profile icon
Dr

Christopher McDevitt

Associate Professor
Microbiology And Immunology
Streptococcus pneumoniae
science & technology
life sciences & biomedicine
biochemistry & molecular biology
escherichia-coli
zinc
bacterial proteins
microbiology
virulence
Christopher McDevitt's Profile Picture
Dr

Christopher McDevitt

 
Division
Medicine, Dentistry And Health Sciences
 
Primary Interest
Medical Microbiology
Christopher McDevitt's Profile Picture
Dr

Christopher McDevitt

 
Print
Christopher's  Short Profile
 

Christopher obtained his PhD in Microbiology and Biochemistry from the University of Queensland, Australia. He then spent six years as a postdoctoral researcher studying membrane transport proteins in the laboratories of Prof. Ben Berks and A/Prof.

Richard Callaghan, at the University of Oxford, UK. In 2008, he moved to the Research Centre for Infectious Disease, University of Adelaide, to initiate a research program investigating membrane transporters and the chemical biology of Streptococcus pneumoniae. In 2012, he established an independent research group at Adelaide and, in 2015, was appointed to Deputy Director of the Centre. In 2018, he relocated his laboratory to the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne.

Projects

Displaying the 10 most recent projects by Christopher McDevitt.

Project icon

MOLECULAR BASIS OF ZINC ACQUISITION BY STREPTOCOCCUS PNEUMONIAE

2020 - 2022
Active
Project icon

MOLECULAR BASIS OF ZINC ACQUISITION BY STREPTOCOCCUS PNEUMONIAE

2020 - 2022
Active
Project icon

MOLECULAR BASIS OF ZINC ACQUISITION BY STREPTOCOCCUS PNEUMONIAE

2020 - 2022
Active
Project icon

NOVEL INSIGHTS INTO THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF MANGANESE RECOGNITION AND ACQUISITION BY PATHOGENIC BACTERIA

2019 - 2020
Active
Project icon

NOVEL INSIGHTS INTO THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF MANGANESE RECOGNITION AND ACQUISITION BY PATHOGENIC BACTERIA

Streptococcus pneumoniae is the world’s foremost bacterial pathogen. In Australia, bacterial infections are responsible for more than 9000 d..

2019 - 2020
Active
Project icon

DEFINING THE ROLE OF ZINC AT THE HOST-PNEUMOCOCCAL INTERFACE

Streptococcus pneumoniae is the world’s foremost bacterial pathogen. In Australia, bacterial infections are responsible for more than 9000 d..

2019 - 2019
Completed
Project icon

NEW MOLECULAR TOOLS TO STUDY THE MECHANISMS OF BACTERIAL METAL HOMEOSTASIS

This project aims to provide new insight into how metal ion uptake is regulated. It will precisely measure the cellular concentrations of me..

2018 - 2021
Active
Project icon

ESSENTIAL GENE REGULATION IN MULTI-DRUG RESISTANT GOLDEN STAPH: A NEW PATH TOWARDS CONTROL

New antibiotics effective against Golden Staph are urgently needed. This project will investigate a new approach to weaken Golden Staph defe..

2018 - 2021
Active
Project icon

MOLECULAR INSIGHTS INTO BACTERIAL METAL ION HOMEOSTASIS AND TOXICITY

This project aims to measure bacterial cellular metal concentrations, elucidate mechanisms cells use to adapt to changing extracellular meta..

2017 - 2020
Active
Project icon

Single molecule methods to define the molecular basis of cation import in prokaryotes

10

Projects

Project Types

9

Research Grant

1

Internal Research Grant

Additional Information

NHMRC Project Grant - 1080784 (2015–17) The molecular basis for manganese uptake by pathogenic bacteria. $613,134. Maher, M.J., McDevitt, C.A., Aragão, D. & Iwata, S.
ARC Discovery Project - DP150104515 (2015–17) The critical role of bacterial poly-histidine triad proteins in zinc recruitment. $384,300. Paton, J.C.& McDevitt, C.A.
NHMRC Project Grant - 1022240 (2012–14) The roles of manganese and zinc in host-pathogen interaction. $568,375. McDevitt, C.A.

ARC Discovery Project - DP120103957 (2012–14) The molecular basis for bacterial susceptibility to zinc. $255,000. McDevitt, C.A. & Paton, J.C.

Scholarly Works

Displaying the 10 most recent scholarly works by Christopher McDevitt.

Scholarly works icon

Structural and functional characterizations of the C-terminal domains of CzcD proteins

Saumya R Udagedara, Daniel M La Porta, Christian Spehar, Ghruta Purohit, Matthew JA Hein, Monique E Fatmous, G Patricia Casas Garcia, Katherine Ganio, Christopher A McDevitt, Megan J Maher

Journal article  |  2020  |  Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry

Zinc is a potent antimicrobial component of the innate immune response at the host-pathogen interface. Bacteria subvert or resist ..

Scholarly works icon

Experimental Evolution In Vivo To Identify Selective Pressures during Pneumococcal Colonization.

Vaughn S Cooper, Erin Honsa, Hannah Rowe, Christopher Deitrick, Amy R Iverson, Jonathan J Whittall, Stephanie L Neville, Christopher A McDevitt, Colin Kietzman, Jason W Rosch

Journal article  |  2020  |  mSystems

Experimental evolution is a powerful technique to understand how populations evolve from selective pressures imparted by the surro..

Scholarly works icon

Disruption of Phosphate Homeostasis Sensitizes Staphylococcus aureus to Nutritional Immunity

Jessica L Kelliher, Erin B Brazel, Jana N Radin, Eliot S Joya, Paola K Parraga Solorzano, Stephanie L Neville, Christopher A McDevitt, Thomas E Kehl-Fie

Journal article  |  2020  |  Infection and Immunity

To control infection, mammals actively withhold essential nutrients, including the transition metal manganese, by a process termed..

Scholarly works icon

Intracellular Accumulation of Staphylopine Can Sensitize Staphylococcus aureus to Host-Imposed Zinc Starvation by Chelation-Independent Toxicity

Kyle P Grim, Jana N Radin, Paola K Parraga Solorzano, Jacqueline R Morey, Katie A Frye, Katherine Ganio, Stephanie L Neville, Christopher A McDevitt, Thomas E Kehl-Fie

Journal article  |  2020  |  Journal of Bacteriology

The host restricts the availability of zinc to prevent infection. To overcome this defense, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas ..

Scholarly works icon

Comparing Nonbonded Metal Ion Models in the Divalent Cation Binding Protein PsaA

Hugo MacDermott-Opeskin, Christopher A McDevitt, Megan L O'Mara

Journal article  |  2020  |  Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation

Divalent metal cations are essential for many biological processes; however, accurately modeling divalent metal ions has proved a ..

Scholarly works icon

Multiple Bactericidal Mechanisms of the Zinc Ionophore PBT2

Nichaela Harbison-Price, Scott A Ferguson, Adam Heikal, George Taiaroa, Kiel Hards, Yoshio Nakatani, David Rennison, Margaret A Brimble, Ibrahim M El-Deeb, Lisa Bohlmann, Christopher A McDevitt, Mark von Itzstein, Mark J Walker, Gregory M Cook

Journal article  |  2020  |  mSphere

Globally, more antimicrobials are used in food-producing animals than in humans, and the extensive use of medically important huma..

Scholarly works icon

Structure and Metal Binding Properties of Chlamydia trachomatis YtgA

Zhenyao Luo, Stephanie L Neville, Rebecca Campbell, Jacqueline R Morey, Shruti Menon, Mark Thomas, Bart A Eijkelkamp, Miranda P Ween, Wilhelmina M Huston, Bostjan Kobe, Christopher A McDevitt

Journal article  |  2020  |  Journal of Bacteriology

The obligate intracellular pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis is a globally significant cause of sexually transmitted bacterial infect..

Scholarly works icon

The Role of Zinc Efflux during Acinetobacter baumannii Infection

Saleh F Alquethamy, Felise G Adams, Varsha Naidu, Marian Khorvash, Victoria G Pederick, Maoge Zang, James C Paton, Ian T Paulsen, Karl A Hassan, Amy K Cain, Christopher A McDevitt, Bart A Eijkelkamp

Journal article  |  2020  |  ACS Infectious Diseases

Acinetobacter baumannii is a ubiquitous Gram-negative bacterium, that is associated with significant disease in immunocompromised ..

Scholarly works icon

Dietary zinc and the control of Streptococcus pneumoniae infection

Bart A Eijkelkamp, Jacqueline R Morey, Stephanie L Neville, Aimee Tan, Victoria G Pederick, Nerida Cole, Prashina P Singh, Cheryl-Lynn Y Ong, Raquel Gonzalez de Vega, David Clases, Bliss A Cunningham, Catherine E Hughes, Iain Comerford, Erin B Brazel, Jonathan J Whittall, Charles D Plumptre, Shaun R McColl, James C Paton, Alastair G McEwan, Philip A Doble, et al.

Journal article  |  2019  |  PLoS Pathogens

Scholarly works icon

Zinc-binding to the cytoplasmic PAS domain regulates the essential WalK histidine kinase of Staphylococcus aureus

Ian R Monk, Nausad Shaikh, Stephanie L Begg, Mike Gajdiss, Liam KR Sharkey, Jean YH Lee, Sacha J Pidot, Torsten Seemann, Michael Kuiper, Brit Winnen, Rikki Hvorup, Brett M Collins, Gabriele Bierbaum, Saumya R Udagedara, Jacqueline R Morey, Neha Pulyani, Benjamin P Howden, Megan J Maher, Christopher A McDevitt, Glenn F King, et al.

Journal article  |  2019  |  NATURE COMMUNICATIONS

77

Scholarly Works

Keyword Analysis

Expanding Knowledge
Medical Microbiology
Microbiology
Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Clinical Health (organs, Diseases and Abnormal Conditions)
Chemical Engineering
Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry
Genetics
Medical Biochemistry and Metabolomics
Physical Chemistry (incl. Structural)

Honours, Awards and Fellowships

2017

Research Excellence

Faculty of Sciences, University of Adelaide
2011

Research Award

School of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences, University of Adelaide

2

Awards

Credentials

Positions

Positions

Associate Professor

Microbiology And Immunology

Chair

Adelaide Protein Group

Ordinary Member

The Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB)

International Local Ambassador

Biochemical Society

Education

Education

Doctor of Philosophy

The University of Queensland

Bachelor of Science (Honours)

The University of Queensland

Links

Links