![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
-
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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Persimmon Fiber-Rich Ingredients Promote Anti-Inflammatory Responses and the Growth of Beneficial Anti-Inflammatory Firmicutes Species from the Human Colon
Nutrients, vol. 16, no. 15, 2518Contributions to Journals: ArticlesWhy does increased microbial fermentation in the human colon shift toward butyrate?
AIMS Microbiology, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 311-319Contributions to Journals: ArticlesNutrients to Nourish the Organisms:Prebiotics and Fiber
Probiotics: a Clinical Guide. CRC Press, pp. 71-81, 11 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) Hulls Are a Rich Source of Fermentable Dietary Fibre and Bioactive Phytochemicals: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
International Journal of Molecular Sciences, vol. 24, no. 22, 16310Contributions to Journals: ArticlesBioprocessing of Hempseed (Cannabis sativa L.) Food By-Products Increased Nutrient and Phytochemical In Vitro Bioavailability during Digestion and Microbial Fermentation
Applied Sciences, vol. 13, no. 9, 5781Contributions to Journals: ArticlesLinks between diet, intestinal anaerobes, microbial metabolites and health
Biomedicines, vol. 11, no. 5, 1338Contributions to Journals: ArticlesExploiting Underutilised crops
Food Science & Technology, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 36-39Contributions to Journals: ArticlesImpact of changes at the Candida albicans cell surface upon immunogenicity and colonisation in the gastrointestinal tract
The Cell Surface, vol. 8, 100084Contributions to Journals: ArticlesHigh throughput method development and optimised production of leaf protein concentrates with potential to support the agri-industry
Journal of Food Measurement and Characterization, vol. 16, pp. 49–65Contributions to Journals: ArticlesHuman gut bifidobacteria inhibit the growth of the opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans
FEMS Microbiology Ecology, vol. 98, no. 10, fiac095Contributions to Journals: ArticlesSurvival strategies and metabolic interactions between Ruminococcus gauvreauii and Ruminococcoides bili, isolated from human bile
Microbiology spectrum, vol. 10, no. 4, e0277621Contributions to Journals: ArticlesMicrobial lactate utilisation and the stability of the gut microbiome
Gut Microbiome, vol. 3, e3Contributions to Journals: ArticlesHigher total faecal short chain fatty concentrations correlate with increasing proportions of butyrate and decreasing proportions of branched chain fatty acids across multiple human studies
Gut Microbiome, vol. 3, e2Contributions to Journals: ArticlesDistribution, organization and expression of genes concerned with anaerobic lactate utilization in human intestinal bacteria
Microbial Genomics, vol. 8, no. 1, 000739Contributions to Journals: ArticlesConsumption of a Recommended Serving of Wheat Bran Cereals Significantly Increases Human Faecal Butyrate Levels in Healthy Volunteers and Reduces Markers of Inflammation
Recent Progress in Nutrition, vol. 1, no. 4Contributions to Journals: ArticlesDietary fibre complexity and its influence on functional groups of the human gut microbiota
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, vol. 80, no. 4, pp. 386–397Contributions to Journals: ArticlesDescription of Ruminococcoides bili gen. nov., sp. nov., a bile resistant bacterium from human bile with autolytic behavior.
International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, vol. 71, no. 8, 004960Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1099/ijsem.0.004960
Human gut Faecalibacterium prausnitzii deploy a highly efficient conserved system to cross-feed on β-mannan-derived oligosaccharides
mBio, vol. 12, no. 3, e03628-20Contributions to Journals: ArticlesImpact of protein on the composition and metabolism of the human gut microbiota and health
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, vol. 80, no. 2, pp. 173 - 185Contributions to Journals: ArticlesType IV pili are widespread among non-pathogenic Gram-positive gut bacteria with diverse carbohydrate utilization patterns
Environmental Microbiology, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 1527-1540Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.15362
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Microbiota-directed food formulation
Food Science & Technology, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 26-27Contributions to Journals: ArticlesRelative abundance of the Prevotella genus within the human gut microbiota of elderly volunteers determines the inter-individual responses to dietary supplementation with wheat bran arabinoxylan-oligosaccharides
BioMed Central Microbiology, vol. 20, 283Contributions to Journals: ArticlesPivotal roles for pH, lactate and lactate-utilizing bacteria in the stability of a human colonic microbial ecosystem
mSystems, vol. 5, no. 5, e00645-20Contributions to Journals: ArticlesComparative genetic and physiological characterisation of Pectinatus species reveals shared tolerance to beer-associated stressors but halotolerance specific to pickle-associated strains
Food Microbiology, vol. 90, 103462Contributions to Journals: ArticlesVitamin biosynthesis by human gut butyrate-producing bacteria and cross-feeding in synthetic microbial communities
mBio, vol. 11, no. 4, e00886-20Contributions to Journals: ArticlesAnalysis of 1321 Eubacterium rectale genomes from metagenomes uncovers complex phylogeographic population structure and subspecies functional adaptations
Genome Biology, vol. 21, 138Contributions to Journals: ArticlesEvaluation of bacterial biomarkers to aid in challenging inflammatory bowel diseases diagnostics and subtype classification
World Journal of Gastrointestinal Pathophysiology, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 64-77Contributions to Journals: ArticlesSapogenol is a major microbial metabolite in human plasma associated with high protein soy-based diets: the relevance for functional food formulations
Foods, vol. 9, no. 4, 422Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9040422
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/13964/1/Neascu_etal_foods_Sapagenol_VOR.pdf
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Flintibacter
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Entries for Encyclopedias and Dictionaries- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118960608.gbm01734
Impact of carbohydrate substrate complexity on the diversity of the human colonic microbiota
FEMS Microbiology Ecology, vol. 95, no. 1, fiy201Contributions to Journals: ArticlesFormate cross-feeding and cooperative metabolic interactions revealed by transcriptomics in co-cultures of acetogenic and amylolytic human colonic bacteria
Environmental Microbiology, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 259-271Contributions to Journals: ArticlesAlterations in the abundance and co-occurrence of Akkermansia muciniphila and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii in the colonic mucosa of inflammatory bowel disease subjects
Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology, vol. 8, 281Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2018.00281
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/11057/1/fcimb_08_00281.pdf
Mutual Interaction of Phenolic Compounds and Microbiota: Metabolism of Complex Phenolic Apigenin-C- and Kaempferol-O-Derivatives by Human Fecal Samples
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, vol. 66, no. 2, pp. 485–497Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.7b04842
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/11639/1/jf_2017_04842u.R1.pdf
Sporulation capability and amylosome conservation among diverse human colonic and rumen isolates of the keystone starch-degrader Ruminococcus bromii
Environmental Microbiology, vol. 20, pp. 324-336Contributions to Journals: ArticlesSpecific substrate-driven changes in human faecal microbiota composition contrast with functional redundancy in short-chain fatty acid production
The ISME Journal, vol. 12, pp. 610-622Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] http://rdcu.be/z7fV
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2017.196
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/10532/1/Reichardt_et_al_ISME_J_2017.pdf
Prebiotic potential of pectin and pectic oligosaccharides to promote anti-inflammatory commensal bacteria in the human colon
FEMS Microbiology Ecology, vol. 93, no. 11, pp. 1-9Contributions to Journals: ArticlesCirculating and Tissue-resident CD4+ T Cells With Reactivity to Intestinal Microbiota Are Abundant in Healthy Individuals and Function is Altered During Inflammation
Gastroenterology, vol. 153, no. 5, pp. 1320-1337Contributions to Journals: ArticlesChlorogenic acid versus amaranth's caffeoylisocitric acid – Gut microbial degradation of caffeic acid derivatives
Food Research International, vol. 100, no. 3, pp. 375-384Contributions to Journals: ArticlesDiscovery of a novel lantibiotic nisin O from Blautia obeum A2-162, isolated from the human 2 gastrointestinal tract
Microbiology , vol. 163, no. 9, pp. 1292-1305Contributions to Journals: ArticlesThe impact of nutrition on intestinal bacterial communities
Current Opinion in Microbiology, vol. 38, pp. 59-65Contributions to Journals: Literature Reviews- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mib.2017.04.005
Faecalibacterium prausnitzii: from microbiology to diagnostics and prognostics
The ISME Journal, vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 841-852Contributions to Journals: ArticlesAvailability and dose response of phytophenols from a wheat bran-rich cereal product in healthy human volunteers
Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, vol. 61, no. 3, pp. 1-15Contributions to Journals: ArticlesLysozyme activity of the Ruminococcus champanellensis cellulosome
Environmental Microbiology, vol. 18, no. 12, pp. 5112–5122Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.13501
Oral treatment with Eubacterium hallii improves insulin sensitivity in db/db mice
NPJ biofilms and microbiomes, vol. 2, 16009Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/npjbiofilms.2016.9
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/9079/1/npjbiofilms20169.pdf
Wheat bran promotes enrichment within the human colonic microbiota of butyrate-producing bacteria that release ferulic acid
Environmental Microbiology, vol. 18, no. 7, pp. 2214-2225Contributions 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
Polysaccharide utilization loci and nutritional specialization in a dominant group of butyrate-producing human colonic Firmicutes
Microbial Genomics, vol. 2, no. 2, 43Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.000043
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/5930/1/mgen000043.pdf
- [ONLINE] Eubacterium rectale T1-815 genome (2015); CVRQ01000 001–CVRQ01000090:
- [ONLINE] Roseburia faecis M72/1 genome (2015); CVRR01000001– CVRR01000101:
- [ONLINE] Roseburia inulinivorans L1-83 genome (2015); CVRS010 00001–CVRS01000151:
Enzymatic profiling of cellulosomal enzymes from the human gut bacterium, Ruminococcus champanellensis, reveals a fine-tuned system for cohesin-dockerin recognition
Environmental Microbiology, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 542-556Contributions to Journals: ArticlesModulation of the human gut microbiota by dietary fibres occurs at the species level
BMC Biology, vol. 14, 3Contributions to Journals: ArticlesChanges in the Abundance of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii Phylogroups I and II in the Intestinal Mucosa of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Patients with Colorectal Cancer
Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 28-41Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/MIB.0000000000000590