Dr. Melissa Cid

CV

2017-present NSERC postdoctoral fellow

2016-present Post-doc, Max-Plank Institute, MARUM, Germany

2010-2015 Ph.D. in Microbiology, University of Victoria, Canada

2005-2008 Master in Biotechnology, Louis Pasteur University, France

Postdoc Project

Glycan utilization is a key evolutionary driver of the gut microbiota. To thrive in the competitive gut environment, expanding catabolism capacity by targeting novel dietary complex glycans is a survival strategy adopted by certain gut microbes. I am interested in how these systems evolve in response to new carbohydrate sources from new dietary changes and their impact on human health. To address these questions, I use a combination of structural, biochemical and microbiological techniques as well as proteomics and high-resolution fluorescence microscopy.

Research interest

Glycan degradation by microbes

Gut microbiota

Host/microbe interactions

Structural biology

Publications

2017 - M Robb; JK Hobbs; and AB Boraston. Separation and Visualisation of Glycans by Fluorophore-Assisted Carbohydrate Electrophoresis. Protein-Carbohydrate Interactions: Methods and
Protocols, Springer Protocols. 1588:215-221.

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6899-2_17

2017 - M Robb; JK Hobbs; SA Woodiga; S Shapiro-Ward; MDL Suits; N McGregor; H Brumer; H
Yesilkaya; SJ King; AB Boraston. Molecular characterization of N-glycan degradation and transport in Streptococcus pneumoniae and its contribution to virulence. PLOS Pathogens. 13(1): e1006090.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1006090 

2015 - JK Hobbs, ML Seunghyae, M Robb, F Hof, KT Abe, JH Hehemann, R McLeand, DW Abbott and AB Boraston. KdgF, the missing link in the microbial metabolism of uronate sugars from pectin and alginate. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 113(22):6188-93.

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1524214113

2015 - CS Robb, M Robb, FE Nano and AB Boraston. The structure of the toxin and type six secretion system substrate Tse2 in complex with its immunity protein. Structure. 2126(15)00501-8.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.str.2015.11.012

2015 - M Robb, CS Robb, MA Higgins, JK Hobbs, JC Paton, and AB Boraston. A second β-hexosaminidase encoded in the Streptococcus pneumoniae genome provides an expanded biochemical ability to degrade host glycans. The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 290(52):30888-900.

https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M115.688630

2012 - E Ficko-Blean, CP Stuart, MD Suits, M Cid, M Tessier, RJ Woods and AB Boraston. Carbohydrate recognition by an architecturally complex α-Nacetylglucosaminidase from Clostridium perfringens. Public Library of Science One. 7(3):e33524.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033524

2010 - M Cid, HL Pedersen, S Kaneko, PM Coutinho, B Henrissat, WG Willats and AB Boraston. Recognition of the helical structure of β-1,4- galactan by a new family of carbohydrate-binding modules. The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 285(46):359996009.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033524

2010 - J Jin, M Cid, CB Poole, LA McReynolds. Protein mediated miRNA detection and siRNA enrichment using p19. Biotechniques. 48(6):xvii-xxiii.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033524