Postdoctoral Associate

Mayi is a microbial oceanographer whose research interest is on understanding metabolic pathways that helps microorganism to survive environmental perturbations. The central focus of Mayi’s research is on quantifying the significance of organosulfur compounds in facilitating these roles across the global oceans including in the Antarctica sea ice and open water and across the biogeographical gradients of Atlantic Ocean. His research involve incorporating field measurements of these compounds, metagenomic and transcriptomic to reveal key microbial taxa (algae and bacteria) and associated gene expression levels encoding for the production, accumulation and degradation of organosulfur compounds in these complex environment. He has conducted his research in multi-disciplinary and international cruises including, the RV SA Agalhus II, RV RRS Discovery and RRS Polarstern.

Mayi’s current project is in collaboration with the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB), where they are establishing a microbiology-based monitoring platform for monitoring human driven and climate forced ecological changes across the SA coastline.

Selected Publications

Buthelezi, Z.M., Pierneef, R.E., Bezuidt, O.K., et al. 2026. Dimethylsulfoniopropionate metabolism shapes microbial ecology and physiological adaptation during the austral winter in Southern Ocean sea ice and seawater. Nature Communications, 17(1), p.4864. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-73596-x. Editors’ Highlights under Earth science https://www.nature.com/collections/eihfbddfac

Buthelezi, Z.M., Pierneef, R.E., Bezuidt, O.K.I. and Makhalanyane, T.P., 2025. High-quality metagenomic-assembled genomes from sea ice and seawater of the Southern Ocean. Microbiology Resource Announcements, 14(7), pp.e01298-24.

Buthelezi, Z.M., Bezuidt, O.K., Lui, L., et al., Biogeographical gradients shape demand-driven microbial dimethylsulfoniopropionate metabolism across the Atlantic. (In prep).

Fellowships

• Oppenheimer Memorial Trust postdoctoral fellowship
• National Research Foundation (NRF) South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP) postdoctoral fellowship
• ISME Scholar Mobility Fund