Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology

‘Lactyl-CoA mutase’, which is not found in nature, was specifically developed for efficient synthetic metabolic pathways

Proteins that regulate animal stem cells are much older than animals themselves

Evolution in the laboratory can turn a familiar enzyme into a potential hotspot of innovation in synthetic biology

A protein determines the shape of bacteria

Researchers discover how microbial cooperation can emerge

If you want to carry out research in Marburg, you literally have to climb mountains. It is not for nothing that the site on which the university and various research facilities are located is called “Campus Lahnberge.” And so, if you want to cycle to the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, you might get a little out of breath. But not Katharina Höfer – for her, it’s routine.

Max Planck researchers collaborate with partners in more than 120 countries. In this article, they write about their personal experiences and impressions. Elizaveta Bobkova from the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg spent three months in Bordeaux as part of the German–French exchange program Salto. She mastered complicated lab technologies, served as a juror for a synthetic biology competition, and practiced her favorite sport: figure skating.

It is not uncommon for a scientist to hang up their lab coat and become a journalist. Martina Preiner did it the other way around. After a career as a science journalist, she switched sides again in her early thirties and returned to the laboratory. The reason for her change of heart was a fascination with the origin of life.

Every living creature has to gather materials from the environment and convert them into the materials it needs to live. Without metabolism, there would be no life on Earth. Tobias Erb, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg, wants to reprogram metabolic pathways so that raw materials can be produced more sparingly and efficiently. His latest coup? A metabolic cycle driven by electrical energy.

Over 50 million genes and 40,000 proteins: combing through international databases for likely candidates, Tobias Erb and his colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg were faced with an overwhelming choice. In the end, the scientists picked out just 17 enzymes for the first synthetic metabolic pathway that is able to convert carbon dioxide into other organic molecules. Now they have to show that the cycle they sketched out on the drawing board also works in living cells.

Nature uses antimicrobial peptides as broad-spectrum antibiotics: they are the first line of defense against invading pathogens. Bacteria, however, have developed ways to evade these defenses. Our project group has investigated how a small protein establishes a sensitive alarm system of bacteria to be on the lookout for antimicrobial peptides. Our work provides the molecular basis for the development of new peptide-based drugs.

The central biocatalyst in photosynthesis, Rubisco, is the most abundant enzyme on earth. But how did Rubisco evolve, and how did it adapt to environmental changes during Earth’s history? By reconstructing billion-year-old enzymes, our team has deciphered one of the key adaptations of early photosynthesis. Our results not only provide insights into the evolution of modern photosynthesis but also offer new synthetic impulses for improving it.

Ustilago maydis is one of numerous fungal pathogens that destroy large quantities of crops worldwide each year. Its highly specific interaction with the host plant maize is a valuable model system for studying molecular details of fungal-plant interactions. We found a fungal complex of seven proteins forming a structure with an essential role in disease development. Our findings potentially a fungal complex of seven proteins forming a structure with an essential role in disease development. Our findings potentially open up novel approaches to plant protection.

Bacteria such as Salmonella or Yersinia are equipped with tiny "injection needles" for shooting proteins into their host cells. For years, researchers have thought of using bacterial injection devices to introduce proteins into eukaryotic cells. We now succeeded in controlling the injection system optogenetically by using light as a trigger, enabling its targeted utilization in biotechnological or medical applications.

Glycolic acid is a direct by-product of photosynthesis and one of the most important compounds in the carbon cycle of the oceans. Though marine bacteria convert some of its carbon back into carbon dioxide, the exact metabolic pathways remained largely unknown. We rediscovered a long forgotten pathway, the BHA cycle. This cycle was overlooked so far, but actually represents the major pathway for glycolic acid degradation in ubiquitous marine Proteobacteria. Its detailed and multidisciplinary elucidation enables reassessment of the global carbon dioxide balance.