Jess Friedersdorff

Aberystwyth University | AU · Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences

Here we investigate the faecal microbiome of wild European badgers Meles meles using samples collected at post-mortem as part of the All Wales Badger Found Dead study. This is the first published characterisation of the badger microbiome. We initially undertook a sex-matched age comparison between the adult and cub microbiomes, based on sequencing...

Here we investigate the faecal microbiome of wild European badgers Meles meles using samples collected at post-mortem as part of the All Wales Badger Found Dead study based on sequencing the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. This is the first published characterisation of the badger microbiome. We initially undertook a sex-matched age comparison b...

Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that target bacteria, with the ability to lyse and kill host bacterial cells. Due to this, they have been of some interest as a therapeutic since their discovery in the early 1900s, but with the recent increase in antibiotic resistance, phages have seen a resurgence in attention. Current methods of isolation and...

Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that target bacteria, with the ability to lyse and kill host bacterial cells. Due to this, they have been of some interest as a therapeutic since their discovery in the early 1900s, but with the recent increase in antibiotic resistance, phages have seen a resurgence in attention. Current methods of isolation and...

Although the prokaryotic communities of the rumen microbiome are being uncovered through genome sequencing, little is known about the resident viral populations. Whilst temperate phages can be predicted as integrated prophages when analyzing bacterial and archaeal genomes, the genetics underpinning lytic phages remain poorly characterized. To the f...

Major advances in analytical techniques and genomics have transformed our understanding of rumen microbiology. This understanding is of critical importance to livestock production since rumen function affects nutritional efficiency, emissions from ruminants (such as methane and nitrous oxide) as well as animal health. This collection reviews what w...

The rumen contains a multi-kingdom, commensal microbiome, including protozoa, bacteria, archaea, fungi and viruses, which enables ruminant herbivores to ferment and utilize plant feedstuffs that would be otherwise indigestible. Within the rumen, virus populations are diverse and highly abundant, often out-numbering the microbial populations that th...

Plants have been elements in games throughout history. In an era where “digital pushback” is becoming more common, the impressions that representations of plants in board games have on an audience is not to be overlooked. By acknowledging the importance, beauty and history of the botanic world and its considerable impact on the daily lives of human...

Ruminants depend on the highly diverse microbial community that resides in the rumen, the first and largest chamber of their digestive system, to gain nutrients from their herbivorous diet. The Hyper Ammonia Producers (HAPs) are obligate amino acid fermenting bacteria found in low numbers in this community. This break down of amino acids and peptid...

Poster presented at Microbiology Society Annual Conference in Belfast 2019 in the Environmental and Applied Microbiology Forum. Available here: https://acmi.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/acmi/10.1099/acmi.ac2019.po0530

Abstract: USING HIGH PERFORMANCE COUNTER CURRENT CHROMATOGRAPHY FOR THE SEPARATION, PREPARATION AND PURIFICATION OF BACTERIOPHAGES FROM THE RUMEN MICROBIOME Jessica Friedersdorffa, Alison Kingston-Smitha, Chris Creeveya, David Rookeb,c,*, Colin Brightb, David Westc. a"IBERS" Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth, W...

Antibiotic resistance is an increasingly important environmental pollutant with direct consequences for human health. Identification of environmental sources of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) makes it possible to follow their evolution and prevent their entry into the clinical setting. ARGs have been found in environmental sources exogenous to...