Background

Current role

Dr Augustinas Silale is a postdoctoral reserarch associate in the groups of Prof Tracy Palmer and Dr Lis Lowe, working on the type 7 secretion system and mycobacterial cell envelope biology. He previously worked in Prof Bert van den Berg's group as a postdoctoral researcher (2019-2024). 

Research interests

• Structural biology (X-ray crystallography, cryo-EM)
• Membrane proteins
• Microbial communities

Qualifications

2015-2019 - DPhil, University of Oxford

2011-2015 - BA (Hons) & MSci Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge

Publications

• Articles

  • White JBR, Silale A, Feasey M, Heunis T, Zhu Y, Zheng H, Gajbhiye A, Firbank S, Baslé A, Trost M, Bolam DN, van den Berg B, Ranson NA. Outer membrane utilisomes mediate glycan uptake in gut Bacteroidetes. Nature 2023, 618(7965), 583-589.
  • Silale A, Zhu Y, Witwinowski J, Smith RE, Newman KE, Bhamidimarri SP, Basle A, Khalid S, Beloin C, Gribaldo S, van den Berg B. Dual function of OmpM as outer membrane tether and nutrient uptake channel in diderm Firmicutes. Nature Communications 2023, 14, 7152.
  • Abellon-Ruiz J, Jana K, Silale A, Frey AM, Baslé A, Trost M, Kleinekathöfer U, van den Berg B. BtuB TonB-dependent transporters and BtuG surface lipoproteins form stable complexes for vitamin B₁₂ uptake in gut Bacteroides. Nature Communications 2023, 14, 4714.
  • van den Berg B, Silale A, Baslé A, Brandner AF, Mader SL, Khalid S. Structural basis for host recognition and superinfection exclusion by bacteriophage T5. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022, 119(42), e2211672119.

• Review

  • Silale A, van den Berg B. TonB-Dependent Transport Across the Bacterial Outer Membrane. Annual Review of Microbiology 2023, 77, 67-88.