Heterologous expression and characterization of novel secondary metabolite pathways
I am a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute for Microbiological Biotechnology and Metagenomics (IMBM). I am involved in the project focusing on the identification and characterization of the biosynthetic gene clusters responsible for antimicrobial activities produced by bioactive bacteria isolated from the marine sponges endemic to South Africa. I am involved in the mutagenesis and expression of pathways and structures associated with the production of novel bioactive chemical entities with treatment qualities. I have a BSc Biochemistry and Microbiology, BSc (Honours) Microbiology from University of Zululand (UZ); MSc and PhD Biotechnology from the University of the Western Cape (UWC). I spent seven years at the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) studying plant-pathogen interactions between Xylophilus ampelinus and grapevine plants.