AG Mikrobielle Biotechnologie

Research of my group is strongly related to aspects of food safety and human health. One focus is the identification and characterization of novel antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) with activity against food spoiling bacteria and human pathogens. Consequently, the group is also investigating strategies for biotechnological production of these AMPs and their application in food protection and therapy of infections. Moreover, we are interested in the biology of commensal and pathogenic bacteria of the human gastrointestinal tract and their interaction with environment and host. For all our projects, we are continuously developing new molecular tools for the microorganisms we study. This includes the generation of sensor strains and screening systems to identify and analyze AMPs and the development of CRISPR/Cas-based molecular tools for Listeria monocytogenes and Bifidobacterium bifidum.

 

Our current research topics:

• Identification and characterization of novel AMPs/bacteriocins for food protection and therapeutic applications 
• Biotechnological production of recombinant AMPs/bacteriocins using Corynebacterium glutamicum and sustainable substrates
• Molecular tools for bifidobacteria to study their effects on human health

 

Third party-funded research projects:

• 2024-2027: BW Foundation, project „AVIT“, collaboration with J. Münch, Institute of Molecular Virology, Ulm University Medical Center
• 2023-2027: H2020 RIA consortium „iCulture“, Grant No. ‭101082010‬‬
• 2023-2027: Project AILEEN, collaboration with NTNU, funded by Norwegian Research Council 
• 2023-2026: BMBF consortium “EXAMPLIFY”, Grant No. 031B1338A (coordinator)
• ‬2022-2025: BW Foundation, project „IMPALA“
• 2020-2023: BMBF consortium “AMPLIFY”, Grant No. 031B0826A (coordinator)
• 2018-2022: H2020 BBI-RIA consortium iFermenter, Grant No. 790507
• 2016-2019: ERA-IB2 consortium “SafeFood”, Grant No. 031B0268