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Chair of Microbiology

In the focus of research at the Chair of Microbiology are pathogenicity mechanisms of different microorganisms such as Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, Bordetella pertussis and Staphylococcus aureus.

Host-pathogen interactions, pathogen-induced host cell apoptosis as well as the interface of infection and cancer are of peticular interest.

Follow this link to find out more about our research.

News

Links ruhende Chlamydien (helle Kreise), die ohne Glutamin gehalten werden. Nach der Zugabe von Glutamin (rechts) gehen die Bakterien in die Teilungsstadien über (dunklere Kreise).

Chlamydia: Greedy for Glutamine

If chlamydiae want to multiply in a human cell, the first thing they need is a lot of glutamine. Würzburg researchers have clarified how the pathogenic bacteria obtain this substance.

Auf hohem fachlichem Niveau zu promovieren: Diese Möglichkeit bieten Graduiertenkollegs Doktorandinnen und Doktoranden. Junge Infektionsforscher finden dafür auch in den kommenden Jahren an der JMU das entsprechende Angebot.

Infektionsforschung: Graduiertenkolleg verlängert

Infektionskrankheiten des Menschen besser verstehen und damit den Weg zu neuen Therapien bahnen: Das ist Ziel eines Graduiertenkollegs an der Universität Würzburg. Es kann jetzt in eine zweite Förderperiode starten.

Dr. Ana Rita Brochado erforscht die Antibiotikawirkung auf Bakterien.

Systems Biology of Antibiotics

Bacteria can quickly become resistant to antibiotics. Which mechanisms are responsible for this and how to counteract it? Dr. Ana Rita Brochado, who is setting up a new Emmy Noether Junior Research Group at the University of Würzburg, is investigating this.

Thomas Rudel, Inhaber des Lehrstuhls für Mikrobiologie am Biozentrum der Universität Würzburg.

ERC Advanced Grant für Thomas Rudel

Ein hochrangiger Preis des Europäischen Forschungsrates geht an Professor Thomas Rudel. Der Mikrobiologe erhält 2,5 Millionen Euro für ein neues Projekt zur Erforschung der krankheitserregenden Chlamydien.

Open positions in Ana Brochado's lab:

F2 internship or MSc project on computational approaches to elucidate drug-drug interactions in bacteria (read more)

[Translate to Englisch:] Welcome-picture

Microbe of the year 2020:
Myxococcus xanthus

Newest Publications

Stelzner K, Winkler AC, Liang C, Boyny A, Ade CP, Dandekar T, Fraunholz MJ, Rudel T. Intracellular Staphylococcus aureus Perturbs the Host Cell Ca²⁺ Homeostasis To Promote Cell Death. mBio. 2020 Dec 15;11(6):e02250-20. doi: 10.1128/mBio.02250-20.
Götz R, Kunz TC, Fink J, Solger F, Schlegel J, Seibel J, Kozjak-Pavlovic V, Rudel T, Sauer M. Nanoscale imaging of bacterial infections by sphingolipid expansion microscopy. Nat Commun. 2020 Dec 2;11(1):6173. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-19897-1.

Tragust S, Herrmann C, Häfner J, Braasch R, Tilgen C, Hoock M, Milidakis MA, Gross R, Feldhaar H. Formicine ants swallow their highly acidic poison for gut microbial selection and control. Elife. 2020 Nov 3;9:e60287. doi: 10.7554/eLife.60287.

Koch RD, Hörner EM, Münch N, Maier E, Kozjak-Pavlovic V. Modulation of Host Cell Death and Lysis Are Required for the Release of Simkania negevensis. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2020 Oct 29;10:594932. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.594932.

Yang T, Heydarian M, Kozjak-Pavlovic V, Urban M, Harbottle RP, Rudel T. Folliculin Controls the Intracellular Survival and Trans-Epithelial Passage of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2020 Sep 4;10:422. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.00422.
Groma M, Horst SA, Das S, Huettel B, Klepsch M, Rudel T, Medina E, Fraunholz M. 2020. Identification of a Novel LysR-Type Transcriptional Regulator in Staphylococcus aureus That Is Crucial for Secondary Tissue Colonization during Metastatic Bloodstream Infection. mBio 11:e01646-20.
DOI: 10.1128/mBio.01646-20
Rajeeve K, Vollmuth N, Janaki-Raman S, Wulff TF, Baluapuri A, Dejure FR, Huber C, Fink J, Schmalhofer M, Schmitz W, Sivadasan R, Wolf E, Eisenreich W, Schulze A, Seibel J, Rudel T. Reprogramming of host glutamine metabolism during Chlamydia trachomatis infection and its key role in peptidoglycan synthesis. Nat Microbiol. 2020 Aug 3. doi: 10.1038/s41564-020-0762-5.
Kunz TC, Götz R, Gao S, Sauer M, Kozjak-Pavlovic V. Using Expansion Microscopy to Visualize and Characterize the Morphology of Mitochondrial Cristae. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2020 Jul 15;8:617. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2020.0061

Solger F, Kunz TC, Fink J, Paprotka K, Pfister P, Hagen F, Schumacher F, Kleuser B, Seibel J, Rudel T. A Role of Sphingosine in the Intracellular Survival of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2020 May 12;10:215. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.00215.
Domenech A, Brochado AR, Sender V, Hentrich K, Henriques-Normark B, Typas A, Veening JW. Proton Motive Force Disruptors Block Bacterial Competence and Horizontal Gene Transfer. Cell Host Microbe. 2020 Feb 22. pii: S1931-3128(20)30073-1. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2020.02.002.
Gulve N, Rudel T. Chlamydia trachomatis and human herpesvirus 6 infections in ovarian cancer-Casual or causal? PLoS Pathog. 2019 Nov 7;15(11):e1008055. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008055.
Yang M, Rajeeve K, Rudel T, Dandekar T. Comprehensive Flux Modeling of Chlamydia trachomatis Proteome and qRT-PCR Data Indicate Biphasic Metabolic Differences Between Elementary Bodies and Reticulate Bodies During Infection. Front Microbiol. 2019 Oct 15;10:2350. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.02350.
Auer D, Hügelschäffer SD, Fischer AB, Rudel T. The chlamydial deubiquitinase Cdu1 supports recruitment of Golgi vesicles to the inclusion. Cell Microbiol. 2019 Nov 1:e13136. doi: 10.1111/cmi.13136.
Wagner F, Kunz TC, Chowdhury SR, Thiede B, Fraunholz M, Eger D, Kozjak-Pavlovic V. Armadillo repeat-containing protein 1 is a dual localization protein associated with mitochondrial intermembrane space bridging complex. PLoS One. 2019 Oct 23;14(10):e0218303. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0218303.
Kunz TC, Kozjak-Pavlovic V. Diverse Facets of Sphingolipid Involvement in Bacterial Infections. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2019 Sep 19;7:203. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2019.00203.
Kunz TC, Götz R, Sauer M, Rudel T. Detection of Chlamydia Developmental Forms and Secreted Effectors by Expansion Microscopy. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2019 Aug 9;9:276. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2019.00276.
Heydarian M, Yang T, Schweinlin M, Steinke M, Walles H, Rudel T, Kozjak-Pavlovic V. Biomimetic Human Tissue Model for Long-Term Study of Neisseria gonorrhoeae Infection. Front Microbiol. 2019 Jul 31;10:1740. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.01740
Rother M, Teixeira da Costa AR, Zietlow R, Meyer TF, Rudel T. Modulation of Host Cell Metabolism by Chlamydia trachomatis. Microbiol Spectr. 2019 May;7(3). doi: 10.1128/microbiolspec.BAI-0012-2019
Moldovan A, Fraunholz MJ. In or out: Phagosomal escape of Staphylococcus aureus. Cell Microbiol. 2019 Mar;21(3):e12997. doi: 10.1111/cmi.12997.
Eisenreich W, Rudel T, Heesemann J, Goebel W. How Viral and Intracellular Bacterial Pathogens Reprogram the Metabolism of Host Cells to Allow Their Intracellular Replication. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2019 Mar 4;9:42. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2019.00042.

Chair of Microbiology

Chair of Microbiology