During my PhD at the University of Barcelona and postdoctoral research at the University of East Anglia, I uncovered diverse microbes and enzymes driving the production and cycling of organosulfur compounds and climate-active gases in a wide range of environments. Furthermore I performed detailed field and lab studies to determine the environmental importance of these processes and the potential impacts of a changing climate.

At the Quadram Institute, I conduct multidisciplinary research to study how and why our gut cells and microbiome use and/or degrade organosulfur compounds abundant in our diet. My ultimate goal is to assess the relevance of this metabolism in the human gut, to establish its links to health and disease, and to develop new prebiotics and probiotics that benefit our health.

Key publications

1.  Wang J, Curson ARJ, Zhou S, Carrión O, Liu J, et al. (2024). Alternative dimethylsulfoniopropionate biosynthesis enzymes in diverse and abundant microorganisms. Nat Microbiol. 9, 1979–1992. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-024-01715-9.
2. Carrión O, Li CY, Peng M, Wang J, Pohnert G, et al. (2023). DMSOP-cleaving enzymes are diverse and widely distributed in marine microorganisms. Nat Microbiol. 8, 2326–2337. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-023-01526-4.
3. Li CY, Cao HY, Wang Q, Carrión O, Zhu XY, et al. (2023). Aerobic methylation of hydrogen sulfide to dimethylsulfide in diverse organisms and environments. ISME J. 17, 1184-1193. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-023-01430-z.
4. Carrión O, Gibson L, Elias DMO, McNamara NP, van Alen TA, et al. (2020). Diversity of isoprene-degrading bacteria in phyllosphere and soil communities from a high isoprene-emitting environment: a Malaysian oil palm plantation. Microbiome. 8, 81. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-020-00860-7.
5. Carrión O, Curson ARJ, Kumaresan D, Fu Y, Lang AS, et al. (2015). A novel pathway producing dimethylsulphide in bacteria is widespread in soil environments. Nat Commun. 6, 6579. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms7579.