![Dr Sylvia Duncan Dr Sylvia Duncan](/img/200x200/staffpages/uploads/rwt096/S_Duncan_photo.jpg)
BSc PhD
Senior Research Fellow
- About
-
- Email Address
- sylvia.duncan@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 438680
- Office Address
Rowett Institute
Forresterhill Campus
Aberdeen
AB25 2ZD
- School/Department
- School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition
- Research
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Research Overview
The Microbiology group have isolated and characterised many of the most abundant bacterial species that inhabit the human large intestine. A panel of the most interesting strains have also been genome sequenced. Mining these genomes has led to a good understanding of the roles of these mostly anaerobic bacteria in the human colon including their primary metabolic function, such as the formation of short chain fatty acids.
Research team:
Amanda Morris – Research Assistant
Galiana Lo - PhD student
Dr Indrani Mukhopadhya – Research Fellow
Research Areas
Nutrition and Health
Research Specialisms
- Microbiology
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.
Current Research
My current research is focussed on the impact of dietary macronutrients, including protein and carbohydrate content, on modulating the composition of the gut microbiota and metabolic outputs to improve health and prevent disease. The impact of gut environmental factors, including pH and bile salt levels, on modulating the gut microbiota and metabolism are also being studied using in vitro model colonic fermentor systems. We are also interested in bacterial cross feeding of dietary macronutrients by specialist bacterial species. We are also interested lactic acid utilising bacterial species as this is a product that is usually low in healthy colons but can accumulate to high levels in disease states such as inflammatory bowel disease. Further studies are also underway on host-microbe interactions.
More recently, the formation of secondary metabolites, such as polyketides and non-ribosomally synthesised peptides, by gut anaerobes are being studied through genome mining strains, testing their ability to inhibit pathogens and identifying the structure of these peptides as these are potentially pharmaceutically important compounds that may possess anti-microbial and anti-cancer properties.
- Teaching
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Teaching Responsibilities
Course Coordinator MC4014
Contribute lectures and tutorials to Nutrition courses
- Publications
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Lactate-utilizing bacteria, isolated from human feces, that produce butyrate as a major fermentation product
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, vol. 70, no. 10, pp. 5810-5817Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.70.10.5810-5817.2004
Contribution of acetate to butyrate formation by human faecal bacteria
British Journal of Nutrition, vol. 91, no. 6, pp. 915-923Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1079/BJN20041150
Restricted distribution of the butyrate kinase pathway among butyrate-producing bacteria from the human colon
Journal of Bacteriology, vol. 186, no. 7, pp. 2099-2106Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/JB.186.7.2099-2106.2004
Acetate utilization and butyryl coenzyme A (CoA): acetate-CoA transferase in butyrate-producing bacteria from the human large intestine
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, vol. 68, no. 10, pp. 5186-5190Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.68.10.5186-5190.2002
Phylogenetic relationships of butyrate-producing bacteria from the human gut
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, vol. 66, no. 4, pp. 1654-1661Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.66.4.1654-1661.2000
The potential for the control of Escherichia coli O157 in farm animals
Journal of Applied Microbiology, vol. 88Contributions to Journals: ArticlesInhibitory activity of gut bacteria against Escherichia coli O157 mediated by dietary plant metabolites
FEMS Microbiology Letters, vol. 164, no. 2, pp. 283-288Contributions to Journals: ArticlesThe fate of Escherichia coli 0157 isolates under simulated rumen conditions and the use of a gfp-labelled isolate for ecological studies
Reproduction Nutrition Development, vol. 37, no. Suppl. 1, pp. 31-32Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/rnd:19970711
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
THE PROPERTIES OF FORMS OF RUMINOCOCCUS-FLAVEFACIENS WHICH DIFFER IN THEIR ABILITY TO DEGRADE COTTON CELLULOSE
FEMS Microbiology Letters, vol. 72, no. 1-2, pp. 47-50Contributions to Journals: ArticlesTHE IMPLICATIONS OF THE LOSS AND REGAIN OF COTTON-DEGRADING ACTIVITY FOR THE DEGRADATION OF STRAW BY RUMINOCOCCUS-FLAVEFACIENS STRAIN-007
Journal of Applied Bacteriology, vol. 68, no. 4, pp. 349-356Contributions to Journals: Articles