Professor Gerald Tannock

Research Interest: Gastrointestinal Microbiota
Year of Appointment: 1974
Training: BSc PhD(Otago)

Born and bred in Otago and a University of Otago graduate, Professor Tannock spent two years as a Fogarty International Postdoctoral Fellow with Dwayne C. Savage at the University of Texas and the University of Illinois. He has been a member of the academic staff of the University of Otago since 1974, being awarded a personal Professorial Chair in 1996. He held a half time position in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada from 2001 to 2005.

Professor Tannock has authored a monograph “Normal Microflora. An Introduction to
the Microbes Inhabiting the Human Body” (1995) and has edited four multi-author texts
(“Probiotics. A Critical Review”, 1999; “Medical Importance of the Normal Microflora”,
1999; “Probiotics and Prebiotics: Where Are We Going?” 2002; “Probiotics and
Prebiotics: Scientific Aspects”, 2005). Professor Tannock’s book chapters and reviews
in journals have provided an independent, critical commentary on the development and
use of ‘probiotic’ products during two decades. He has been President of the New
Zealand Microbiological Society (1996-1998), was inaugural Editor-in-Chief of the
review journal “Current Issues in Intestinal Microbiology” (2000-2002), was a member of
the editorial board of Microbial Ecology 1992-2005, and has been a member of the
editorial boards of Applied and Environmental Microbiology and Inflammatory Bowel
Diseases since 2006. Professor Tannock was awarded a Royal Society of New Zealand
Silver Medal in 2000 for his contributions to Science and Technology, and was elected
Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology in 2002.

Current Research

The molecular foundations of autochthony
The gut microbiota and inflammatory bowel diseases
The gut microbiota and atopic diseases of childhood

Professor Tannock’s research concerns the communities of bacteria that inhabit the
gastrointestinal tract of animals. Research projects include the microbiology of
inflammatory bowel diseases, the use of a unique colony of Lactobacillus-free mice in
investigating the molecular foundations of gut autochthony using lactobacilli as model
bacteria, engineering bowel communities by dietary manipulation, and the impact of
bifidobacterial species on the activation of human dendritic cells with respect to atopic
diseases. Professor Tannock’s expertise has added an important microbiological facet
to national and international, multi-disciplinary clinical studies in recent years

Teaching

MICR 221 (medical microbiology)
MICR 222 (microbial ecology)
MICR 331 (foodborne pathogens)
MICR 463 (microbial ecology)
PHCY 219 (basic bacteriology).

Research articles published

Gut commensal Lactobacillus reuteri 100-23 stimulates an immunoregulatory response. (pdf)
Livingston M, Loach D, Wilson M, Tannock GW, Baird M.
Immunol Cell Biol. 2009 Sep 29.

Bifidobacterium animalis causes extensive duodenitis and mild colonic inflammation in monoassociated interleukin-10-deficient mice. (pdf)
Moran JP, Walter J, Tannock GW, Tonkonogy SL, Sartor RB.
Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2009 Jul;15(7):1022-31.

The immune response to autologous bacteroides in ankylosing spondylitis is characterized by reduced interleukin 10 production. (pdf)
Stebbings SM, Taylor C, Tannock GW, Baird MA, Highton J.
J Rheumatol. 2009 Apr;36(4):797-800.

The search for disease-associated compositional shifts in bowel bacterial communities of humans.
Tannock GW.
Trends Microbiol. 2008 Oct;16(10):488-95.

A differential effect of 2 probiotics in the prevention of eczema and atopy: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.
Wickens K, Black PN, Stanley TV, Mitchell E, Fitzharris P, Tannock GW, Purdie G, Crane J; Probiotic Study Group.
J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2008 Oct;122(4):788-94.

Lactobacillus reuteri 100-23 transiently activates intestinal epithelial cells of mice that have a complex microbiota during early stages of colonization.
Hoffmann M, Rath E, Hölzlwimmer G, Quintanilla-Martinez L, Loach D, Tannock G, Haller D.
J Nutr. 2008 Sep;138(9):1684-91.

Analysis of bacterial bowel communities of IBD patients: what has it revealed?
Sokol H, Lay C, Seksik P, Tannock GW.
Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2008 Jun;14(6):858-67.

Glucosyltransferase A (GtfA) and inulosucrase (Inu) of Lactobacillus reuteri TMW1.106 contribute to cell aggregation, in vitro biofilm formation, and colonization of the mouse gastrointestinal tract.
Walter J, Schwab C, Loach DM, Gänzle MG, Tannock GW.
Microbiology. 2008 Jan;154(Pt 1):72-80.

Differential clustering of bowel biopsy-associated bacterial profiles of specimens collected in Mexico and Canada: what do these profiles represent?
Bibiloni R, Tandon P, Vargas-Voracka F, Barreto-Zuniga R, Lupian-Sanchez A, Rico-Hinojosa MA, Guban J, Fedorak R, Tannock GW.
J Med Microbiol. 2008 Jan;57(Pt 1):111-7.

Mah KW, Chin VI, Wong WS, Lay C, Tannock GW, Shek LP, Aw MM, Chua KY, Wong HB, Panchalingham A, Lee BW. Effect of a milk formula containing probiotics on the fecal microbiota of asian infants at risk of atopic diseases. Pediatr Res. 2007 Dec;62(6):674-9.

Pope C, Wilson J, Taboada EN, Mackinnon J, Felipe Alves CA, Nash JH, Rahn K, Tannock GW. Epidemiology, relative invasive ability, molecular characterization, and competitive performance of Campylobacter jejuni strains in the chicken gut. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2007 Dec;73(24):7959-66.

Harrow SA, Ravindran V, Butler RC, Marshall JW, Tannock GW. Real-time quantitative pcr measurement of ileal Lactobacillus salivarius populations from broiler chickens to determine the influence of farming practices. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2007 Nov;73(22):7123-7.

Walter J, Loach DM, Alqumber M, Rockel C, Hermann C, Pfitzenmaier M, Tannock GW. D-alanyl ester depletion of teichoic acids in Lactobacillus reuteri 100-23 results in impaired colonization of the mouse gastrointestinal tract. Environ Microbiol. 2007 Jul;9(7):1750-60.

Schwab C, Walter J, Tannock GW, Vogel RF, Gänzle MG. Sucrose utilization and impact of sucrose on glycosyltransferase expression in Lactobacillus reuteri. Syst Appl Microbiol. 2007 Sep;30(6):433-43.