Luis A. J. Mur

Luis A. J. Mur
Aberystwyth University | AU · Department of Life Science

PhD

About

362
Publications
85,156
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Introduction
https://www.clinicalhubaberystwyth.com/ Luis A. J. Mur currently works at the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University. Luis does research in Pathology in various Kingdoms and Respiratory Disease in Humans. Luis' interests extend to screening for novel antimicrobial agents
Additional affiliations
September 1998 - present
Aberystwyth University
Position
  • Professor (Full)
November 1991 - September 1998
University of Leicester
Position
  • Research Associate

Publications

Publications (362)
Preprint
Full-text available
Tef (Eragrostis tef) is an indigenous African cereal that is gaining global attention as a gluten-free superfood with high protein, mineral, and fibre contents. However, tef yields are limited by lodging and by losses during harvest owing its small grain size (150x lighter than wheat). Breeders must also consider a strong cultural preference for wh...
Article
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Pearl millet is a major source of daily protein intake in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Despite considerable importance, the extent of variation in protein and amino acids in pearl millet global germplasm is unknown. The present study assessed 165 genotypes from within the Pearl Millet Inbred Germplasm Association Panel (PMi-GAP), that include...
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The utilization of metabolomics approaches to explore the metabolic mechanisms underlying plant fitness and adaptation to dynamic environments is growing, highlighting the need for an efficient and user‐friendly toolkit tailored for analyzing the extensive datasets generated by metabolomics studies. Current protocols for metabolome data analysis of...
Article
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Brachypodium stacei is the most ancestral lineage in the genus Brachypodium , a model system for grass functional genomics. B. stacei shows striking and sometimes contradictory biological and evolutionary features, including a high selfing rate yet extensive admixture, an ancient Miocene origin yet with recent evolutionary radiation, and adaptation...
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To decipher the molecular bases governing seed germination, this study presents the pivotal role of the cap-binding complex (CBC), comprising CBP20 and CBP80, in modulating the inhibitory effects of abscisic acid (ABA) in barley. Using both single and double barley mutants in genes encoding the CBC, we revealed that the double mutant hvcbp20.ab/hvc...
Preprint
Full-text available
Antimicrobial resistance remains a global challenge threatening the ability to control diseases caused by bacterial infections. Here, we explored the antimicrobial activity of 2,3-N,N-diphenyl quinoxaline derivatives against representative Gram-positive, Gram-negative and Mycobacterium species. Two quinoxaline derivatives (compounds 25 and 31 ) dem...
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The establishment of symbiotic interactions between leguminous plants and rhizobia requires complex cellular programming activated by Rhizobium Nod factors (NFs) as well as type III effector (T3E)-mediated symbiotic signaling. However, the mechanisms by which different signals jointly affect symbiosis are still unclear. Here we describe the mechani...
Article
Alterations in water regimes or nitrogen (N) availability lead to shifts in the assemblage of rhizosphere microbial community; however, how the rhizosphere microbiome response to concurrent changes in water and N availability remains largely unclear. Herein, we investigated the taxonomic and functional characteristics of rhizo-bacteria associated w...
Article
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Introduction Tan Spot (TS) disease of wheat is caused by Pyrenophora tritici-repentis (Ptr), where most of the yield loss is linked to diseased flag leaves. As there are no fully resistant cultivars available, elucidating the responses of wheat to Ptr could inform the derivation of new resistant genotypes. Objectives The study aimed to characteris...
Article
Stroke is one of the leading causes of adult disability affecting millions of people worldwide. Post‐stroke cognitive and motor impairments diminish quality of life and functional independence. There is an increased risk of having a second stroke and developing secondary conditions with long‐term social and economic impacts. With increasing number...
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Lung tumors frequently metastasize to the brain. Brain metastasis (BM) is common in advanced cases, and a major cause of patient morbidity and mortality. The precise molecular mechanisms governing BM are still unclear, in part attributed to the rarity of BM specimens. In this work, we compile a unique transcriptomic dataset encompassing RNA-seq, mi...
Preprint
Sphenostylis stenocarpa, commonly known as African yam bean (AYB), is an orphan crop with high nutritional properties but low yield production due to diseases. Hence, this study accessed the diversity and pathogenicity of fungi associated with AYB in Southwest (SW) Nigeria as a model area of cultivation. The incidence of fungi infecting AYB were su...
Preprint
Full-text available
Background Bovine tuberculosis (bTB), caused by Mycobacterium bovis, is the most significant infectious disease of UK cattle. Badgers (Meles meles) can also be infected by M. bovis and act as a source of infection for cattle. Management of infection risks could be supported by the availability of sensitive blood tests for bTB in badgers. Therefore,...
Article
Glaciers host ecosystems comprised of biodiverse and active microbiota. Among glacial ecosystems, less is known about the ecology of ice caps since most studies focus on valley glaciers or ice sheet margins. Previously we detailed the microbiota of one such high Arctic ice cap, focusing on cryoconite as a microbe-mineral aggregate formed by cyanoba...
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Main conclusion Salinity induced metabolite responses resulted in differential accumulation of flavonoids and antioxidant metabolites in shoots and roots suggesting improved antioxidant capacity in providing salt-adaptive phenotype of tef seedling. Abstract Tef [(Eragrostis tef) (Zucc.) Trotter] is an important ‘cash crop’ of Ethiopia grown mainly...
Article
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PurposeThe influence of vitamin D status on exercise-induced immune dysfunction remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of vitamin D status (circulating 25(OH)D) on innate immune responses and metabolomic profiles to prolonged exercise.Methods Twenty three healthy, recreationally active males (age 25 ± 7 years; maximal...
Preprint
Full-text available
Grain filling in cereals is complex process that determines the final grain yield and quality. Abiotic stresses can have major impact on grain filling. Oats ( Avena sativa L.) is sensitive to drought which adversely affect yield and productivity. In this study, we characterised the grain filling responses of two Mediterranean oat cultivars Flega an...
Preprint
Full-text available
Introduction Tan Spot disease of wheat is caused by Pyrenophora tritici-repentis (Ptr), and most of the yield loss is attributed to diseased flag leaves. Few sources of Ptr-resistant germplasm have been established so the responses of wheat to Ptr require further elucidation. Objectives The study aimed to characterise the flag-leaf metabolomes of...
Article
Full-text available
Introduction Pearl millet is a staple cereal grown in the harshest environments of arid and semi-arid regions of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. It is the primary source of calories for millions of people in these regions because it has better adaptation to harsh environmental conditions and better nutritional traits than many other cereals. By screen...
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Understanding the impact of long-term physiological and environmental stress on the human microbiota and metabolome may be important for the success of space flight. This work is logistically difficult and has a limited number of available participants. Terrestrial analogies present important opportunities to understand changes in the microbiota an...
Conference Paper
Introduction and Objectives Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is third most common cause of death worldwide with 3.2 million deaths in 2019. Metabolomics can reveal 1000s of biochemical changes and could help understand the inflammation and remodelling seen in the airways in COPD. We conducted a metabolomic assessment of different liquid...
Article
Locoweeds are leguminous forbs known for their toxicity to livestock caused by the endophytic fungi Alternaria sect. Undifilum. Unlike the defensive mutualism reported in many toxin producing endophytes and their plant hosts, the benefits that A. sect. Undifilum can confer to it host plants has been unclear. Here we conducted physiological and gene...
Article
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Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used to treat infectious diseases and could offer potential drug leads. This study evaluates the in vitro antimicrobial activities from commercially sourced Dryopteris crassirhizoma Nakai (Polypodiaceae) whose authenticity was confirmed by DNA barcoding based on the ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase (rbcL...
Article
Full-text available
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...
Article
Full-text available
The halophyte Karelinia caspia has not only fodder and medical value but also can remediate saline-alkali soils. Our previous study showed that salt-secreting by salt glands is one of main adaptive strategies of K. caspia under high salinity. However, ROS scavenging, ion homeostasis, and photosynthetic characteristics responses to high salinity rem...
Article
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Genotype × environment interactions (GEIs) should play an important role in the selection of suitable germplasm in breeding programmes. We here assessed GEI effects on pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) genotypes, selected to possess a high concentration of slowly digestible starch (SDS) and resistant starch (RS) in their grains. Entries were gro...
Article
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Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) is the causative organism of Johne’s disease, a chronic granulomatous enteritis of ruminants. We have previously used naturally MAP-infected heifer calves to document metabolomic changes occurring in MAP infections. Herein, we used experimentally MAP-inoculated heifer calves to identify biomarke...
Article
Full-text available
Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) is the causative organism of Johne's Disease, a chronic intestinal infection of ruminants. Infected cows begin shedding MAP within the asymptomatic, subclinical stage of infection before clinical signs, such as weight loss, diarrhoea and reduced milk yields develop within the clinical stages of...
Article
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Microbiomes are rife for biotechnological exploitation, particularly the rumen microbiome, due to their complexicity and diversity. In this study, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) from the rumen microbiome (Lynronne 1, 2, 3 and P15s) were assessed for their therapeutic potential against seven clinical strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa . All AMPs exhib...
Article
Abstract Locoweeds are perennial forbs poisonous to livestock and cause extreme losses to animal husbandry. Locoweed toxicity is attributed to the symbiotic endophytes in Alternaria sect. Undifilum, which produce a mycotoxin swainsonine (SW). We performed a de novo whole genome sequencing of the most common locoweed in China, Oxytropis ochrocephala...
Article
Background and Objective Recent studies have shown that colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with microsatellite instability high (MSI-H) are more likely to benefit from immunotherapy. However, current MSI testing methods are not available for all patients due to the lack of available equipment and trained personnel, as well as the high cost of the ass...
Article
Full-text available
Introduction Mycobacterium bovis, the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle, represents a major disease burden to UK cattle farming, with considerable costs associated with its control. The European badger (Meles meles) is a known wildlife reservoir for bTB and better knowledge of the epidemiology of bTB through testing wildlife is...
Article
Full-text available
The use of exogenous compounds such as ‘gasotransmitter’ molecules is a well-established agronomic strategy to improve the crop tolerance to environmental stresses. In this current work, when Cr (200 µM) was combined with the nitric oxide (NO) generator sodium nitroprusside SNP, 500 µM) there was a suppression of metal-induced alterations in embryo...
Article
Full-text available
Salicylic acid (SA) is a key phytohormone regulating plant immunity. Although the transcriptional regulation of SA biosynthesis has been well‐studied, its post‐translational regulation is largely unknown. We report that a Kelch repeats‐containing F‐box (KFB) protein, SMALL AND GLOSSY LEAVES 1 (SAGL1), negatively influences SA biosynthesis in Arabid...
Article
Full-text available
It has been 20 years since Brachypodium distachyon was suggested as a model grass species, but ongoing research now encompasses the entire genus. Extensive Brachypodium genome sequencing programmes have provided resources to explore the determinants and drivers of population diversity. This has been accompanied by cytomolecular studies to make Brac...
Preprint
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been used to treat infectious diseases and could offer potential drug leads. This study evaluates the in vitro antimicrobial activities commercially sourced Dryopteris crassirhizoma Nakai whose authenticity was confirmed by DNA barcoding based on the ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase ( rbcL ) gene. Powdered rh...
Article
Full-text available
Introduction The European badger ( Meles meles ) is a known wildlife reservoir for bovine tuberculosis (bTB) and a better understanding of the epidemiology of bTB in this wildlife species is required for disease control in both wild and farmed animals. Flow infusion electrospray—high-resolution mass spectrometry (FIE-HRMS) may potentially identify...
Article
Full-text available
After birth, as effectively monogastric animals, calves undergo substantial physiological changes to become ruminants by 3 months of age and reach sexual maturity at approximately 15 months of age. Herein, we assess longitudinal metabolomic changes in Holstein-Friesian (HF) heifers from birth until sexual maturity during this developmental process....
Article
Full-text available
Alchornea cordifolia Müll. Arg. (commonly known as Christmas Bush) has been used traditionally in Africa to treat sickle cell anaemia (a recessive disease, arising from the S haemoglobin (Hb) allele), but the active compounds are yet to be identified. Herein, we describe the use of sequential fractionation coupled with in vitro anti-sickling assays...
Article
Full-text available
Mosses of the genus Sphagnum are the main components of peatlands, a major carbon-storing ecosystem. Changes in precipitation patterns are predicted to affect water relations in this ecosystem, but the effect of desiccation on the physiological and molecular processes in Sphagnum are still largely unexplored. Here we show that different Sphagnum sp...
Article
Full-text available
Introduction Paratuberculosis, commonly known as Johne’s disease, is a chronic granulomatous infection of ruminants caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). Clinical signs, including reduced milk yields, weight loss and diarrhoea, are typically absent until 2 to 6 years post exposure. Objectives To identify metabolomic chang...
Article
Drought is a major abiotic stress that limits crop productivity and is driving the need to introduce new tolerant crops with better economic yield. Tef (Eragrostis tef) is a neglected (orphan) Ethiopian warm-season annual gluten-free cereal with high nutritional and health benefits. Further, tef is resilient to environmental challenges such as drou...
Preprint
Full-text available
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...
Article
Full-text available
Pathogenic fungi can lose virulence after protracted periods of culture, but little is known of the underlying mechanisms. Here, we present the first analysis of DNA methylation flux at a single-base resolution for the plant pathogen B. cinerea and identify differentially methylated genes/genomic regions associated with virulence erosion during in...
Article
Full-text available
Tef is a highly nutritious gluten-free Ethiopian cereal with food-feed potential. However, its productivity is affected by lodging, weed infestation, terminal drought, small seed size, and shattering. Following the recent availability of tef genome sequences, we highlight the need to harness the benefits that this underutilised crop offers to impro...
Article
Full-text available
The recretohalophyte Karelinia caspia is of forage and medical value and can remediate saline soils. We here assess the contribution of primary/secondary metabolism to osmotic adjustment and ROS homeostasis in K. caspia under salt stress using multi‐omic approaches. Computerized phenomic assessments, tests for cellular osmotic changes and lipid per...
Article
Full-text available
Oxytropis plants are widely distributed in the grasslands in northern China. Some Oxytropis species have been reported to contain the mycotoxin swainsonine, an alkaloid which causes poisoning in livestock, referred to as locoism. Previous studies showed that endophytic fungi (Alternaria oxytropis) symbiotically associate with these Oxytropis specie...
Article
Les courant recherche visé évaluer les protecteur rôle de nitrique oxyde (NON) contre chrome (Cr) toxicité dans maïs semis. Chrome (200 ??M) abaissé osmotique potentiel en épicotyles et principalement en radicules (par 38% et 63%, respectivement) par rapport à la contrôler. Sodium nitroprussiate (SNP, NON donneur) restauré semis biomasse (+90% pour...
Article
Full-text available
Background: Osteoporosis is a common metabolic skeletal disease and usually lacks obvious symptoms. Many individuals are not diagnosed until osteoporotic fractures occur. Bone mineral density (BMD) measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is the gold standard for osteoporosis detection. However, only a limited percentage of people with o...
Article
Full-text available
Silicon (Si), the second most abundant element in Earth’s crust, exerts beneficial effects on the growth and productivity of a variety of plant species under various environmental conditions. However, the benefits of Si and its importance to plants are controversial due to differences among the species, genotypes, and the environmental conditions....
Preprint
Full-text available
Alchornea cordifolia MÜll. Arg. (commonly known as Christmas Bush) has been used traditionally in Africa to treat sickle cell anaemia (a recessive disease, arising from the S haemoglobin [Hb] allele) but the active compounds are yet to be characterised. Herein we describe the use of sequential fractionation coupled with in vitro anti-sickling assay...
Article
Full-text available
Tef ( Eragrostis tef ), is a gluten-free orphan cereal, crop of nutritional and economical significance. Here we used untargeted metabolomics to survey metabolite variation in 14 diverse tef accessions at 15-days post germination. Tef genotypes were classified into four metabolomic groups where variation was linked to flavones and flavonols. Furthe...
Article
Full-text available
As efforts are made to increase food security, millets are gaining increasing importance due to their excellent nutritional credentials. Among the millets, pearl millet is the predominant species possessing several health benefiting nutritional traits in its grain that are helpful in mitigating chronic illnesses such as type−2 diabetes and obesity....
Conference Paper
Full-text available
We recently applied untargeted metabolomic profiling on the plasma obtained from consecutive attenders referred for conventional Level 3 home-sleep studies with excessive daytime somnolence, comparing 17 OSAHS patients (AHI≥15, Epworth Score 13.5±4.5) with 16 age, gender, and BMI matched sleepy subjects (sleepy snorers (SS)) with negative home poly...
Article
Full-text available
Johne’s disease, caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP), causes weight loss, diarrhoea, and reduced milk yields in clinically infected cattle. Asymptomatic, subclinically infected cattle shed MAP bacteria but are frequently not detected by diagnostic tests. Herein, we compare the metabolite profiles of sera from subclinically i...
Article
Full-text available
Phytophthora capsici is one of the most destructive pathogens causing quick wilt (foot rot) disease in black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) to which no effective resistance has been defined. To better understand the P. nigrum-P. capsici pathosystem, we employed metabolomic approaches based on flow-infusion electrospray-high-resolution mass spectrometry....
Preprint
Please cite this article as: D. Cao, P. Sun, S. Bhowmick, et al., Secondary metabolites of endophytic fungi isolated from Huperzia serrata, Fitoterapia (2018), https://doi. Abstract The natural product Huperzine A isolated from Huperzia serrata is a targeted inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase that has been approved for clinical use in the treatment...