Ozgur Bayram

Biography

2000: BSc in Biology (Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey); 2003: MSc in Molecular Biology (yeast genetics) (Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey); 2007: PhD in Microbiology, Genetics and Biochemistry (Fungal genetics and Secondary metabolism) (Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, Georg-August University, Goettingen, Germany); 2008-2011: Postdoctoral fellow (Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, Georg-August University, Goettingen, Germany); 2012: Docent degree in Biology (Ankara, Turkey); 2012-2014: Project leader and Dozent (Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, Georg-August University, Goettingen, Germany); From 2014: Lecturer in Biology (National University of Ireland Maynooth)

Research Interest

Fungal secondary metabolites (SM), including food contaminating mycotoxins (e.g. aflatoxin, sterigmatocystin, fumonisins), antibiotics (e.g. penicillin, cephalosporin) and many other pharmaceuticals have great impact on human activities on earth. SM genes are mostly clustered in the subtelomeric regions of fungal chromosomes. Many SM gene clusters are silenced by facultative heterochromatin and activated upon environmental signals, including light, pH, temperature, organismic interactions, and nutritional conditions during development of the fungus. Our laboratory focuses on understanding of the molecular control mechanisms of SM production and development in the model system Aspergillus nidulans, aflatoxin production and development in Aspergillus flavus and SM-based virulence factors in opportunistic human pathogen A. fumigatus. Fungal development and SM production is coordinated by the regulatory protein complexes. In this context, we are interested in two questions: (I) How are the gene clusters turned on and off at the epigenetic level by the regulatory proteins? (II) What kind of signals are important for the activation of gene clusters and fungal development? While approaching to these questions, we use genetic, biochemical, cell biological methods, including gene disruption, epitope tagging, overexpression, protein enrichment, protein-protein interactions, time-lapse imaging and confocal imaging.