James Hodgkinson-Bean
Institute for cellular and molecular medicine
Taylor lab
I started my academic journey in my home country of Australia studying at the University of Adelaide, graduating my bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and genetics in 2018. I then commenced and graduated from my honors degree in 2019 which was focused on x-ray crystallographic studies of pathogenic bacterial proteins. Between 2020 and 2022 I worked in diagnostic virology at SA Pathology, South Australia, where I was mainly involved in qPCR-based pathogen detection during the covid pandemic. In 2022 I moved to New Zealand to commence my PhD focused on bacteriophage virion structure and Cryo-EM. I completed this degree in 2025, after which I emigrated to Copenhagen Denmark to start my current position as a post-doctoral researcher in the Taylor laboratory, Copenhagen University. The Taylor lab is focused on the use of cutting-edge microscopy and computational techniques to study protein design and molecular machines. My particular focus is on bacteriophages that use flagella as a primarily receptor (flagellotropic bacteriophages). I hope to integrate computational techniques, advanced electron microscopy techniques, and functional assays to dissect the poorly understood mechanisms of flagella adsorption and translocation.
Affiliations: (1). University of Copenhagen (Denmark)
Bacteriophages of the class Caudoviricetes infect bacterial hosts through deployment of specialized tail machinery capable of adsorption and penetration of host bacterial cell walls. The mechanism of adsorption and penetration has been studied extensively using model Enterobacteriaceae phages such as T4, T7, P22, P1 and λ. These model phages primarily adsorb initially to the bacterial cell wall, binding to LPS or a protein-based surface receptor. While highly informative, these studies largely neglect flagellotropic bacteriophages. Flagellotropic bacteriophages adsorb initially to bacterial flagella, followed by translocation and re-adsorption to the host cell wall. To date, much remains unknown regarding these flagellotropic processes. We decided to investigate this process using a known flagellotropic bacteriophage. We used cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) single particle analysis to investigate the structure of the flagellotropic virion, with a focus on flagella binding fibers in the context of the pre-contraction baseplate. Due to the unique conformation of the fiber, we were able to reconstruct most fiber regions to near atomic resolution (2.9-3.5 Å). Using these reconstructions, we were able to identify flagella binding proteins and analyze their structure. Considered with negative stain data and previous literature, these structures allow us to put forth a hypothetical model regarding flagella adsorption and translocation.