Dr Esther Karunakaran
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Senior Lecturer
Bioengineering Year 1-2 Tutor
+44 114 222 7166
Full contact details
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Room G16
Sir Robert Hadfield Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
- Profile
-
I obtained a BSc (Hons) in Microbiology with distinction from Bharathiyar University in India and then went on to get an MSc in Molecular Genetics from the University of Leicester. I moved to the University of Sheffield and obtained a PhD in Chemical and Biological Engineering for investigating the influence of autoinducer-2 based quorum sensing on biofilm formation in Bacillus cereus.
I continued as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering working on two consecutive projects, 1) Bio-flocculation in cyanobacteria and the impact of sodium chloride stress, 2) Engineering biofilms to enhance the hydraulic flow characteristics in pipes.
In May 2017, I took up the position of Lecturer in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. My research interests revolve around the investigation and application of biofilms in bio-processing.
I am the co-director of the Innovate UK funded research facility, SCARAB: Sheffield Collaboratorium for Antimicrobial Resistance and Biofilms.
- Research interests
-
- Biofilms
- Antimicrobial resistance
- Wastewater microbiology
- Synthetic biology in cyanobacteria
- Publications
-
Journal articles
- Phage-based therapy against biofilm producers in gram-negative ESKAPE pathogens. Microbial Pathogenesis, 106064-106064.
- A novel high-throughput ex vivo ovine skin wound model for testing emerging antibiotics. Journal of Visualized Experiments(187).
- Editorial : biofilm-mediated nosocomial infections and its association with antimicrobial resistance : detection, prevention, and management. Frontiers in Medicine, 9.
- Absence of KpsM (Slr0977) impairs the secretion of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and impacts carbon fluxes in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. mSphere, 6(1).
- The influence of biofilms on carbapenem susceptibility and patient outcome in device associated K. pneumoniae infections : insights Into phenotype vs genome-wide analysis and correlation. Frontiers in Microbiology, 11. View this article in WRRO
- Influence of phosphate dosing on biofilms development on lead in chlorinated drinking water bioreactors. npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, 6(1). View this article in WRRO
- Adapting the algal microbiome for growth on domestic landfill leachate. Bioresource Technology, 319. View this article in WRRO
- Influence of phosphate dosing on biofilm development on Drinking Water Distribution Systems infrastructure surfaces. Access Microbiology, 2(7A).
- Establishing a porcine ex vivo cornea model for studying drug treatments against bacterial keratitis. Journal of Visualized Experiments. View this article in WRRO
- Metabolic insights into infochemicals induced colony formation and flocculation in scenedesmus subspicatus unraveled by quantitative proteomics. Frontiers in Microbiology, 11. View this article in WRRO
- Characterization of ocular clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from non-contact lens related keratitis patients from south India. Microorganisms, 8(2). View this article in WRRO
- Publisher Correction: Deciphering the unique cellulose degradation mechanism of the ruminal bacterium Fibrobacter succinogenes S85. Scientific Reports, 9(1).
- Deciphering the unique cellulose degradation mechanism of the ruminal bacterium Fibrobacter succinogenes S85. Scientific Reports, 9(1). View this article in WRRO
- The alternative sigma factor SigF is a key player in the control of secretion mechanisms in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803.. Environmental Microbiology. View this article in WRRO
- The importance of sewer biofilms. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, 3(4), 487-494. View this article in WRRO
- Enumeration of sulphate-reducing bacteria for assessing potential for hydrogen sulphide production in urban drainage systems. Water Science and Technology, 73(12), 3087-3094. View this article in WRRO
- Physicochemical analysis of initial adhesion and biofilm formation of Methanosarcina barkeri on polymer support material. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, 143, 518-525. View this article in WRRO
- Influence of Substrates on the Surface Characteristics and Membrane Proteome of Fibrobacter succinogenes S85. PLoS ONE, 10(10). View this article in WRRO
- Development of wastewater treatment system based on cascade dielectric barrier discharge plasma atomizers. Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A, 50(12), 1249-1258.
- Biodesalination: an emerging technology for targeted removal of Na+and Cl−from seawater by cyanobacteria. Desalination and Water Treatment, 55(10), 2647-2668.
- ’Biodesalination’: a synthetic biology approach for the use of photosynthetic bacteria in water treatment. New Biotechnology, 31, S140-S141.
- Biodesalination: a case study for applications of photosynthetic bacteria in water treatment.. Plant Physiol, 164(4), 1661-1676.
- Harvesting and dewatering yeast by microflotation. Biochemical Engineering Journal, 82, 174-182.
- Influence of fermentation conditions on the surface properties and adhesion of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG.. Microb Cell Fact, 11, 116. View this article in WRRO
- An insight into iTRAQ: where do we stand now?. Anal Bioanal Chem, 404(4), 1011-1027.
- Using a multi-faceted approach to determine the changes in bacterial cell surface properties influenced by a biofilm lifestyle.. Biofouling, 28(1), 1-14.
- Macromolecular Fingerprinting of Sulfolobus Species in Biofilm: A Transcriptomic and Proteomic Approach Combined with Spectroscopic Analysis. J PROTEOME RES, 10(9), 4105-4119. View this article in WRRO
- "Biofilmology": a multidisciplinary review of the study of microbial biofilms.. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 90(6), 1869-1881.
- Mechanisms of Bacillus cereus biofilm formation: an investigation of the physicochemical characteristics of cell surfaces and extracellular proteins.. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 89(4), 1161-1175.
- Label-free Quantitative Proteomics and Substrate Based Mass Spectrometry Imaging of Xenobiotic Metabolizing Enzymes in ex Vivo Human Skin and a Human Living Skin Equivalent Model. Drug Metabolism and Disposition.
- Designing synthetic bacterial consortia for landfill leachate treatment based on community matrices and regression tree analysis.
- Corneal Infection Models: Tools to Investigate the Role of Biofilms in Bacterial Keratitis. Cells, 9(11), 2450-2450.
Preprints
- Design of an effective sgRNA for CRISPR/Cas9 knock-ins in polyploidSynechocystis sp. PCC 6803, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- Re-sensitising XDR biofilms using a combination of bacteriophage cocktails and colistin: a natural approach, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- The influence of biofilm formation on carbapenem resistance in clinical Klebsiella pneumoniae infections: phenotype vs genome-wide analysis.