Dr Paul Meyers

Paul Meyers graduated from the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 1987 with a B.Sc, in Microbiology and Chemistry. He went on to do Honours in Microbiology in 1988 at UCT and then undertook a Ph.D. on cyanide degradation by Bacillus pumilus, graduating from UCT in 1993. In 1994 he took a postdoctoral position at Monash University, Melbourne (Australia), where he worked on phosphate removal from wastewater by Acinetobacter strains. He returned to Cape Town to take up a position as a postdoctoral fellow and honorary lecturer in the Department of Medical Microbiology at UCT at the beginning of 1996, working on Mycobacterium tuberculosis. He was appointed as a Lecturer in the Department of Microbiology in March 1999. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Molecular & Cell Biology

RESEARCH

We are investigating the diversity of South African actinobacteria as a source of novel antimycobacterial molecules (i.e. bioprospecting for new antibiotics). We are also investigating the diversity of actinobacterial endophytes of indigenous plants. Most of our work is on actinobacterial biodiversity and taxonomy rather than novel antimycobacterial molecules.

We are investigating new DNA sequence-based tools to improve actinobacterial taxonomy. These efforts include the identification of amino-acid signatures and indels (amino acid insertions and deletions) in essential cellular proteins (e.g. GyrB). These sequence tools should help to speed up the process of identifying environmental strains that belong to new actinobacterial species. This is important, as new species (biodiversity) provide access to new secondary metabolites (chemical diversity, such as new antibiotics).

Particular interests at present are the taxonomy and biology of the genus Kribbella (family Kribbellaceae, order Propionibacteriales) and the taxonomy and biology of the genera Planobispora, Planomonospora and Streptosporangium in the family Streptosporangiaceae (order Streptosporangiales).

 

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Robertson, C. F. M. and Meyers, P. R. (2022) Oxalate utilisation is widespread in the actinobacterial genus Kribbella. Systematic and Applied Microbiology; 45: 126373.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.syapm.2022.126373

Meyers, P. R. (2021) Kribbellaceae. Bergey’s Manual of Systematics of Archaea and Bacteria. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New Jersey, United States of America.

https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118960608.fbm00400

Meyers, P. R. (2021) Kribbella. Bergey’s Manual of Systematics of Archaea and Bacteria. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New Jersey, United States of America.

https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118960608.gbm00157.pub2

Curtis, S. M., Norton, I., Everest, G. J., Pelser, J. G., De Kock, M. C. and Meyers, P. R. (2020) Development of a Kribbella-specific isolation medium and description of Kribbella capetownensis sp. nov. and Kribbella speibonae sp. nov., isolated from soil. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek; 113: 617-628.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-019-01365-6

Acquah, K. S., Beukes, D. R., Warner, D. F., Meyers, P. R., Sunassee, S. N., Maglangit, F., Deng, H., Jaspars, M. and Gammon, D. W. (2020) Novel South African rare actinomycete Kribbella speibonae strain SK5: a prolific producer of hydroxamate siderophores including new dehydroxylated congeners. Molecules; 25: 2979.

https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25132979

Curtis, S. M., Norton, I., Everest, G. J. and Meyers, P. R. (2018) Kribbella podocarpi sp. nov., isolated from the leaves of a yellowwood tree (Podocarpus latifolius). Antonie van Leeuwenhoek; 111: 875-882.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-017-0984-6

Meyers, P. R. (2017) Molecular-signature analyses support the establishment of the actinobacterial genus Sphaerimonospora (Mingma et al. 2016). Systematic and Applied Microbiology; 40: 423-429.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.syapm.2017.07.009

Rohland, J. and Meyers, P. R. (2015) Streptomyces fractus sp. nov., a novel streptomycete isolated from the gut of a South African termite. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek; 107: 1127-1134.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-015-0404-8

Everest, G. J., Curtis, S. M., De Leo, F., Urzì, C. and Meyers, P. R. (2015) Description of Kribbella italica sp. nov., isolated from a Roman catacomb. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology; 65: 491-496.

https://doi.org/10.1099/ijs.0.070672-0

Meyers, P. R. (2015) Analysis of recombinase A (recA/RecA) in the actinobacterial family Streptosporangiaceae and identification of molecular signatures. Systematic and Applied Microbiology; 38: 567-577.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.syapm.2015.10.001

Meyers, P. R. (2014) Gyrase subunit B amino acid signatures for the actinobacterial family Streptosporangiaceae. Systematic and Applied Microbiology; 37: 252-260.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.syapm.2013.12.002

Everest, G. J., Curtis, S. M., De Leo, F., Urzì, C. and Meyers, P. R. (2013) Kribbella albertanoniae sp. nov., isolated from a Roman catacomb, and emended description of the genus Kribbella. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology; 63: 3591-3596.

https://doi.org/10.1099/ijs.0.050237-0

Curtis, S. M. and Meyers, P. R. (2012) Multilocus sequence analysis of the actinobacterial genus Kribbella. Systematic and Applied Microbiology; 35: 441-446.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.syapm.2012.08.001

Kirby, B. M., Everest, G. J. and Meyers, P. R. (2010) Phylogenetic analysis of the genus Kribbella based on the gyrB gene: proposal of a gyrB-sequence threshold for species delineation in the genus Kribbella. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek; 97: 131-142.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-009-9393-9

Everest, G. J. and Meyers, P. R. (2009). The use of gyrB sequence analysis in the phylogeny of the genus Amycolatopsis. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek; 95: 1-11.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-008-9280-9