![Dr Petra Louis Dr Petra Louis](/img/200x200/staffpages/uploads/rwt066/P.Louis_square.jpg)
Senior Research Fellow
- About
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- Email Address
- p.louis@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 438735
- Office Address
Dr. Petra Louis
Microbiology Group
Gut Health Theme
The Rowett Institute
University of Aberdeen
Foresterhill
Aberdeen AB25 2ZD
- School/Department
- School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition
Biography
Petra Louis is a molecular microbiologist with an interest in the human gut microbiota, diet and health. She obtained her Diploma in Biology and PhD in Microbiology from the University of Bonn, Germany, where she conducted research on osmoadaptation in halophilic bacteria. She undertook post-doctoral research at the University of Aberdeen on stress responses in Escherichia coli and on RNA secondary structure melting during translation in yeast, before taking up a position as principal investigator at the Rowett Institute in Aberdeen in 2002.
Her research concentrates on the metabolism of the microbial community that inhabits the human intestine and how it can be modulated by diet to improve human health, with a particular emphasis on short-chain fatty acid production from dietary non-digestible carbohydrates. She utilises a wide range of technical approaches, including strictly anaerobic microbiology, molecular microbial community analysis, -omics technologies and mathematical modelling, to investigate which microbes are instrumental for primary fibre degradation and how different microbial community members interact with each other during fibre breakdown and fermentation product formation. Her work contributes to the development of effective and personalised nutritional strategies to improve human health via actions of the gut microbiota.
Qualifications
- Diploma Biology1992 - University of Bonn, Germany
- PhD Microbiology1996 - Univesity of Bonn, Germany
Prizes and Awards
PhD thesis award of the German Society for General and Applied Microbiology (VAAM) 1996
Clarivate (Web of Science) highly cited researcher: 2018-2023
Member of the Rowett Gut Microbiology Group, who were runners up in the International Global Grants for Gut Health Nature Awards Research Group Prize 2023 - read more HERE
- Research
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Research Overview
The microbial community in the human large intestine consists of a diverse range of bacteria that break down complex nutrients of dietary and host origin. The members of this ecosystem form a complex metabolic network in which the product of one group can serve as substrate for another group. Overall, this leads to the accumulation of mainly three organic acids, acetate, propionate and butyrate, which are partially absorbed by the colon and serve as an additional energy source for the human host. Butyrate is of special interest, as it serves as the preferred energy source for the colonic wall and thus contributes to the proper functioning of the gut. It has also been claimed to be protective against colon cancer and inflammatory bowel disease through effects on host gene expression and cellular development of the colon. Propionate also influences host physiology and its potential effects on host satiety is of particular interest in view of the current obesity epidemic.
Dietary intakes can influence the microbial gut community and shift the balance between different functional bacterial groups, with potential consequences for host health. Our research concentrates on the microbial metabolism of dietary non-digestible carbohydrates, with a particular emphasis on short-chain fatty acid production. We utilise are wide range of technical approaches, including strictly anaerobic microbiology of pure strains and mixed microbial consortia, molecular microbial community analysis of in vitro and human dietary studies, -omics technologies, enzymology and mathematical modelling.
Research Specialisms
- Microbiology
- Biochemistry
- Molecular Biology
- Ecology
Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is HESA open data, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
- Publications
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Extending colonic mucosal microbiome analysis - Assessment of colonic lavage as a proxy for endoscopic colonic biopsies
Microbiome, vol. 4, 61Contributions to Journals: ArticlesObjections to the proposed reclassification of Eubacterium rectale as Agathobacter rectalis
International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, vol. 66, no. 5, pp. 2106-2106Contributions to Journals: Letters- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1099/ijsem.0.000969
Modulation of the human gut microbiota by dietary fibres occurs at the species level
BMC Biology, vol. 14, 3Contributions to Journals: ArticlesHow to Manipulate the Microbiota: Prebiotics
Microbiota of the Human Body: Implications in Health and Disease. Schwiertz, A. (ed.). Springer, pp. 119-142, 24 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31248-4_9
Unique Organization of Extracellular Amylases into Amylosomes in the Resistant Starch-Utilizing Human Colonic Firmicutes Bacterium Ruminococcus bromii
mBio, vol. 6, no. 5, e01058-15Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01058-15
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/5127/1/mBio_2015_Ze_.pdf
Modelling the emergent dynamics and major metabolites of the human colonic microbiota
Environmental Microbiology, vol. 17, no. 5, pp. 1615-1630Contributions to Journals: ArticlesEssential oils have different effects on human pathogenic and commensal bacteria in mixed faecal fermentations compared to pure cultures
Microbiology , vol. 161, no. 2, pp. 441-449Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.000009
Links between diet, gut microbiota composition and gut metabolism
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, vol. 74, no. 1, pp. 13-22Contributions to Journals: Literature Reviews- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0029665114001463
Impact of diet and individual variation on intestinal microbiota composition and fermentation products in obese men
The ISME Journal, vol. 8, pp. 2218-2230Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2014.63
Altered intestinal microbiota and blood T cell phenotype are shared by patients with Crohn's disease and their unaffected siblings
Gut, vol. 63, no. 10, pp. 1578-1586Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2013-306226