My research team use multidisciplinary and cutting-edge techniques to study how and why microorganisms produce and degrade abundant organosulfur compounds and climate-active gases, and the importance of these processes in diverse environments – spanning terrestrial, marine, deep ocean and human settings.

At the Quadram Institute, we are driven to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underpinning novel organosulfur cycling in the human gut, its roles, regulation and significance in humans. Our ultimate goals are to understand the impacts of this metabolism in human health and disease prevention, and to develop new tools that will benefit world health. Moreover, working with industrial partners, principally Biotechnica Ltd, our team is committed to develop novel foods from crops fortified in organosulfur compounds, and environmental and cultivated seaweeds, which capture carbon and provide sustainable routes to produce dietary health products and future foods.

My team also utilise the microbes and enzymes that we discover in other diverse biotechnological applications, including the development of biostimulants for agriculture or the production of platform chemicals from renewable sources.

Finally, I am a resident Professor at Ocean University of China, a NERC college member, a Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research group member, a Champion for the Centre for Microbial Interactions and Co-director of the Centre for Advanced Environmental Microbiology at the Norwich Research Park. During my career, I have published over 100 articles on biogeochemical cycling, principally of iron and organosulfur compounds, and I am an editor for various journals as well as sitting on funding bodies for numerous global research agencies.

Key publications

1. Carrión O, Li CY, Peng M, Wang J, Pohnert G, Azizah M, Zhu XY, Curson ARJ, Wang Q, Walsham KS, Zhang XH, Monaco S, Harvey JM, Chen XL, Gao C, Wang N, Wang XJ, Wang P, Giovanonni SJ, Lee CP, Suffridge CP, Zhang Y, Luo Z, Wang D, Todd JD*, Zhang YZ. (2023). DMSOP-cleaving enzymes are diverse and widely distributed in marine microorganisms. Nat Microbiol. 8, 2326–2337. doi: 10.1038/s41564-023-01526-4
2. Guo R, Guo Z, Zhou Y, Zhang Y, Cheng H, Devine R, Sun C, Liu R, Zheng Y, Gaters AJ, Todd JD, Zhang XH (2026). Two Novel S-methyltransferases Confer Dimethylsulfide Production in Actinomycetota. Adv Sci. e10141 doi: 10.1002/advs.20251014
3.  Payet RD, Bilham LJ, Kabir SMT, Monaco S, Norcott AR, Allen MGE, Zhu XY, Davy AJ, Brearley CA, Todd JD*, Miller JB* (2024). Elucidation of Spartina dimethylsulfoniopropionate synthesis genes enables engineering of stress tolerant plants. Nat Commun. 15, 8568. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-51758-z
4. Zhang Y, Sun C, Guo Z, Liu L, Zhang X, Sun K, Zheng Y, Gates AJ, Todd JD*, Zhang XH* (2024). An S-methyltransferase that produces the climate-active gas dimethylsulfide is widespread across diverse marine bacteria. Nat Microbiol. 9, 2614–2625. doi: 10.1038/s41564-024-01788-6
5.  Wang J, Curson ARJ, Zhou S, Carrion O, Liu J, Vieira AR, Walsham KS, Monaco S, Li CY, Dong QY, Wang Y, Rivera PPL, Wang XD, Zhang M, Hanwell L, Wallace M, Zhu XY, Leão PN, Lea-Smith DJ, Zhang YZ, Zhang XH, Todd JD*. (2024). Alternative dimethylsulfoniopropionate biosynthesis enzymes in diverse and abundant microorganisms. Nat Microbiol. 9, 1979–1992. doi: 10.1038/s41564-024-01715-9.