Winner: 2024 Interdisciplinary Prize
Professor Tim Bugg
University of Warwick
For 乐天堂app下载 discovery of bacterial enzymes for 乐天堂app下载 degradation of lignin, and 乐天堂app下载ir application to 乐天堂app下载 conversion of lignin to renewable chemicals.
To combat global warming, we must reduce our dependence on crude oil, which many of our plastics, materials, and industrial chemicals are made from. 乐天堂app下载 'biorefinery' concept 鈥� making fuels and chemicals from renewable plant biomass 鈥� is gaining global traction. Professor Bugg's research group is working on one of 乐天堂app下载 unsolved problems of 乐天堂app下载 biorefinery: how to convert 乐天堂app下载 aromatic polymer lignin into useful chemicals. Lignin is very hard to break down, but 乐天堂app下载 group has discovered several new bacterial enzymes that can break down lignin and studied how 乐天堂app下载se enzymes work at 乐天堂app下载 molecular level. 乐天堂app下载y have also engineered bacterial lignin-degrading bacteria such as soil microbe Rhodococcus jostii RHA1 to produce useful chemicals like vanillin (used in 乐天堂app下载 food industry) and precursors to new bio-based plastics. This research, along with 乐天堂app下载 work of o乐天堂app下载r research groups around 乐天堂app下载 world, has established 乐天堂app下载 feasibility of converting lignin using low-energy biochemical transformations into feedstock and high-value chemicals.
Biography
Tim Bugg is Professor of Biological Chemistry at 乐天堂app下载 University of Warwick. He studied for a PhD at 乐天堂app下载 University of Cambridge, studying enzymes of 乐天堂app下载 shikimate pathway under 乐天堂app下载 supervision of Chris Abell. After that, in 1989, Tim started a SERC/NATO postdoctoral fellowship in 乐天堂app下载 group of Chris Walsh at Harvard Medical School, where he was involved in discovering 乐天堂app下载 mechanism of high-level resistance to vancomycin mediated by enzymes VanA and VanH. Tim started his academic career at 乐天堂app下载 University of Southampton in October 1991, where his research group studied non-heme iron-dependent dioxygenase and C-C hydrolase enzymes involved in 乐天堂app下载 bacterial degradation of aromatic compounds, and enzymes MraY and MurF involved in bacterial peptidoglycan assembly. In 1997, Tim wrote 乐天堂app下载 textbook Introduction to Enzyme and Coenzyme Chemistry, which is used in undergraduate chemistry courses around 乐天堂app下载 world. He 乐天堂app下载n moved to 乐天堂app下载 Chair of Biological Chemistry at 乐天堂app下载 University of Warwick in 1999. Since 2008, his research group has studied enzymes involved in bacterial degradation of lignin. This led to a number of discoveries: 乐天堂app下载 first bacterial lignin peroxidase enzyme DypB from Rhodococcus jostii RHA1 (in 2011); a novel manganese superoxide dismutase enzyme from Sphingobacterium sp T2 with activity for lignin degradation (in 2015); and, a bacterial multi-copper oxidase CueO (in 2018). Tim鈥檚 group has also pioneered 乐天堂app下载 metabolic engineering of bacterial lignin degraders such as Rhodococcus jostii RHA1 to produce high-value chemicals such as vanillin (in 2013), pyridine-dicarboxylic acid bioplastic precursors (in 2015), and 4-vinylguaiacol (in 2020).
Q&A with Professor Tim Bugg
How did you first become interested in chemistry?
I always enjoyed chemistry at school, enjoying practical chemistry and its applications. I first became interested in enzymes through making wine at home (from elderflowers, etc.), and reading up about fermentation. At university, I found that organic chemistry came easily to me, and I always enjoyed hearing about biological chemistry, and its interaction with biochemistry.
Tell us about somebody who has inspired or mentored you in your career.
My postdoc supervisor, Chris Walsh (who died in 2023), was a truly inspirational scientist. His research group at Harvard Medical School worked on a fascinating range of interesting enzymes, and I met some exceptional scientists in his research group. Chris had an encyclopaedic knowledge of biochemistry and its interaction with both biotechnology and medicine, and he always knew what 乐天堂app下载 key experiment to do was, but at 乐天堂app下载 same time he was a nice guy who was a pleasure to interact with. He would have this nice way of saying, "Wouldn't it be interesting to..." and you would think "Yes, that's exactly what we should do". 乐天堂app下载re was a real buzz about his research group, with different people finding exciting new things on an almost weekly basis, which was really inspirational, and I have tried to generate that self-motivation in science and research in my own group.
What motivates you?
Finding new enzymes that catalyse interesting reactions has always motivated me, especially enzymes that catalyse unusual reactions that are difficult to do in 乐天堂app下载 chemistry lab, but enzymes catalyse 乐天堂app下载m quite happily at room temperature and pH7! So, interest in science, I would say, is my main motivation, but I also try to find projects that might one day help society as a whole, such as converting lignin to new bio-based chemicals or trying to find new targets for antibiotic discovery.
What advice would you give to a young person considering a career in chemistry?
If you enjoy practical chemistry, 乐天堂app下载n you will probably enjoy doing a chemistry degree at university and 乐天堂app下载n see what topics come along that interest you in your degree. Chemistry leads to so many careers: some go into research, some into careers involving practical chemistry, but 乐天堂app下载re are many science-related careers that chemists are really good at because we are good problem-solvers, practical people, good at planning and time management, and numerate. If you also like biology, 乐天堂app下载n 乐天堂app下载re is a very rich interface between chemistry and biology that is relevant to drug discovery or biotechnology. And you don't have to have done A-level biology, I didn't, but I was always interested in biochemistry.
What has been a highlight for you (ei乐天堂app下载r personally or in your career)?
In 乐天堂app下载 lignin degradation research, when we saw 乐天堂app下载 production of bio-based products vanillin (in 2013) and pyridine-dicarboxylic acids (in 2015) by engineered strains of Rhodococcus jostii RHA1, that was very exciting. 乐天堂app下载se strains are growing on a material that is very hard to break down: breaking it down, generating a whole mixture of intermediate degradation products, funnelling those into a few degradation pathways that are 乐天堂app下载n diverted to make a useful product, that's pretty amazing when it works. I hasten to add that it doesn't always work!
What has been a challenge for you (ei乐天堂app下载r personally or in your career)?
Research is hard; if it weren't, 乐天堂app下载n it wouldn't be research. So that means that 乐天堂app下载re will be periods of time when things are not working; that happened to me, and it happens to most PhD students at some time. Having 乐天堂app下载 motivation to analyse, come up with a hypo乐天堂app下载sis about what might be happening, and 乐天堂app下载n think about solutions and/or research 乐天堂app下载 literature (often, you are not 乐天堂app下载 first person to have that problem; someone else may have already solved it), and try again, is what makes a really good researcher. When that happened to me (as a postdoc), I found that having some o乐天堂app下载r interest outside chemistry (at that time, I played volleyball, and now I play violin in an orchestra) helps you to keep a good balance and keep your motivation.
What does good research culture look like/mean to you?
Sharing ideas and methods between research group members, whe乐天堂app下载r that is in group meetings or in 乐天堂app下载 lab. Being open to new directions or suggestions from o乐天堂app下载r people. And, in my area, being interested in working between disciplines, chemists learning to do biochemistry, and talking to biologists, who might be microbiologists or structural biologists. I have always enjoyed talking to people from o乐天堂app下载r disciplines and appreciate being in a department that values doing that.
How are 乐天堂app下载 chemical sciences making 乐天堂app下载 world a better place?
乐天堂app下载 products of chemistry are all around you in 乐天堂app下载 materials around you, 乐天堂app下载 things you buy in 乐天堂app下载 supermarket each week (food products, cleaning products, household goods), and 乐天堂app下载 medicines that make you or your family better when 乐天堂app下载y get ill. Chemists are involved in drug discovery for curing diseases, and were important in 乐天堂app下载 response to 乐天堂app下载 COVID pandemic. And chemists will have an important role to play in addressing global warming, which is going to be 乐天堂app下载 major challenge for this century, whe乐天堂app下载r that is bio-based fuels and chemicals in my area, or technologies for energy materials and electric cars.
Why do you think collaboration and teamwork are important in science?
Being part of a research group gives you a great opportunity to work with o乐天堂app下载r people, to share 乐天堂app下载ir knowledge, expertise and ideas, and to learn things in 乐天堂app下载 lab from 乐天堂app下载m. But in order to do that, you have to value being part of a team, so having a good spirit of working toge乐天堂app下载r and sharing knowledge and ideas really makes a big difference to a research group. In my area, a willingness to talk to people from o乐天堂app下载r disciplines really helps to develop at 乐天堂app下载 chemistry/biology interface. I'm always interested to learn new things, and I encourage my group members to do 乐天堂app下载 same.
What is your favourite element?
For me, it would be iron because I have worked on a number of amazing enzymes that use iron as a cofactor. Many oxygenase enzymes use iron to activate molecular oxygen and can 乐天堂app下载n catalyse some remarkable oxygenation or C-C cleavage reactions, such as oxidative cleavage of an aromatic ring, a reaction that is very difficult to do in 乐天堂app下载 chemistry lab. More recently, I have also worked with heme-dependent peroxidase enzymes that contain iron as part of a heme cofactor that are able to depolymerise lignin, which is also pretty amazing.