella bacteria. Symptoms generally start one to two days after exposure and include diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain, and feeling the need to pass stools even when the bowels are empty. The diarrhea may be bloody. Symptoms typically last five to seven days and it may take several months before bowel habits return entirely to normal. Complications can include reactive arthritis, sepsis, seizures, and hemolytic uremic syndrome.

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The Microbiology Society is a learned society based in the United Kingdom with a worldwide membership based in universities, industry, hospitals, research institutes and schools. It is the largest learned microbiological society in Europe. Interests of its members include basic and applied aspects of viruses, prions, bacteria, rickettsiae, mycoplasma, fungi, algae and protozoa, and all other aspects of microbiology. Its headquarters is at 14–16 Meredith Street, London. The Society's current president is Prof. Judy Armitage. The Society is a member of the Science Council.

Bacillary dysentery is a type of dysentery, and is a severe form of shigellosis.

<i>Shigella flexneri</i> Species of bacterium

Shigella flexneri is a species of Gram-negative bacteria in the genus Shigella that can cause diarrhea in humans. Several different serogroups of Shigella are described; S. flexneri belongs to group B. S. flexneri infections can usually be treated with antibiotics, although some strains have become resistant. Less severe cases are not usually treated because they become more resistant in the future. Shigella are closely related to Escherichia coli, but can be differentiated from E.coli based on pathogenicity, physiology and serology.

Medical microbiology Branch of medical science

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Vampirococcus is an informally described genus of ovoid Gram-negative bacteria, but the exact phylogeny remains to be determined. This predatory prokaryote was first described in 1983 by Esteve et al. as small, anaerobic microbe about 0.6 μm wide before being given the name of Vampirococcus in 1986 by Guerrero et al. This prokaryote is a freshwater obligate predator that preys specifically on various species of the photosynthetic purple sulfur bacterium, Chromatium. As an epibiont, Vampirococcus attaches to the cell surface of their prey and "sucks" out the cytoplasm using a specialized cytoplasmic bridge. They are commonly mentioned as an example of epibionts when discussing strategies employed by bacterial predators. This microbe still has yet to be classified based on genomic sequencing or 16S rRNA because it cannot be sustained long enough outside its natural environment to isolate a pure culture.

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Bacteriovorax is a genus containing a single species of bacterium in the family Bacteriovoracaceae, Bacteriovorax stolpii. It is a predator that feeds on larger Gram-negative bacteria. These prey bacteria tend to live in enteric environments and have similar lipopolysaccharide structures. Bacteriovorax stolpii recognizes its prey by outer membrane protein receptors, which explains why Gram-positive bacteria that lack outer membranes do not serve as prey. They prey on bacteria by invading the interperiplasmic space where they feed, grow, and reproduce. Bacteriovorax stolpii used to be classified in the genus Bdellovibrio because of similar morphologies and lifestyle characteristics, however they were recognized as a new genus through phylogenetic analysis.

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Vampirovibrio chlorellavorus is a 0.6 µm pleomorphic cocci with a gram negative cell wall, and is one of the few known predatory bacteria. Unlike many bacteria, Vampirovibrio chlorellavorus is an obligate parasite, attaching to the cell wall of green algae of the genus Chlorella. Vampirovibrio originates from the Serbian vampir. meaning vampire and vibrio referring to the bacterial genus of curved rod bacterium. Chlorellavorus is named for the algal host of the bacterium (Chlorella) and the Latin voro meaning "to devour" (Chlorella-devouring).

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References

  1. ↑ Liz Sockett publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
  2. ↑ Liz Sockett publications from Europe PubMed Central
  3. ↑ Sharp, P. M. (2005). "Variation in the strength of selected codon usage bias among bacteria". Nucleic Acids Research. 33 (4): 1141–1153. doi:10.1093/nar/gki242. ISSN   1362-4962. PMC   549432 . PMID   15728743.
  4. 1 2 Sockett, Renee Elizabeth (2009). "Predatory lifestyle of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus". Annual Review of Microbiology. 63: 523–539. doi:10.1146/annurev.micro.091208.073346. ISSN   1545-3251. PMID   19575566.
  5. ↑ Rendulic, S. (2004). "A Predator Unmasked: Life Cycle of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus from a Genomic Perspective". Science. 303 (5658): 689–692. Bibcode:2004Sci...303..689R. doi:10.1126/science.1093027. ISSN   0036-8075. PMID   14752164. S2CID   38154836. Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  6. 1 2 3 Al-Khalili, Jim (2017). "Liz Sockett on friendly killer bacteria: The Life Scientific". bbc.co.uk. BBC . Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  7. ↑ Socket, Renee Elizabeth (1986). Biochemistry of motility and taxis in purple photosynthetic bacteria. london.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of London. OCLC   941031856.
  8. ↑ "Liz Sockett - The University of Nottingham". nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
  9. 1 2 "Elizabeth Sockett". asm.org. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  10. ↑ "Dr. Liz Sockett Interview". thenakedscientists.com. Naked Scientists. 12 December 2004. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  11. ↑ "Predatory Bdellovibrio bacteria-evolution of predation and application of predators against AMR infection". talks.ox.ac.uk. University of Oxford. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  12. ↑ Willis, Alexandra R.; Moore, Christopher; Mazon-Moya, Maria; Krokowski, Sina; Lambert, Carey; Till, Robert; Mostowy, Serge; Sockett, R. Elizabeth (2016). "Injections of Predatory Bacteria Work Alongside Host Immune Cells to Treat Shigella Infection in Zebrafish Larvae". Current Biology. 26 (24): 3343–3351. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2016.09.067. ISSN   0960-9822. PMC   5196024 . PMID   27889262.
  13. ↑ Anon (2016). "How bacteria attack superbugs". bbc.co.uk. BBC News . Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  14. ↑ "Harnessing the power of predatory bacteria as a 'living antibiotic'". phys.org. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  15. ↑ Kuru, Erkin; Lambert, Carey; Rittichier, Jonathan; Till, Rob; Ducret, Adrien; Derouaux, Adeline; Gray, Joe; Biboy, Jacob; Vollmer, Waldemar (2018-01-08). "Author Correction: Fluorescent d-amino-acids reveal bi-cellular cell wall modifications important for Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus predation". Nature Microbiology. 3 (2): 254. doi: 10.1038/s41564-017-0087-1 . ISSN   2058-5276. PMID   29311645.
  16. ↑ "Predatory bacteria that engineer 'portholes' and paint 'frescoes' in harmful bacteria". sciencedaily.com. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
  17. ↑ "Shadowing the actions of a predator". hfsp.org. Human Frontier Science Program. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  18. ↑ Aizawa, Shin-Ichi (2013). The Flagellar World: Electron Microscopic Images of Bacterial Flagella and Related Surface Structures. Elsevier. ISBN   978-0124172838. OCLC   885024658.
  19. ↑ Anon (2006). "Peter Wildy Prize Lecture". microbiologysociety.org. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  20. ↑ "Biology CPD for Science Teachers in the East Midlands: Professor Liz Sockett". le.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  21. ↑ "No. 63714". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 2022. p. B10.
  22. ↑ "Liz Sockett | Royal Society". royalsociety.org. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
  23. ↑ Anon (2017). "Honor for UK-Japanese research". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  24. ↑ Anon (2006). "Peter Wildy Prize Lecture". microbiologysociety.org. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  25. ↑ Anon (2000). "Lord Dearing Award winners". nottingham.ac.uk. University of Nottingham. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
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