Dr Robert Fagan
School of Biosciences
Senior Lecturer
r.fagan@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 4182
+44 114 222 4182
Firth Court
Full contact details
Dr Robert Fagan
School of Biosciences
Firth Court
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TN
School of Biosciences
Firth Court
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TN
- Profile
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Career history
- 2018-present: Senior Lecturer, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, UK
- 2013 - 2017: Lecturer, Dept. of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, UK
- 2008 - 2012: Senior Research Associate, Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection, Imperial College London, UK
- 2005 - 2008: Research Associate, Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection, Imperial College London, UK
- 2001 - 2005: PhD, Moyne Institute of Preventive Medicine, Trinity College, University of Dublin, Ireland
- Research interests
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Clostridium difficile is the most common cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. It’s a highly antibiotic resistant pathogen that can cause severe disease following antibiotic-mediated disruption of the protective gut microbiota.
The aim of our research is to understand the molecular basis of interactions between the bacterium and its host. We study the outermost layer of the C. difficile cell envelope, the surface- or S-layer, a 2-dimensional proteinaceous crystal that completely coats the surface of the bacterium.
The S-layer has been implicated in adhesion and induction of innate immunity. Our work combines molecular microbiology and structural biology to study S-layer biogenesis and function.
- Publications
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Show: Featured publications All publications
Featured publications
Journal articles
- Identification of pathways to high-level vancomycin resistance in Clostridioides difficile that incur high fitness costs in key pathogenicity traits. PLOS Biology, 22(8). View this article in WRRO
- Structure and assembly of the S-layer in C. difficile.. Nat Commun, 13(1), 970.
- An RNA-centric global view of Clostridioides difficile reveals broad activity of Hfq in a clinically important gram-positive bacterium. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118(25). View this article in WRRO
- New class of precision antimicrobials redefines role of Clostridium difficile S-layer in virulence and viability. Science Translational Medicine, 9(406). View this article in WRRO
- High-Throughput Analysis of Gene Essentiality and Sporulation in Clostridium difficile. MBIO, 6(2). View this article in WRRO
All publications
Journal articles
- Identification of pathways to high-level vancomycin resistance in Clostridioides difficile that incur high fitness costs in key pathogenicity traits. PLOS Biology, 22(8). View this article in WRRO
- Unraveling Physical Interactions of Clostridioides difficile with Phage and Phage-Derived Proteins Using In Vitro and Whole-Cell Assays, 245-262.
- Clostridioides difficile canonical L,D-transpeptidases catalyse a novel type of peptidoglycan cross-links and are not required for beta-lactam resistance. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 105529-105529.
- An intact S-layer is advantageous to Clostridioides difficile within the host. PLOS Pathogens, 19(6).
- Clostridioides difficile S-Layer Protein A (SlpA) Serves as a General Phage Receptor.. Microbiol Spectr, 11(2), e0389422.
- Pathogenicity and virulence of Clostridioides difficile.. Virulence, 14(1), 2150452.
- Potential Role of the Host-Derived Cell-Wall Binding Domain of Endolysin CD16/50L as a Molecular Anchor in Preservation of Uninfected Clostridioides difficile for New Rounds of Phage Infection.. Microbiol Spectr, 10(2), e0236121.
- Structure and assembly of the S-layer in C. difficile.. Nat Commun, 13(1), 970.
- A cortex-specific penicillin-binding protein contributes to heat resistance in Clostridioides difficile spores. Anaerobe, 70. View this article in WRRO
- An RNA-centric global view of Clostridioides difficile reveals broad activity of Hfq in a clinically important gram-positive bacterium. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118(25). View this article in WRRO
- Spatial organization of Clostridium difficile S-layer biogenesis. Scientific Reports, 10(1). View this article in WRRO
- Architecture and self-assembly of clostridium sporogenes and clostridium botulinum spore surfaces illustrate a general protective strategy across spore formers. mSphere, 5(4). View this article in WRRO
- Applying transposon-directed insertion site sequencing to industrially important, solventogenic species Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum. Access Microbiology, 1(1A).
- Unraveling the role of C. difficile S-layer in infection and disease. Access Microbiology, 1(1A).
- Clostridium difficile: cell surface biogenesis. Access Microbiology, 1(1A).
- Editorial. Anaerobe, 53, 1-1. View this article in WRRO
- Inhibition of Vascular Endothelial Cell Leak Following Escherichia coli Attachment in an Experimental Model of Sepsis. Critical care medicine, 46(8), e805-e810.
- New class of precision antimicrobials redefines role of Clostridium difficile S-layer in virulence and viability. Science Translational Medicine, 9(406). View this article in WRRO
- Characteristics of the Clostridium difficile cell envelope and its importance in therapeutics. Microbial Biotechnology, 10(1), 76-90. View this article in WRRO
- Heat shock increases conjugation efficiency in Clostridium difficile. Anaerobe, 42, 1-5. View this article in WRRO
- Characterization of the spore surface and exosporium proteins of Clostridium sporogenes; implications for Clostridium botulinum group I strains. Food Microbiology, 59, 205-212. View this article in WRRO
- Lighting Up Clostridium Difficile: Reporting Gene Expression Using Fluorescent Lov Domains. Scientific Reports, 6. View this article in WRRO
- Clostridium difficile surface proteins are anchored to the cell wall using CWB2 motifs that recognise the anionic polymer PSII. Molecular Microbiology, 96(3), 596-608. View this article in WRRO
- High-Throughput Analysis of Gene Essentiality and Sporulation in Clostridium difficile. MBIO, 6(2). View this article in WRRO
- Functional genomics reveals that Clostridium difficile Spo0A coordinates sporulation, virulence and metabolism. BMC Genomics, 15(1). View this article in WRRO
- Biogenesis and functions of bacterial S-layers. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 12(3), 211-222. View this article in WRRO
- Snap denaturation reveals dimerization by AraC-like protein Rns. Biochimie, 94(9), 2058-2061. View this article in WRRO
- The Clostridium difficile spo0A gene is a persistence and transmission factor.. Infect Immun, 80(8), 2704-2711. View this article in WRRO
- Novel inhibitors of surface layer processing in Clostridium difficile.. Bioorg Med Chem, 20(2), 614-621.
- Clostridium difficile has two parallel and essential Sec secretion systems.. J Biol Chem, 286(31), 27483-27493. View this article in WRRO
- A proposed nomenclature for cell wall proteins of Clostridium difficile.. J Med Microbiol, 60(Pt 8), 1225-1228.
- The Clostridium difficile cell wall protein CwpV is antigenically variable between strains, but exhibits conserved aggregation-promoting function.. PLoS Pathog, 7(4), e1002024. View this article in WRRO
- Chemical probes of surface layer biogenesis in Clostridium difficile.. ACS Chem Biol, 5(3), 279-285.
- Dissecting the cell surface.. Methods Mol Biol, 646, 117-134.
- A novel genetic switch controls phase variable expression of CwpV, a Clostridium difficile cell wall protein.. Mol Microbiol, 74(3), 541-556. View this article in WRRO
- Structural insights into the molecular organization of the S-layer from Clostridium difficile.. Mol Microbiol, 71(5), 1308-1322.
- The hek outer membrane protein of Escherichia coli strain RS218 binds to proteoglycan and utilizes a single extracellular loop for adherence, invasion, and autoaggregation.. Infect Immun, 76(3), 1135-1142. View this article in WRRO
- A molecular Swiss army knife: OmpA structure, function and expression.. FEMS Microbiol Lett, 273(1), 1-11.
- The Hek outer membrane protein of Escherichia coli is an auto-aggregating adhesin and invasin.. FEMS Microbiol Lett, 269(2), 248-255.
Preprints
- Multiple evolutionary pathways lead to vancomycin resistance in Clostridioides difficile.
- Molecular mechanism of bacteriophage tail contraction- structure of an S-layer-penetrating bacteriophage.
- An intact S-layer is advantageous toClostridioides difficilewithin the host, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- The Clostridioides difficile S-Layer Protein A (SlpA) serves as a general phage receptor, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- Spatial organization of Clostridium difficile S-layer biogenesis. View this article in WRRO
- Structure and assembly of the S-layer determine virulence in C. difficile. View this article in WRRO
- Architecture and self-assembly of theClostridium sporogenes/botulinumspore surface illustrate a general protective strategy across spore formers.
- A cortex-specific PBP contributes to cephalosporin resistance in Clostridium difficile. View this article in WRRO
- Identification of pathways to high-level vancomycin resistance in Clostridioides difficile that incur high fitness costs in key pathogenicity traits. PLOS Biology, 22(8). View this article in WRRO
- Teaching activities
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Level 3 modules
- MBB328 The Organisation of Bacterial Cells (Module Coordinator)
- MBB335 Bacterial Pathogenicity (Module Coordinator)