Designed Polymer Architecture

Fine Structure Measurement

Functionality

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Mission

To illuminate Nature's design rules in order to empower us in the construction of our own materials and devices. To understand polysaccharide structure-function relationships, and how these are harnessed in controlling the functional properties of biomaterials.

Inspiration

In 1959 Richard Feynman declared there was ‘plenty of room at the bottom' and famously discussed the possibility of manipulating things on a small scale. Today, many still envisage that the smart materials and devices of the 21 st century will be engineered at the nano-scale. Nature already performs such ‘bottom-up' processing with aplomb, assembling structures at the molecular level in order to yield materials with desired macroscopic attributes. In addition biomaterials are often ‘smart', changing their properties in response to external stimuli, and are processed at ambient temperatures, from sustainable resources, before being seamlessly recycled into the biosphere at the end of their usefulness. In order to be able to imitate Nature's molecular wizardry in constructing our own materials and devices, the structure-function relationships it exploits must first be understood.

The beauty of a butterfly's wing, achieved by the exquisite assembly of a natural photonic crystal, the poise of the ceiling walking Gecko, made possible by the nano-patterning of its feet and the warmth of the polar bear's fleece, facilitated by the unique cavity-laden microstructure of its fur, are but a few examples of diverse macroscopic materials properties Nature has crafted at the molecular level.

 

Polysaccharide Structure - Function

While great progress has been made over the last hundred years in the characterization of the molecular constituents of biological systems and their grouping into classes such as nucleotides, proteins, polysaccharides and lipids, how these components conspire in order to yield systems with manifest biological function is not, in general, well understood. Nowhere is this shortfall more evident than in cases where the emergent functionality is the control of materials properties as epitomized by the role of the biopolymer matrix in the plant cell wall. In this case, it is known that polysaccharides play a major role in satisfying the mechanical requirements of a successful cell, but developing a clear structure-function understanding is exacerbated by the fact that the relevant polysaccharide architecture is itself heterogeneous and complex. Ongoing work in this area is aimed at the controlled molecular engineering of polysaccharide structures, and the development of novel measurement techniques for fine structure elucidation, in order to facilitate the construction of well-defined model systems.

The functionality of such biopolymers is subsequently investigated; for example by using the atomic force microscope and optical tweezers in order to stretch single polymeric molecules and thereby measure the nanomechanical properties of individual chains. In addition soft materials are being constructed by the controlled assembly of the polymers and the resulting network properties examined within the experimental and theoretical framework of soft condensed matter physics.

  

 

Soft Condensed Matter

In common with the more established themes in condensed matter physics, the goal of soft matter research is to understand the collective behaviour of systems from the interaction of their parts. While crystalline solids and liquids seem to lend themselves to a straightforward classification of materials, soft matter is often viscoelastic and challenges our thinking about how different materials should be defined. Many such systems exhibit hierarchical structures organized on multiple length-scales, which emerge from molecular and supra-molecular self-assembly. Ongoing work in this area focuses on the measurement of structural and dynamical properties of biopolymer assemblies and the modeling of their resultant macroscopic properties.

 

The Group

Bill Williams

Bill obtained an Honours degree in Physics with Astrophysics from Leeds University, UK and then undertook a PhD in NMR relaxation behaviour at the Open University. He went on to spend a number of years as a Postdoctoral Fellow in The Chemistry Department at York University, UK, working on biopolymers, in particular studying gelation and phase separation, and slowly but surely becoming obsessed with pectin. Subsequently he spent 4 years with Unilever Research, before returning to academia in March 2003, with a position in The Institute of Fundamental Sciences at Massey University, NZ, where he is working on biophysics and soft-matter, catching trout and not wearing shoes much. IFS Page

Stephen Keen

Steve has joined us on a two year postdoctoral fellowship funded by the MacDiarmid Institute. Steve carried out his PhD studies in the Optical Tweezers group in Glasgow, where he worked on a variety of problems involving hydrodynamic interactions, high speed cameras and microrheology. He is working on developing several super-cool applications with our Optical Tweezers set-up including single molecule stretching and microrheological measurements. His other interests include tramping, skiing, and playing the woodblocks & guitar for an Abba tribute band.

 

Abdenor Fellah

Abdenor obtained a Master of Physical Chemistry qualification from Marne La Vallée University in France before graduating with a Masters Degree with honours in the Chemistry and Physicochemistry of Polymers from Jussieu University (Paris VI – France). There he studied, among other things, techniques of polymers synthesis, mechanical properties of polymers and viscoelasticity. He is now turning his hand to biopolymer systems, in particular working on a PhD project involving devloping methodologies for attaching polysaccharides to beads and surfaces. He has a TIF fellowship funded by FRST in collaboration with Fonterra and is currently sacrificing watching his beloved Olympique de Marseille for some quality New Zealand soocer courtesy of the mighty Manawatu Younghearts.

Rob Ward

Rob has a degree in Mathematics and a masters in Physics, both from Victoria University in Wellington, NZ. He worked in IFS for two years as a research officer and is now studying for a PhD, funded by Magritek, working on the development of portable low-resolution NMR systems and applications in soft-matter research. Rob keeps fit by fell-running and also supplements his income by doing voice-overs for advertisements, specialising in the English accent. Here he is losing the "Last one to the top of Ruapehu is a big girls blouse" competition. IFS Page

Erich Schuster

Erich has a Masters in Computational Physics form the University of Vienna, where he worked on efficient computational stategies in order to calculate the Lennard-Jones between extended objects, with a view to modeling liquid-crystal systems. He has joined us to take up a PhD Studentship supported by CSIRO and is working on approaches to calculate the properties of biopolymer networks. With a keen interest in tramping and climbing he looks sure to take over the "most likley to die in the mountains" title from Romaric.

 

Davide Mercadante

Davide is based up at Auckland in the group of Prof Laurie Melton, and is jointly supervised in IFS with Prof Geoff Jameson. He comes to us from Naples, Italy where he worked on molecular interactions of prion protein with small molecules using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and carried out a Masters degree examining protein conformational changes in the presence of TFE. He is working towards a PhD, sponsored by The Riddett Institute, focussing on modelling polysaccharide - protein interactions. Since beginning his work with us he won a prestigous EMBO fellowship to spend some time in Cambridge where he applied state-of-the art protein modelling tools to the pectin - PME system. He also has a keen interest in football, pasta, and visiting cold countries.

 

 

Meriem Taktak

Meriem is also based up at Auckland in the group of Prof Laurie Melton, and is jointly supervised in IFS with Prof Geoff Jameson. She comes to us from Paris, having originally studied in Lebanon. She is working towards a PhD, sponsored by The Riddett Institute, focussing on polysaccharide - protein interactions.

 

 

Ian Lim

Ian is a Massey engineering graduate who has taken up a PhD position working with Prof Roger Lentle and Dr Patrick Janssen in IFNHH on a project that aims to throw light on transport processes occuring in the intensine. We are hoping to measure the viscoelastic properties of the inter-villi spaces of live intestine samples using a specially constructed cell and our optical tweers and microrheology set-up.

 

 

Lisa Kent

Lisa hails from the USA where she studied at the Universities of California Davies and Arizona, and has a background in biological sciences with a Masters in evolutionary biology. She has a position as a Biophysics Technician in IFS, and works on a number of projects involving nucleotides, proteins and polysacharides. She is also interested, among otehr things, in orchards and in particular extreme pear harvesting.

 

 

Philip Patty

Philip Patty joined the group as a part-time research assistant. Philip has a PhD from Simon Frazer Univeristy in Canada where he worked on liposomes, including their characterization with DLS. Philip has been helping to set-up and maintain our light-scattering facilities, from hardware through to coding analysis routines.

Positions Available

International Students Boost ! The New Zealand government has recently approved a new policy relating to the payment of fees by new international students, that basically means they will only be required to pay New Zealand fees. Most excellent. More details are available. In light of this news we are particularly encouraging high calibre international students to take a serious look at opportunities here in The Institute of Fundamental Sciences.

If you are interested in any aspect of our work in biophysics or biopolymer structure-function investigations, and are considering PhD studies then feel free to drop Bill an email.

Past Group Members

Keep track of past friends and fellow biomaticians here....

Publications

  1. Diffusing wave spectroscopy investigations of acid milk gels containing pectin
    A. Cucheval, R.R. Vincent, Y. Hemar, D. Otter and M.A.K. Williams,
    Colloid & Polymer Science, 287, 695-704, 2009.

  2. Determining the degree of methylesterification of pectin by FT-IR:Methodology optimization and comparison with theoretical calculations
    A. Fellah, P. Anjukandi, Mark.R.Waterland and M.A.K. Williams,
    Carbohydr. Polym. , 78, 847-853, 2009.

  3. Multiple Particle Tracking Investigations of Acid Milk Gels using Tracer Particles with Designed Surface Chemistries and Comparison with Diffusing Wave Spectroscopy Studies
    A. Cucheval, R.R. Vincent, Y. Hemar, D. Otter and M.A.K. Williams,
    Langmuir, 25, 11827-11834, 2009.

  4. Direct measurements of interfacial interactions between pectin and k -casein and implications for the stabilization of calcium-free casein micelle mimics
    A. Cucheval, M.A. Al-Ghobashy, Y. Hemar, D. Otter and M.A.K. Williams,
    J. Colloid & Interface Science, 338, 450-462, 2009.

  5. Electrophoretic behaviour of co-polymeric galacturonans including comments on the information content of the intermolecular charge distribution
    M.A.K. Williams, A.Cucheval, A. Strom and M.C. Ralet,
    Biomacromolecules, 10, 1523-1531, 2009.

  6. Microrheological investigations give insights into the microstructure and functionality of pectin gels
    R.R. Vincent and M.A.K. Williams,
    Carbohydr. Res., 344, 1863-1871, 2009.

  7. Bio-inspired network optimization in soft materials - Insights from the plant cell wall
    R.R. Vincent, A. Cucheval, Y. Hemar and M.A.K. Williams,
    Eur. J. Phys. E , 28, 79-87, 2009.

  8. On-line casein micelle disruption for downstream purification of recombinant human myelin basic protein produced in the milk of transgenic cows
    M.A. Al-Ghobashy, M.A.K. Williams, B.Brophy, G. Labile and D.R.K. Harding,
    Journal of Chromatography B -Analytical Technologies in the Biochemical and Life Sciences, 877, 1667-1677, 2009.

  9. Factors affecting the performance of capillary isoelectric focusing in dynamically coated capillaries using polyethylene oxide
    M.A. Al-Ghobashy, M.A.K. Williams and D.R.K. Harding,
    Analytical Letters , 41, 1-18, 2008.

  10. Demethylation of a model homogalacturonan with a salt-independent pectin methylesterase from citrus: I. Effect of pH on demethylated block size, block number and enzyme mode of action
    G. Cameron, G.A. Luzio, K. Goodner and M.A.K. Williams,
    Carbohydr. Polym. , 71 (2), 287-299, 2008 .

  11. Microrheological studies offer insights into polysaccharide gels
    M.A.K. Williams, R.R. Vincent, D.N. Pinder and Y. Hemar,
    Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics     , 149, 63-70, 2008.

  12. Stretching single polysaccharide molecules using AFM: A potential method for the investigation of the intermolecular uronate distribution of alginate?
    M.A.K. Williams, A.T. Marshall, R.G. Haverkamp and K.I. Draget,
    Food Hydrocolloids     , 22, 18–23, 2008.

  13. Entropic and Enthalpic Contributions to the Chair - Boat Conformational Transformation in Dextran under Single Molecule Stretching
    R.G. Haverkamp, A.T. Marshall and M.A. K. Williams,
    J. Phys. Chem. B , 111, 13653-13657, 2007 .

  14. Microrheological studies reveal semiflexible networks in gels of a ubiquitous cell wall polysaccharide
    R.R. Vincent, D.N.Pinder, Y.Hemar and M.A.K. Williams,
    Phys. Rev . E     , 76 , 031909, 2007.

  15. Investigation of the effects of fine structure on the nanomechanical properties of pectin
    M.A.K. Williams, A.T. Marshall, P.Anjukandi and R.G. Haverkamp,
    Phys. Rev. E     , 76 , 021927, 2007.

  16. Model for stretching elastic biopolymers which exhibit conformational transitions
    R.G. Haverkamp, A. T. Marshall and M.A.K. Williams,
    Phys. Rev. E     , 75, 021907, 2007.

  17. Influence of pectin fine structure on the mechanical properties of calcium-pectin and acid-pectin gels
    A. Strom, P. Ribelles, L. Lundin, I.T. Norton, E.R. Morris and M.A.K. Williams,
    Biomacromolecules , 8, 2668-2674, 2007.

  18. Viscosity, swelling and starch leaching during the early stages of pasting of normal and waxy rice starch suspensions containing different milk protein ingredients
    A. Noisuwan, Y. Hemar, J. E. Bronlund, B. Wilkinson and M.A.K. Williams,
    Starch / Stärke    , 59, 379–387, 2007.

  19. On the simulation of enzymatic digest patterns: The fragmentation of oligomeric and polymeric galacturonides by endo-polygalacturonase II
    J.J. Hunt, R. Cameron, M.A.K. Williams,
    Biochimica et Biophysica Acta     , 1760, 1696–1703, 2006.

  20. Resolution of the structural isomers of partially methylesterified oligogalacturonides by polysaccharide analysis using carbohydrate gel electrophoresis
    F. Goubet, A. Ström, B. Quéméner, E. Stephens, M.A.K. Williams, and P. Dupree
    Glycobiology, 16 (1), 29-35, 2006.

  21. Capillary electrophoresis of homogenous pectin fractions
    A. Ström, M-C. Ralet, J-F. Thibault and M.A.K. Williams
    Carbohydr. Polym., 60, 467-473, 2005.

  22. Stretching single molecules of connective tissue glycans to characterize their shape-maintaining elasticity
    R.G. Haverkamp, M.A.K. Williams and J.E. Scott
    Biomacromolecules, 6 (3), 1816-1199, 2005.

  23. An investigation of pectin methylesterification patterns by two independent methods: capillary electrophoresis and polysaccharide analysis using carbohydrate gel electrophoresis
    F. Goubet, A. Ström, P. Dupree and M.A.K. Williams
    Carbohydr. Res., 340 (6), 1193-1199, 2005.

  24. Water T 2 relaxation in sugar solutions
    D. Fabri, M.A.K. Williams and T.K. Halstead
    Carbohydr. Res., 340 (5), 889-905, 2005.

  25. On the separation, detection and quantification of pectin derived oligosaccharides by capillary electrophoresis
    A. Ström and M.A.K. Williams
    Carbohydr. Res., 339 (10), 1711-1716, 2004.

  26. Controlled calcium release in the absense and presence of an ion-binding polymer
    A. Ström and M.A.K. Williams
    J. Phys. Chem., 107 (40), 10995-10999, 2003.

  27. Elucidation of pectin methyl-ester distributions by capillary electrophoresis
    M.A.K.Williams, T.J.Foster, H.A.Schols
    J. Agr. Food Chem., 51(7), 1777-1782, 2003.

  28. Molecular interactions in, and rheological properties of, a mixed biopolymer system undergoing order / disorder transitions
    I. Haug, M.A.K. Williams, L. Lundin, O. Smidsrød and K.I. Draget
    Food Hydrocolloids, 17, 439-444, 2003.

  29. A novel enzyme activity involving the de-methylation of specific partially methylated oligogalacturonides
    M.A.K. Williams and J.A.E. Benen
    Biochem.J., 367 (2), 511-515, 2002.

  30. Analysis of partially methyl-esterified galacturonic acid oligomers by capillary electrophoresis
    M.A.K. Williams, G.M.C. Buffet and T.J. Foster
    Anal. Biochem., 301 (1), 117-122, 2002.

  31. A molecular description of the gelation mechanism of curdlan
    M.A.K. Williams, T.J. Foster, I.T. Norton, H. Zhang and K. Nishinari
    Int. J. Biol. Macromol., 30 (1), 7-16, 2002.

  32. Versatile thermoelectric devices for precise, rapid or slow, heating or cooling of samples: UV-Vis and NMR spectroscopic applications
    M.A.K. Williams, D. Fabri, T.K. Halstead and C.D. Hubbard
    Instrum. Sci. Technol., 29 (5), 367-382, 2001.

  33. Simulation of endo-PG digest patterns and implications for the determination of pectin fine structure
    M.A.K. Williams, GMC Buffet, T.J. Foster and I.T. Norton
    Carbohydr. Res., 334 (3), 243-250, 2001.

  34. A study of the gelation of the polysaccharide curdlan
    H. Zhang, K. Nishinari, T.J. Foster, M.A.K. Williams and I.T. Norton
    Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis, 132, 65-68, 2001.

  35. Kinetics of droplet growth in gelatin / maltodextrin mixtures following thermal quenching
    M.A.K. Williams, D. Fabri, C.D. Hubbard, L. Lundin, T.J. Foster, A.H. Clark, I.T. Norton, N. Lorén and A-M. Hermansson
    Langmuir, 17 (11), 3412-3418, 2001.

  36. Gelation behaviour of konjac glucomannan with different molecular weights
    H. Zhang, M. Yoshimura, K. Nishinari, M.A.K. Williams, T.J. Foster and I.T. Norton
    Biopolymers, 59 (1), 38-50, 2001.

  37. Phase separation induced by conformational ordering of gelatin in gelatin / maltodextrin mixtures
    N. Lorén, A.M. Hermansson, M.A.K. Williams, L. Lundin, T.J. Foster, C.D. Hubbard, A.H. Clark, I.T. Norton, E.T. Bergstrom and D.M. Goodall
    Macromolecules, 34 (2), 289-297, 2001.

  38. A turbidimetric study of phase separating biopolymer mixtures during thermal ramping
    P. Aymard, M.A.K. Williams, A.H. Clark and I.T. Norton
    Langmuir, 16 (19), 7383-7391, 2001.

  39. A molecular description of the gelation mechanism of konjac mannan
    M.A.K. Williams, T.J. Foster, D.R. Martin, I.T. Norton, M. Yoshimura and K. Nishinari
    Biomacromolecules, 1 (3), 440-450, 2000.

  40. Relationship between pore structure and 1H NMR relaxation times in TiO2 / poly (dimethylsiloxane) and CaCO3 / poly(dimethylsiloxane) composite powders
    F.M. Vichi, F. Galembeck T.K. Halstead and M.A.K. Williams
    J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 74 (11), 2660-2666, 1999.

  41. The energy barrier to reorientational motion of the trifluoromethyl group in lithium trifluoromethanesulfonate and its complex with poly (ethylene oxide): a comparison between modelling and NMR relaxation measurements
    E.A. Moore, M. Mortimer, C. Wigglesworth, M.A.K. Williams
    Chem. Phys. Lett., 308 (5-6), 503-508, 1999.

  42. Capillary electrophoresis studies of pectins
    H.J. Zhong, M.A.K. Williams, D.M. Goodall and M. Hanson
    Carbohydr. Res., 308 (1-2), 1-8, 1998.

  43. A 2H NMR lineshape study of -CH3 group dynamics in pectin gels
    M.A.K. Williams, R.D. Keenan and T.K. Halstead
    Food Hydrocolloids, 12 (1), 89-94, 1998.

  44. An analytical form for T2 dispersions arising from diffusive exchange
    M.A.K. Williams and T.K. Halstead
    Mol. Phys., 93 (4), 609-613, 1998.

  45. A non-linear regression method for the analysis of 1H T2 dispersion curves including comments on the role of polydispersity
    M.A.K. Williams, R.D. Keenan and T.K. Halstead
    Magn. Reson. Chem., 36 (3), 163-173, 1998.

  46. Separation and quantification of pectins using capillary electrophoresis: a preliminary study
    H.J. Zhong, M.A.K. Williams, R.D. Keenan and D.M. Goodall
    Carbohydr. Polym., 32 (1), 27, 1997.

  47. 7Li nuclear magnetic spin-lattice relaxation investigation of lithium trifluoromethanesulfonate and its complex with poly (ethylene oxide)
    M. Mortimer, E.A. Moore and M.A.K. Williams
    J. Chem. Soc. Faraday Trans., 92 (24), 5043, 1996.

  48. A 2H spin-lattice relaxation study of -NH3 group dynamics in polycrystalline L-alanine
    M.A.K. Williams, R.D. Keenan and T.K. Halstead
    Solid State Nucl. Mag., 6 (1), 47, 1996.

  49. Nuclear magnetic relaxation study of poly (ethylene oxide) complexed with lithium trifluoromethanesulfonate
    M. Mortimer, E.A. Moore and M.A.K. Williams
    J. Chem. Soc.Faraday Trans.,91(17), 2871, 1995.

  50. 19F nuclear magnetic resonance spin-lattice relaxation study of polycrystalline lithium trifluoromethanesulfonate, including comments on the influence of cross-correlation
    M. Mortimer, E.A. Moore and M.A.K. Williams
    J. Chem. Soc. Faraday Trans., 88 (16), 2393, 1992.

    Book Chapters

  1. Fine structure modification of pectin – analytical characterisation and rheological implications
    A. Ström, L. Lundin, I.T. Norton, E.R. Morris and M.A.K. Williams
    in Gums and Stabilisers for the Food Industry, Volume 13, RSC, Cambridge University Press, 2006.

  2. Phase separation and food structure
    L. Lundin, M.Williams and T Foster
    in Texture in Food Volume 1: Semi-Solid Food, ed. B.M. McKenna, Woodhead Publishing Limited, July 2003.

  3. Capillary electrophoresis as a tool for the characterisation of pectin fine structure
    M.A.K. Williams, G.M.C. Buffet and T.J. Foster
    in Gums and Stabilisers for the Food Industry, Volume 11, RSC, Cambridge University Press, 2002.

  4. Phase separation of biopolymer mixtures
    L. Lundin, T.J. Foster, M.A.K. Williams, I.T. Norton and E.T. Bergstrom
    in Gums and Stabilisers for the Food Industry, Volume 10, RSC, Cambridge University Press, 2000.

  5. The use of NMR in characterizing biopolymer mixtures
    M.A.K. Williams, R.D. Keenan and T.K. Halstead
    in Biopolymer Mixtures, Nottingham University Press, Eds Hill, Harding and Mitchell, 1995.
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