sequencing capacities academiccompany based

microarray facilities academiccompany based

bioinformatics academic

proteomic facilities acedemic

Genome Research on Bacteria relevant for Agriculture, Environment and Biotechnology

Genome Research on bacterial biodiversity / develpment of new production processes

Genome Research on Pathogenic Bacteria

Complete bacterial genomes deciphered:

o Listeria ivanovii Universities of Würzburg and Giessen, GBF Braunschweig in cooperation with Institut Pasteur,

o Listeria grayi Universität Würzburg, in cooperation with Institut Pasteur

o Listeria welshimeri Universities of Würzburg and Giessen

o Listeria seeligeri Universities of Würzburg and Giessen/Universität o Neisseria meningitidis University of Würzburg (together with MWG) in cooperation

with University of Oxford

o endosymbiotic TU München, University of Vienna, MPI-IB, Berlin Chlamydia sp. (together with MWG)

o Streptococcus mitis University of Kaiserslautern

o Staph. carnosus University of Tübingen

o Bordetella petrii Universities of Würzburg, Berlin, GBF Braunschweig

Microarrays available for:

• Neisseria meningitidis • Helicobacter pylori

• Listeria monocytogenes

• Mycobacterium tuberculosis

• Staphylococcus aureus

• Staphylococcus epidermidis

• Streptococcus pneumoniae

• Streptococcus pyogenes

• Chlamydophila pneumoniae

o Nosocomial infections Pathogens addressed include Staphylococcus spp., Enterococcus spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacteriaceae, fungi (Candida and Aspergillus)

o Pneumonia and other respiratory tract infections Pathogens addressed include Mycobacterium tuberculosis, S. pneumoniae, Chlamydophila pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, group A streptococci, Bordetella spp., Haemophilus influenzae and Aspergillus spp.

o Intestinal infections and food contaminations caused by Salmonella enterica, Campylobacter jejuni, Yersinia enterocolitica, E. coli, L. monocytogenes, S. aureus, Bacillus cereus, Clostridium difficile and C. perfringens

o Meningitis caused by meningococci, pneumococci, group B streptococci, H. influenzae b, E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes

o Microorganisms, causing secondary pathologies (cancer, chronic inflammation) Helicobacter spp., Chlamydiae spp.

o Polymicrobial diseases in particular parodontitis and inflammatory intestinal diseases

Genome research onpathogenic bacteria

Novel tools fordiagnosis andtyping

Targets for anti-infective therapy

Vaccine antigens

Genome research onpathogenic bacteria

Novel tools fordiagnosis andtyping

Targets for anti-infective therapy

Vaccine antigens

Infection biology ofpathogens

Host-pathogen interactions

Development and improvement of methods

the biology of pathogens   the microbial ecology and the composition of mixed populations

including metagenomic approaches the metabolism of the pathogens and their host cells under the

condition of the infection regulatory networks of virulence genes the evolution of microbial pathogenicity and antibiotic resistance the formation of biofilms as well as microbial microcolonies and

aggregates the genome plasticity and the coverage of the pool of virulence

genes the antigenic diversity in vitro and in vivo gene expression investigations using the

high-throughput methods trancriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, interactomics as well as siRNA-technology and new imaging methods.

interaction of pathogens and the hosts • studies of microbial pathogenicity under in vivo conditions using

appropriate animal and tissue-(surrogate)-models and in vivo imaging methods

• the elucidation of the mechanisms allowing the penetration of epithelial and endothelial barriers (blood-brain-barrier; intestinal epithelium; pulmonary epithelium; placenta). Central aspects should address the receptors and other cell surface structures of the host cell and the corresponding structures on the surface of the microbial partners, as well as the cell-to-cell communication initiated within the two partners

• metabolic activities leading to the adaptation of the microorganisms to their favoured compartment within the host

• mechanisms of the evasion of the host immune response by different pathogens

• the correlation of bacterial pathotyps with the genetically fixed disposition of the host

• commensalisms and nosocomial infections (pathotyps)• mechanisms of secondary pathologies, like cancer and chronical

inflammation, triggered by microorganims in the infected host..

development and improvement of methods  • the development of new bioassays for the identification of targets for

therapy (including structural analysis of target proteins) and the development of new in vivo screening techniques for the identification of genes relevant to infection and bacterial metabolism

• the development of new diagnostic strategies, in particular genome-based methods

• prebiotics and probiotics for therapy and prevention • the determination of reproducible metagenomes of microbial

communities like the intestinal flora and the flora of the mucosae and the skin

• the improvement of bioluminescence- and other imaging methods to monitor infections in vivo

• the development of new animal models with the help of transgenic techniques

• the establishment of extensive strain- and tissue collections • the further development of bioinformatical techniques and methods

Research infrastructure

e.g. Listeria genome project,Legionella & E. coli microarrays

Research projects

Würzburg – Institute Pasteur

Berlin MPI – University Vienna

Chlamydia

Medical School – KarolinskaHannover Institute

Helicobacter

Teaching

Würzburg – Umea Würzburg – Helsinki/ Turku

in preparation

Hannover – Karolinska Institute

in preparation

Würzburg – Institute Pasteur

Listeria