The Microbiology department is working on a broad spectrum of topics employing lots of different methods. An overview of current topics is given here.

For the year 2021 we offer following master projects:

Nitrogen fixation in Cyanobacteria

Sensing of environmental changes by Archaea

Protein-protein interaction studies in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Light-sensing of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

One of the most abundant units in the world are viruses. As part of this group, bacteriophages are an important component in the control of bacterial populations and contribute significantly to horizontal gene transfer. In marine habitats, cyanophages (bacteriophages that infect cyanobacteria) are equipped with specific genes that allow them to modulate host metabolism during infection. These genes are referred to as auxiliary metabolic genes (AMG) and often code for proteins involved in photosynthesis. So far, the influence of AMGs is not fully understood. The aim of this research is the characterization and biochemical analysis of pigmentary biosynthesis genes of phages.

Contact: Helen Wegner (hwegner[a]rhrk.uni-kl.de)