Prof. Mark Webber

Group Leader

Contact via email

Investigating the evolution of antimicrobial resistance

Links/websites:

My research group studies the molecular mechanisms of antibiotic resistance with focus on understanding how, where, when and why bacteria evolve antibiotic resistance.

I am particularly interested in bacterial biofilms and we are investigating how bacteria adapt to antimicrobial pressure within a biofilm.

My group uses a variety of contemporary molecular microbiology approaches to study bacterial survival and resistance mechanisms in conditions relevant to the food chain.

Before joining the Quadram Institute I led a research group at the University of Birmingham, which I established during a BBSRC David Phillips fellowship studying the evolution of biocide-antibiotic cross resistance.

I have published over 60 articles relating to antimicrobials and have acted as an editor for the Journals of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy and Medical Microbiology as well as PLOS ONE.


Key Publications

Webber MA, Whitehead RN, Mount M, Loman NJ, Pallen MJ, Piddock LJ Parallel evolutionary pathways to antibiotic resistance selected by biocide exposure.  J Antimicrob Chemother. 2015 Aug;70(8):2241-8.  PMID:25953808

Blair JM, Webber MA, Baylay AJ, Ogbolu DO, Piddock LJ.  (2015) Molecular mechanisms of antibiotic resistance. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2015 Jan;13(1):42-51.  Review. PMID:25435309

Baugh S, Phillips CR, Ekanayaka AS, Piddock LJ, Webber MA. Inhibition of multidrug efflux as a strategy to prevent biofilm formation. Antimicrob Chemother. 2014 Mar;69(3):673-81.  PMID:24176982

Webber MA, Ricci V, Whitehead R, Patel M, Fookes M, Ivens A, Piddock LJ. (2013) Clinically relevant mutant DNA gyrase alters supercoiling, changes the transcriptome, and confers multidrug resistance.  MBio. 2013 Jul 23;4(4). pii: e00273-13. PMID:23882012

Baugh S, Ekanayaka AS, Piddock LJ, Webber MA (2012) Loss of or inhibition of all multidrug resistance efflux pumps of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium results in impaired ability to form a biofilm.  J Antimicrob Chemother. Oct;67(10):2409-17.  PMID: 22733653

Merhi G, Trotter AJ, de Oliveira Martins L, Koweyes J, Le Viet T, Abou Naja, Al Buaini, Prosolek SJ, Alikhan NF, Lott M, Tohmeh T, Badran B, Jupp OJ, Gardner S, Felgate MW, Makin KA, Wilkinson JM, Stanley R, Sesay AK, Webber MA, Davidson RK, Ghosn N, Pallen M, Hasan H, Page AJ, Tokajian . (2022)

Replacement of the Alpha variant of SARS-CoV-2 by the Delta variant in Lebanon between April and June 2021.

Microbial genomics


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Baker DJ,Aydin A,Le Viet T,Kay GL,Rudder S,de Oliveira Martins L,Tedim AP,Kolyva A,Diaz M,Alikhan NF,Meadows L,Bell A,Gutierrez AV,Trotter AJ,Thomson NM,Gilroy R,Griffith L,Adriaenssens EM,Stanley R,Charles IG,Elumogo N,Wain J,Prakash R,Meader E,Mather AE,Webber M,Dervisevic S,Page AJ,O J. (2021)

CoronaHiT: high-throughput sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 genomes.

Genome medicine


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Trampari E,Holden ER,Wickham GJ,Ravi A,de Oliveira Martins L,Savva GM,Webber MA. (2021)

Exposure of Salmonella biofilms to antibiotic concentrations rapidly selects resistance with collateral tradeoffs.

NPJ biofilms and microbiomes


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Volz E,Hill V,McCrone JT,Price A,Jorgensen D,O'Toole Á,Southgate J,Johnson R,Jackson B,Nascimento FF,Rey SM,Nicholls SM,Colquhoun RM,da Silva,Shepherd J,Pascall DJ,Shah R,Jesudason N,Li K,Jarrett R,Pacchiarini N,Bull M,Geidelberg L,Siveroni I,Goodfellow I,Loman NJ,Pybus OG,Robertson DL,Thomson EC,Rambaut A,Connor TR,Koshy C,Wise E,Cortes N,Lynch J,Kidd S,Mori M,Fairley DJ,Curran T,McKenna JP,Adams H,Fraser C,Golubchik T,Bonsall D,Moore C,Caddy SL,Khokhar FA,Wantoch M,Reynolds N,Warne B,Maksimovic J,Spellman K,McCluggage K,John M,Beer R,Afifi S,Morgan S,Marchbank A,Price A,Kitchen C,Gulliver H,Merrick I,Southgate J,Guest M,Munn R,Workman T,Connor TR,Fuller W,Bresner C,Snell LB,Charalampous T,Nebbia G,Batra R,Edgeworth J,Robson SC,Beckett A,Loveson KF,Aanensen DM,Underwood AP,Yeats CA,Abudahab K,Taylor BEW,Menegazzo M,Clark G,Smith W,Khakh M,Fleming VM,Lister MM,Howson-Wells HC,Berry L,Boswell T,Joseph A,Willingham I,Bird P,Helmer T,Fallon K,Holmes C,Tang J,Raviprakash V,Campbell S,Sheriff N,Loose MW,Holmes N,Moore C,Carlile M,Wright V,Sang F,Debebe J,Coll F,Signell AW,Betancor G,Wilson HD,Feltwell T,Houldcroft CJ,Eldirdiri S,Kenyon A,Davis T,Pybus O,du Plessis,Zarebski A,Raghwani J,Kraemer M,Francois S,Attwood S,Vasylyeva T,Torok ME,Hamilton WL,Goodfellow IG,Hall G,Jahun AS,Chaudhry Y,Hosmillo M,Pinckert ML,Georgana I,Yakovleva A,Meredith LW,Moses S,Lowe H,Ryan F,Fisher CL,Awan AR,Boyes J,Breuer J,Harris KA,Brown JR,Shah D,Atkinson L,Lee JCD,Alcolea-Medina A,Moore N,Cortes N,Williams R,Chapman MR,Levett LJ,Heaney J,Smith DL,Bashton M,Young GR,Allan J,Loh J,Randell PA,Cox A,Madona P,Holmes A,Bolt F,Price J,Mookerjee S,Rowan A,Taylor GP,Ragonnet-Cronin M,Nascimento FF,Jorgensen D,Siveroni I,Johnson R,Boyd O,Geidelberg L,Volz EM,Brunker K,Smollett KL,Loman NJ,Quick J,McMurray C,Stockton J,Nicholls S,Rowe W,Poplawski R,Martinez-Nunez RT,Mason J,Robinson TI,O'Toole E,Watts J,Breen C,Cowell A,Ludden C,Sluga G,Machin NW,Ahmad SSY,George RP,Halstead F,Sivaprakasam V,Thomson EC,Shepherd JG,Asamaphan P,Niebel MO,Li KK,Shah RN,Jesudason NG,Parr YA,Tong L,Broos A,Mair D,Nichols J,Carmichael SN,Nomikou K,Aranday-Cortes E,Johnson N,Starinskij I,da Silva,Robertson DL,Orton RJ,Hughes J,Vattipally S,Singer JB,Hale AD,Macfarlane-Smith LR,Harper KL,Taha Y,Payne BAI,Burton-Fanning S,Waugh S,Collins J,Eltringham G,Templeton KE,McHugh MP,Dewar R,Wastenge E,Dervisevic S,Stanley R,Prakash R,Stuart C,Elumogo N,Sethi DK,Meader EJ,Coupland LJ,Potter W,Graham C,Barton E,Padgett D,Scott G,Swindells E,Greenaway J,Nelson A,Yew WC,Resende Silva,Andersson M,Shaw R,Peto T,Justice A,Eyre D,Crooke D,Hoosdally S,Sloan TJ,Duckworth N,Walsh S,Chauhan AJ,Glaysher S,Bicknell K,Wyllie S,Butcher E,Elliott S,Lloyd A,Impey R,Levene N,Monaghan L,Bradley DT,Allara E,Pearson C,Muir P,Vipond IB,Hopes R,Pymont HM,Hutchings S,Curran MD,Parmar S,Lackenby A,Mbisa T,Platt S,Miah S,Bibby D,Manso C,Hubb J,Chand M,Dabrera G,Ramsay M,Bradshaw D,Thornton A,Myers R,Schaefer U,Groves N,Gallagher E,Lee D,Williams D,Ellaby N,Harrison I,Hartman H,Manesis N,Patel V,Bishop C,Chalker V,Osman H,Bosworth A,Robinson E,Holden MTG,Shaaban S,Birchley A,Adams A,Davies A,Gaskin A,Plimmer A,Gatica-Wilcox B,McKerr C,Moore C,Williams C,Heyburn D,De Lacy,Hilvers E,Downing F,Shankar G,Jones H,Asad H,Coombes J,Watkins J,Evans JM,Fina L,Gifford L,Gilbert L,Graham L,Perry M,Morgan M,Bull M,Cronin M,Pacchiarini N,Craine N,Jones R,Howe R,Corden S,Rey S,Kumziene-Summerhayes S,Taylor S,Cottrell S,Jones S,Edwards S,O'Grady J,Page AJ,Wain J,Webber MA,Mather AE,Baker DJ,Rudder S,Yasir M,Thomson NM,Aydin A,Tedim AP,Kay GL,Trotter AJ,Gilroy RAJ,Alikhan NF,de Oliveira,Le Viet T,Meadows L,Kolyva A,Diaz M,Bell A,Gutierrez AV,Charles IG,Adriaenssens EM,Kingsley RA,Casey A,Simpson DA,Molnar Z,Thompson T,Acheson E,Masoli JAH,Knight BA,Hattersley A,Ellard S,Auckland C,Mahungu TW,Irish-Tavares D,Haque T,Bourgeois Y,Scarlett GP,Partridge DG,Raza M,Evans C,Johnson K,Liggett S,Baker P,Essex S,Lyons RA,Caller LG,Castellano S,Williams RJ,Kristiansen M,Roy S,Williams CA,Dyal PL,Tutill HJ,Panchbhaya YN,Forrest LM,Niola P,Findlay J,Brooks TT,Gavriil A,Mestek-Boukhibar L,Weeks S,Pandey S,Berry L,Jones K,Richter A,Beggs A,Smith CP,Bucca G,Hesketh AR,Harrison EM,Peacock SJ,Palmer S,Churcher CM,Bellis KL,Girgis ST,Naydenova P,Blane B,Sridhar S,Ruis C,Forrest S,Cormie C,Gill HK,Dias J,Higginson EE,Maes M,Young J,Kermack LM,Hadjirin NF,Aggarwal D,Griffith L,Swingler T,Davidson RK,Rambaut A,Williams T,Balcazar CE,Gallagher MD,O'Toole Á,Rooke S,Jackson B,Colquhoun R,Ashworth J,Hill V,McCrone JT,Scher E,Yu X,Williamson KA,Stanton TD,Michell SL,Bewshea CM,Temperton B,Michelsen ML,Warwick-Dugdale J,Manley R,Farbos A,Harrison JW,Sambles CM,Studholme DJ,Jeffries AR,Darby AC,Hiscox JA,Paterson S,Iturriza-Gomara M,Jackson KA,Lucaci AO,Vamos EE,Hughes M,Rainbow L,Eccles R,Nelson C,Whitehead M,Turtle L,Haldenby ST,Gregory R,Gemmell M,Kwiatkowski D,de Silva,Smith N,Angyal A,Lindsey BB,Groves DC,Green LR,Wang D,Freeman TM,Parker MD,Keeley AJ,Parsons PJ,Tucker RM,Brown R,Wyles M,Constantinidou C,Unnikrishnan M,Ott S,Cheng JKJ,Bridgewater HE,Frost LR,Taylor-Joyce G,Stark R,Baxter L,Alam MT,Brown PE,McClure PC,Chappell JG,Tsoleridis T,Ball J,Gramatopoulos D,Buck D,Todd JA,Green A,Trebes A,MacIntyre-Cockett G,de Cesare,Langford C,Alderton A,Amato R,Goncalves S,Jackson DK,Johnston I,Sillitoe J,Palmer S,Lawniczak M,Berriman M,Danesh J,Livett R,Shirley L,Farr B,Quail M,Thurston S,Park N,Betteridge E,Weldon D,Goodwin S,Nelson R,Beaver C,Letchford L,Jackson DA,Foulser L,McMinn L,Prestwood L,Kay S,Kane L,Dorman MJ,Martincorena I,Puethe C,Keatley JP,Tonkin-Hill G,Smith C,Jamrozy D,Beale MA,Patel M,Ariani C,Spencer-Chapman M,Drury E,Lo S,Rajatileka S,Scott C,James K,Buddenborg SK,Berger DJ,Patel G,Garcia-Casado MV,Dibling T,McGuigan S,Rogers HA,Hunter AD,Souster E,Neaverson AS. (2021)

Evaluating the Effects of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Mutation D614G on Transmissibility and Pathogenicity.

Cell


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Sarwar M, Yasir M, Alikhan N, Afzal N, de Oliveira, Le Viet, Trotter A, Prosolek S, Kay G, Foster-Nyarko E, Rudder S, Baker D, Roman M, Webber M, Shafiq A, Shabir B, Akram J, Page A, Jahan . (2021)

SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern dominate in Lahore, Pakistan in April 2021

Microbial Genomics


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Sarwar MB, Yasir M, Alikhan NF, Afzal N, de Oliveira Martins L, Le Viet, Trotter AJ, Prosolek SJ, Kay GL, Foster-Nyarko E, Rudder S, Baker DJ, Muntaha ST, Roman M, Webber MA, Shafiq A, Shabbir B, Akram J, Page AJ, Jahan . (2021)

SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern dominate in Lahore, Pakistan in April 2021.

Microbial genomics


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