Institute for Molecular Bio Science

Research

There are currently eleven working groups at the Institute; they investigate a wide variety of molecular aspects of life. This research primarily focuses on microorganisms and plants. Membrane Biology is traditionally one of the strongest areas at the Institute. In this context, the focal point is the analysis of the structure and function of membrane-bound proteins, as well as their regulation and participation in intracellular signalling cascades. In the field of Biotechnology, work is being conducted on the development of microbial cell factories using both classical and recombinant methods to bring about overproduction of a range of enzymes and chemicals. Another new aspect of this field is the identification, characterisation and application of new metabolites from the secondary metabolism of entomopathogenic microbes. Metabolic pathways are selectively altered, e.g. to produce biofuels or to develop therapeutic methods of improving cellular defence.

In Microbial Physiology the emphasis is on metabolic physiology, specifically on its regulation and genetic basis in the Archaea, Bacteria and Eukaryota. The results of this study form the basis of analysis by membrane biologists and biotechnologists, leading to close networking both within the faculty and beyond. Research topics in Molecular Plant Physiology are the energy metabolism of photosynthetic organisms and its underlying organelle interactions. Physiological, structural, biochemical and genetic investigation all play an important part in this research.

Degenerative Processes and Molecular Stress focuses on the investigation of molecular aging mechanisms, especially the role of mitochondria in the aging process, as well as the analysis of cellular responses to heat and light stress. The groups working on Protective Functions of Carotenoids are investigating the molecular mechanism of carotenoid function in strong light conditions, as well as in protection from reactive oxygen species and membrane damage caused by external factors. In the field of Regulatory RNAs, the research focuses on structural and functional analysis of regulatory non-coding RNAs and their interactions with proteins, as well as their biological functions and cellular regulation.

Department	Title	First Name	Surname
Biology and Biotechnology of Fungi	Prof.	Richard	Splivallo
Biology and Genetics of Procaryotes	Prof.	Jörg	Soppa
B iosynthesis in Plants und Microorganism	Prof.	Gerhard	Sandmann
Merck-Stiftungsprofessur Molecular Biotechnology	Prof.	Helge	Bode
Molecular Developmental Biology	Prof.	Heinz Dieter	Osiewacz
Molecular Microbiology and Bioenergetics	Prof.	Volker	Müller
Molecular Microbiology and Bioenergetics	Prof.	Beate	Averhoff
Molecular Cell Biology of Plants	Prof.	Enrico	Schleiff
mRNA-based gene regulation	Dr.	Andreas	Schlundt
Plant Cell Physiology	Prof.	Claudia	Büchel
Physiology and Genetics of Lower Eukaryotes	Prof.	Eckhard	Boles
RNA Structural Biology	Prof.	Jens	Wöhnert

Title	First Name	Surname	Department

Prof.	Beate	Averhoff	Molecular Microbiology and Bioenergetics
Prof.	Helge	Bode	Merck-Stiftungsprofessur Molecular Biotechnology
Prof.	Eckhard	Boles	Physiology and Genetics of Lower Eukaryotes
Prof.	Claudia	Büchel	Plant Cell Physiology
Prof.	Volker	Müller	Molecular Microbiology and Bioenergetics
Prof.	Heinz Dieter	Osiewacz	Molecular Developmental Biology
Prof.	Gerhard	Sandmann	B iosynthesis in Plants und Microorganism
Prof.	Enrico	Schleiff	Molecular Cell Biology of Plants
Dr.	Andreas	Schlundt	mRNA-based gene regulation
Prof.	Jörg	Soppa	Biology and Genetics of Procaryotes
Prof.	Richard	Splivallo	Biology and Biotechnology of Fungi
Prof.	Jens	Wöhnert	RNA Structural Biology

29.10.2019 - Dr. Danny Ionescu - Leibniz Institut Stechlin

Achromatium oxaliferum - A compartmentalized super bacterium with multiple-personalities

Polyploid bacteria are common, but the genetic and functional diversity resulting from polyploidy is not fully understood. Achromatium sp. is the largest freshwater bacterium. Its cells contain multiple calcite bodies whose evolutionary role has not been determined. Like other large-sulfur bacteria, it has multiple chromosomes as seen by nucleic acid staining. Using single-cell genomics, metagenomics, single- cell amplicon sequencing and fluorescence in-situ hybridization, we show that individual cells Achromatium harbor genetic diversity typical of multi-species populations. Interestingly, the rRNA distribution inside the cells hints to spatially- differential gene expression. Broad-scale surveys of short-read archives show that Achromatium sp. is globally present in rivers, freshwater lakes, and marine environments but no environment-specific phylogenetic clustering of the 16S rRNA gene is observed. This is likely due to high intra-cellular and population-wide phylogenetic diversity further supporting our findings. We show that these cells contain and also express tens of transposable elements, which likely contribute the unprecedented diversity that we observe in the sequence and synteny of genes. Accordingly, we suggest that the multiple chromosomes of Achromatium do not represent copies of its genome. Nevertheless, our analysis shows that most proteins are under conservation pressure. Thus, given the high single-cell diversity of functional genes and the usually conserved 16S rRNA gene, we suggest that gene convergence is limited to chromosomal clusters formed by the large calcite bodies in the cell. We further suggest that upon cell division, these cluster are shuffled resulting in two daughter cells different from each other as well as from the mother cell. To obtain information on how many alleles of a gene are expressed from the complete repertoire available in each cell, we are developing a method to simultaneously obtain both the genome and transcriptome of each single cell. This allows overcoming the lack of a common genome sequence to the entire population.

05.11.2019 - Dr. Marina Chekulaeva - MDC Berlin

Mechanisms of RNA localization in neurons

The proper subcellular localization of RNAs and proteins is crucial for their function. It is particularly important for highly polarized cells, such as oocytes, migrating and growing cells, neurons. In mRNAs, they are mediated by specific cis-regulatory elements, so called zip-codes. These elements are bound by trans-acting factors (RBPs, miRNAs), which regulate transport, stability or translation. So far, our knowledge is restricted to only a few examples of zip-codes and regulatory factors. We aim to identify these elements genome-wide and dissect molecular mechanisms underlying their function. To identify proteins and RNAs that are differentially localized and translated between neuronal subcellular compartments - neurites and soma - we developed a neurite/soma separation scheme in combination with mass spectrometry, RNA-seq, 3'-mRNAseq, Ribo-seq and bioinformatic analyses (1, 2, 3). Our results demonstrate that mRNA localization is the primary mechanism for protein localization in neurites and may account for more than a half of the neurite-localized proteome. Moreover, we identified multiple neurite-targeted non-coding RNAs and RBPs with potential regulatory roles. Using a combination of PAR-CLIP, RIP, and CRISPR/Cas mediated knockouts, we are dissecting the roles of selected neurite-targeted RBPs and miRNAs in establishment of neuronal polarity. Relying on the same neurite/soma separation scheme, we are mapping cis-regulatory elements mediating RNA localization and investigating architecture of local proteome, transcriptome and translatome in motor neuron disorders.

19.11.2019 Dr. Kristian Parey - MPI für Biophysik, Frankfurt

The Alpha and Omega of Biological Energy Conservation

14.01.2020 Prof. Dr. Miltos Tsiantis - MPI Köln

28.01.2020 - Frau Jun.Prof. Neva Caliskan - Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research: Recoding Mechanisms in Infections (REMI))

04.02.2020 - Prof. Dr. Peter Schönheit - Universität Kiel