New research shines a light on life after death

Led by Professor Martin Cann from Durham University’s Department of Biosciences, the research has shown that a certain strain of E. coli bacteria produces an enzyme which breaks down the contents of their cells into nutrients after death.  

The recycling of nutrients is necessary for new life to grow. 

Co-author Professor Wilson Poon, from the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh and Centre member,  inspired the research after posing what he believed were some unanswered questions about why organisms die the way they do. 

This study offers profound implications for our understanding of evolution. It suggests that processes after death can be biologically programmed and beneficial in the future as new bacterial targets for novel drug development or as candidates to enhance bacterial growth in biotechnology.

Professor Poon suggests that modelling such processes using the tools of statistical physics may also provide design principles for humans as we move towards a more circular economy in which recycling needs to be built in from the beginning. 

EdinOmics contributed to this project, supporting research into uncovering nutrient recycling processes in bacteria post-death. 

Tessa Moses, Metabolomics expert and co author, highlights their role:

Professor Cann approached EdinOmics seeking to quantify total amino acids, dipeptides, and tripeptides in experimental samples. Recognizing the limitations of existing peptide libraries, EdinOmics undertook the extensive task of creating a comprehensive target library encompassing all possible dipeptide and tripeptide combinations. Leveraging our previously developed Rapid High-resolution Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry (RHIMMS) method, we separated and detected all amino acids and peptides present, annotating the resulting data with our newly generated library. This analysis revealed distinct peptide abundance differences between wild-type and mutant bacterial strains. 

EdinoMics is  a small research facility in the School of Biological Sciences that uses automated workflows to provide proteomics and metabolomics services for qualitative and quantitative analysis. 

‘Bacteria encode post-mortem protein catabolism that enables altruistic nutrient recycling’, Martin J. Cann et al., is published in the journal Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-56761-6 

Nature Communications Paper

Bacteria evolved to help neighbouring cells after death, new research reveals 

Wilson Poon, University of Edinburgh

Professor Martin Cann, Durham University

EdinOmics