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Microbiology
UK
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Chemistry

D-Index
112
Citations
40316
World Ranking
750
National Ranking
37

Microbiology

D-Index
129
Citations
51605
World Ranking
82
National Ranking
9

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Microbiology in United Kingdom Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Microbiology in United Kingdom Leader Award
  • 2019 - Fellow of the Royal Society, United Kingdom
  • Fellow of The Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom
  • Fellow of The Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom
  • Fellow of The Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom
  • Fellow of The Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom
  • Fellow of The Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom
  • Fellow of The Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom
  • Fellow of The Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom
  • Fellow of The Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom
  • Fellow of The Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom
  • Fellow of The Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom

Overview

Gurdyal S. Besra is affiliated with the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. Their research spans multiple disciplines including Medicine, Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, and Immunology and Microbiology. Key subfields of study for this scientist include Molecular Biology, Immunology, Infectious Diseases, Epidemiology, and Oncology.

The scientific work of Gurdyal S. Besra prominently focuses on topics such as Tuberculosis Research and Epidemiology, Immune Cell Function and Interaction, Mycobacterium research and diagnosis, Biochemical and Molecular Research, Cancer therapeutics and mechanisms, T-cell and B-cell Immunology, and Carbohydrate Chemistry and Synthesis.

Frequent coauthors collaborating with Besra include:

  • Natacha Veerapen
  • Sarah M. Batt
  • Katherine A. Abrahams
  • Sudagar S. Gurcha
  • Jamie Rossjohn

Common publication venues where Besra's work appears are:

  • The Cell Surface
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
  • Journal of Biological Chemistry
  • Tuberculosis
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Recent papers authored or coauthored by Gurdyal S. Besra include:

  • Structures of cell wall arabinosyltransferases with the anti-tuberculosis drug ethambutol, 2020, Science
  • The thick waxy coat of mycobacteria, a protective layer against antibiotics and the host's immune system, 2020, Biochemical Journal
  • Ligand-dependent downregulation of MR1 cell surface expression, 2020, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • Antibiotics and resistance: the two-sided coin of the mycobacterial cell wall, 2020, The Cell Surface
  • Discovery of Novel Thiophene-arylamide Derivatives as DprE1 Inhibitors with Potent Antimycobacterial Activities, 2021, Journal of Medicinal Chemistry

Gurdyal S. Besra has been recognized with fellowships including Fellow of the Royal Society, United Kingdom (2019), and Fellow of The Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom.

Best Publications

  • Role of the Major Antigen of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Cell Wall Biogenesis

    John T. Belisle;Varalakshmi D. Vissa;Varalakshmi D. Vissa;Todd Sievert;Todd Sievert;Kuni Takayama;Kuni Takayama

  • Nuclear-encoded proteins target to the plastid in Toxoplasma gondii and Plasmodium falciparum

    Ross F. Waller;Patrick J. Keeling;Robert G. K. Donald;Boris Striepen

  • Pathway to synthesis and processing of mycolic acids in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

    Kuni Takayama;Cindy Wang;Gurdyal S. Besra

  • CD1d–lipid-antigen recognition by the semi-invariant NKT T-cell receptor

    Natalie Borg;Kwok Soon Wun;Lars Kjer-Nielsen;Matthew Charles James Wilce

  • Detection and Molecular Characterization of 9000-Year-Old Mycobacterium tuberculosis from a Neolithic Settlement in the Eastern Mediterranean

    Israel Hershkovitz;Helen D. Donoghue;David E. Minnikin;Gurdyal S. Besra

  • The embAB genes of Mycobacterium avium encode an arabinosyl transferase involved in cell wall arabinan biosynthesis that is the target for the antimycobacterial drug ethambutol

    Aimee E. Belanger;Gurdyal S. Besra;Michael E. Ford;Katarina Mikusova

  • Mycobacterial lipoarabinomannan and related lipoglycans: from biogenesis to modulation of the immune response.

    Volker Briken;Steven A. Porcelli;Gurdyal S. Besra;Laurent Kremer

  • CD1c-mediated T-cell recognition of isoprenoid glycolipids in Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection

    D. Branch Moody;Timo Ulrichs;Timo Ulrichs;Walter Mühlecker;David C. Young

  • Cytological and Transcript Analyses Reveal Fat and Lazy Persister-Like Bacilli in Tuberculous Sputum

    Natalie J. Garton;Simon J. Waddell;Anna L Sherratt;Su Min Lee

  • A novel pathogenic taxon of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, Canetti: characterization of an exceptional isolate from Africa.

    D. Van Soolingen;T. Hoogenboezem;P. E. W. De Haas;P. W. M. Hermans

  • Structural requirements for glycolipid antigen recognition by CD1b-restricted T cells.

    D. Branch Moody;Bruce B. Reinhold;Mark R. Guy;Evan M. Beckman

  • IL-21 is produced by NKT cells and modulates NKT cell activation and cytokine production.

    Jonathan M Coquet;Konstantinos Kyparissoudis;Daniel G Pellicci;Gurdyal Besra

  • The crystal structure of human CD1d with and without alpha-galactosylceramide.

    Michael Koch;Victoria S Stronge;Dawn Shepherd;Stephan D Gadola

  • Apolipoprotein-mediated pathways of lipid antigen presentation

    Peter van den Elzen;Salil Garg;Luis León;Manfred Brigl

  • The evaluation of forty-three plant species for in vitro antimycobacterial activities ; isolation of active constituents from Psoralea corylifolia and Sanguinaria canadensis

    Sandra M Newton;Clara Lau;Sudagar S Gurcha;Gurdyal S Besra

  • Assembly of the Mycobacterial Cell Wall.

    Monika Jankute;Jonathan A G Cox;James Harrison;Gurdyal S Besra

  • Modulation of CD1d-restricted NKT cell responses by using N-acyl variants of α-galactosylceramides

    Karl O. A. Yu;Jin S. Im;Alberto Molano;Yves Dutronc

  • Biogenesis of the mycobacterial cell wall and the site of action of ethambutol.

    K Mikusová;R A Slayden;G S Besra;P J Brennan

  • Mycobacteria release active membrane vesicles that modulate immune responses in a TLR2-dependent manner in mice

    Rafael Prados-Rosales;Andres Baena;Luis R. Martinez;Luis R. Martinez;Jose Luque-Garcia

  • Invariant NKT cells reduce the immunosuppressive activity of influenza A virus–induced myeloid-derived suppressor cells in mice and humans

    Carmela De Santo;Mariolina Salio;S. Hajar Masri;Laurel Yong Hwa Lee

  • Activation of the Pro-drug Ethionamide Is Regulated in Mycobacteria *

    Alain R. Baulard;Joanna C. Betts;Jean Engohang-Ndong;Selwyn Quan

  • Invariant natural killer T cells recognize glycolipids from pathogenic Gram-positive bacteria

    Yuki Kinjo;Petr Illarionov;José Luis Vela;Bo Pei

Frequent Co-Authors

David E. Minnikin
David E. Minnikin University of Birmingham
Steven A. Porcelli
Steven A. Porcelli Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Patrick J. Brennan
Patrick J. Brennan Colorado State University
Laurent Kremer
Laurent Kremer Institut de Recherche en Infectiologie de Montpellier
Jamie Rossjohn
Jamie Rossjohn Monash University
Vincenzo Cerundolo
Vincenzo Cerundolo University of Oxford
Lothar Eggeling
Lothar Eggeling Forschungszentrum Jülich
Dale I. Godfrey
Dale I. Godfrey University of Melbourne
Michael B. Brenner
Michael B. Brenner Harvard Medical School
William R. Jacobs
William R. Jacobs Albert Einstein College of Medicine

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