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News

2024


May 2024

Our recent study published in Nucleic Acids Research delves into the structural organization of archaeal transcription complexes. Collaborating with the Structural Biochemistry department, we utilized single-particle cryo-electron microscopy, supplemented by single-molecule FRET and biochemcial analysis, of Pyrococcus furiosus RNA polymerase complexes. Our investigation sheds light on the influence of the transcription elongation factor Spt4/5 on the overall architecture and function of the RNA polymerase. This research unveils the broader role of Spt4/5 in transcription, potentially extending beyond its known function in elongation support.

doi: 10.1093/nar/gkae282


2023


November 2023

New Paper by the SynMiBi group: in this study, we built an artificial ruthenium enzyme that catalyzes new-to-nature carbon-carbon coupling in an atroposelective manner. Congratulations to Tobias and our dream collaborators from the Ward and Sparr groups (Uni Basel).
doi:10.1002/cctc.202301113

Copyrigth image: Wiley


October 2023

Hochsprung Award

HOCHSPRUNG is a network of entrepreneurs at universities in Bavaria. Established in 2020, the primary task is to support entrepreneurs working at and with universities to found startups and to support a culture of innovation across all disciplines.
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Microbify GmbH, a spin-off from our department, is the winner of the 2023 Hochsprung award. The jury was impressed by the overall potential of our work to support future energy supply both in terms of making gas supply safer and more sustainable.?
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Georg Schmid, co-founder and managing director of Microbify: ?We are honored by the jury¡®s decision to award this prestigious price to us. We are proud to see our scientifically based work with high relevance in an industrial context being recognized not only by our customers.¡°

Contact: Dr. Georg Schmid (georg.schmid@microbify.com)
Photo: Alexander Wei?


October 2023

ORBIT II Workshop at the University of Regensburg: New Perspectives for Sustainable Methane Production

As part of the BMWK-funded ORBIT II project, the interdisciplinary workshop "Advances in biological methanation: Microbes as game changers for a sustainable future" took place at the University of Regensburg on October 5th and 6th, 2023.

Discussions among participants during the workshop covered a wide range of topics. Scientific fundamentals of methanogenesis were explored, along with the latest insights into genetic modifications of methanogens. Another focus was on the practical application of biological methanation, particularly regarding flexible bioreactors, alternative storage methods such as subsurface storage, and integration into municipal energy concepts. Three workshops provided opportunities for discussions on current issues related to upscaling and the legal implementation of methanation projects.

The significance of sustainable methane production for an environmentally friendly energy future was emphasized. The event concluded with the presentation of the Poster Prize for outstanding work in identifying suitable locations for methanation reactors.

For those who missed this event, it is worth noting the 3rd ORBIT workshop in early summer 2024, which will be held at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg. Further information about the project is available at www.orbit-projekt.de.


October 2023

Insights into Extreme Adaptation: Our latest study, now published in mBio, unveils the remarkable resilience of the hyperthermophilic archaeon, Pyrococcus furiosus, in the face of rapid environmental fluctuations. Employing multi-omics, we decode the RNA- and protein-level responses to thermal stress, advancing our understanding of the molecular adaptations that underlie life in extreme environments.

doi:10.1128/mbio.02174-23


July 2023

Our latest work utilizing Nanopore technology to study rRNA maturation in Archaea is now published! In collaboration with S¨¦bastien Ferreira-Cerca's lab, our study sheds light on shared and organism-specific steps of rRNA processing, along with the installation of crucial RNA modifications that fine-tune translation machinery function.

copyright image: Dr. Felix Gr¨¹nberger

Press release of the University Regensburg

https://rnajournal.cshlp.org/content/29/8/1255.full


June 2023

Workshop: Advances in biological methanation

As part of the ORBIT II research project, an international workshop on "Advances in biological methanation: microbes as game changers for a sustainable future" will be held in the fall on October 5 & 6, 2023.

We are looking forward to top experts with exciting presentations on biological methanation. In the workshop sessions specific problems and their solutions can be identified and discussed. In guided tours you can explore the university's Biotechnikum and the ORBIT project reactor. There will also be poster presentations and an open session for 10min talks. For both you can apply with an abstract (200 words) until 01.09.2023.

The agenda can be found on the ORBIT project homepage. see
Registration is now open and will be possible until 21.09.2023.


C: Dr. Kevin Kramm
May 2023

How accurately can the movement of biomolecules be measured using light? Our team was part of a worldwide blind comparative study to evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility of single-molecule FRET measurements on proteins. The is now published in Nature Methods and was initiated and coordinated by Prof. Dr. Thorben Cordes, Prof. Dr. Don C. Lamb (both LMU Munich), Prof. Dr. Claus Seidel (HHU D¨¹sseldorf) and Dr. Anders Barth (TU Delft).

copyright image: Dr. Kevin Kramm

see


April 2023

We love to isolate new micororganisms. This one is very special: Linda Dengler brought a sample from an oil well in Costa Rica and found that a sulfate-reducing bacterium and methanogen form a thick biofilm in this habitat. The full description of these new species is now published in Archives of Microbiology.
see


February 2023

Check out the latest work of the SynMiBi Group shedding new light on sequence determinants of translation in bacteria! This was quite a journey, with some surprising findings enabled by ultradeep sequence-function mapping with DNA recorders.
https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkad04


Starting in 2023 Dina Grohmann joined Nucleic Acids Research as an editorial board member.


RNA-Society

We are honoured and grateful that our paper "Nanopore sequencing of RNA and cDNA molecules in Escherichia coli" has been selected as one of the two 2022 winners of the RNA Journal Prize awarded by the RNA society. Special congratulations to Felix Gr¨¹nberger who spear-headed this study.


2022


November 2022

We are happy to announce that the ORBIT project now has its own homepage:


September 2022

Congratulations to Daniel Eckl for successfully defending his PhD thesis titled ¡°Photodynamic inactivation - the role of ions and future application perspectives¡°. Very well done!


September 2022

Part two of our Cas12a story is out: we have gained a comprehensive understanding of the role of the bridge helix and helix 1 in regulating the activity of Cas12a. Congrats to first author Elisabeth W?rle.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkac767


August 2022

In 2016 Linda Dengler first initiated the sampling, isolation and characterization of anaerobic microorganisms from Costa Rica. Now, the first novel species that derived from this project was published in Archives of Microbiology: Methanofollis propanolicus was isolated from an oil well and produces methane from propanol.
The legal progress was accompanied by the collaboration with the Costa Rican authorities MINAE and ACLAC, the Japanese JCM and the German DSMZ.


August 2022

Welcome to Daniel ¡°Ecki¡± Eckl who will join the project ORBIT II as a research fellow.


August 2022

Microbify was awarded the third place among more than 100 applications at the Bavarian Businessplan-Wettbewerb of www.baystartup.de. The team received 5.000 € prize money and is very proud of this great success, demonstrating the potential of their business ideas. ??

/pressearchiv/index.html?tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News &tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=17944&cHash=ac1e4c7f71911ab6ea0d0209e92160fb


July 2022

Our latest publication is the result of 10 years work. Very happy and proud to see our single-molecule FRET study on human Ago2 study being published in Nature Communications. Our work shows again that smFRET is an excellent tool to uncover new structural states and to capture dynamics that are essential to biomolecular function.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-31480-4


May 2022

Welcome to Katja Kr¨¹ger who will be the new project manager of the microbial subproject within the joint research project ORBIT II.


PhD position in Synthetic Microbiology (biosensor engineering and design)

The positions can be filled as soon as possible and earlier applications will be treated preferentially in cases of equivalent qualification. Applications (compiled single file with CV, motivation letter and transcript/diploma) and questions regarding the PhD positions should be addressed to Prof. Dr. Markus Jeschek (markus.jeschek@ur.de).

see complete job advertisement


PhD position in Synthetic Microbiology (biosensor engineering and design)

The positions can be filled as soon as possible and earlier applications will be treated preferentially in cases of equivalent qualification. Applications (compiled single file with CV, motivation letter and transcript/diploma) and questions regarding the PhD positions should be addressed to Prof. Dr. Markus Jeschek (markus.jeschek@ur.de).

see complete job advertisement


Postdoc position in Synthetic Microbiology (biosensor engineering and design)

The position is to be filled as soon as possible and earlier applications will be treated preferentially in cases of equivalent qualification. Applications (compiled single pdf with cover letter, CV, track record and relevant documents) and questions regarding the position should be addressed to Prof. Dr. Markus Jeschek (markus.jeschek@ur.de).

see complete job advertisement


Technischer Assistent / Technische Assistentin (m/w/d) (BTA, MTA oder ?hnliche Ausbildung) in Teilzeit

Jeschek (E-Mail:markus.jeschek@ur.de/Telefon: 0941 943-3160). Wir freuen uns auf Ihre ausf¨¹hrliche Bewerbung, die Sie bitte in einer PDF-Datei bis zum 21. August 2022 per E-Mail an sekretariat.mikrobiologie@ur.de senden.

see complete job advertisement


May 2022

As a result of a very fruitful international cooperation with the Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic, we present our current publication on microbial communities in several underground gas storages. The huge number of methanogenic archaea found in the system can build the foundation for the production of green gas on-site.

https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation8060251

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March 2022

Congratulations to Felix Gr¨¹nberger for winning a Poster prize at the Mosbacher Kolloqium. Felix showed his work entitled "Expanding the transcriptomic toolbox in prokaryotes by Nanopore sequencing of RNA and cDNA molecules"

see


March 2022

Welcome to our new PhD student Richard St?ckl who will be analyzing the diversity and information content of archaeal genomes


Posterpreis VAAM 2022
February 2022

Congratulations to Dr. Robert Reichelt.
He was awarded for the presentation of the ePoster ¡°Mucithermus cthulhu sp. nov.? represents a novel genus of marine, hyperthermophilic Archaea within

the family Desulfurococcaceae with tentacle-like protrusions¡± on the digital VAAM congress 2022.


Team Microbify
January 2022

Microbify won the startup award 2021 of the Universit?t Regensburg. The prize was awarded to one startup from each O/HUB cluster member: OTH Regensburg, University of Regensburg and OTH Amberg-Weiden.


Dezember 2021

Start of the follow-up research project "ORBIT II"
Dr. Annett Bellack received a three-year funding for the "Microbiological screening of suitable cultures and co-cultures for biocatalytic methanation in a trickle-bed bio-reactor". The overall goal of the five full and five associated partners of the joint project is the "Extension of a highly efficient trickle-bed bio-reactor and optimization of the methanation plant for commercial and industrial application".


2021

Dezember 2021

In a very nice collaboration with the Seidel lab (Uni Leipzig), we analyzed the post-cleavage states of Cas9 from S. pyogenes using single-molecule force measurements answering finally the question why SpaCas9 is tightly associated with its target even after cleavage.
doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkab1072

Dezember 2021

We love single molecules: not only in form of proteins but also as single RNAs or DNAs.Here we set up single-molecule Nanopore sequencing of RNAs and DNAs to explore prokaryotic transcriptomes. We describe in detail preparation of samples, bioinformatic analysis and compare our data to other sequencing approaches. There is so much information from in single Nanopore sequencing run!

November 2021

We are happy to announce that we will be part of the new international PhD program ¡°Future leaders in RNA medicine¡± funded by the Bavarian Elite Network (coordinated by J?rg Vogel, HIRI W¨¹rzburg). We will team up with groups from the University of W¨¹rzburg, TU Munich and LMU Munich to educate the next generation of RNA scientists.
see

November 2021

Harald Huber and Linda Dengler have been working together with Monika V¨ªt¨§zov¨¢ from Masaryk University and Tomas V¨ªtez from Mendel University in Brno in Czechia for years. Check out their recent review on the potential of underground gas storage for biomethanation.

Oktober 2021

Harald Huber is looking back on 41 years of research and adventures to isolate and explore archaea at the University of Regensburg at the "21st Frankfurt meeting on genome function and gene regulation in Archaea". During his career he greatly enlarged the phylogenetic tree of life by describing 17 novel microbial species resulting in 7 new genera, 2 orders and even 1 phylum. Happy retirement, Harald!

Oktober 2021

The VAAM speciality group "Archaea" re-elected Prof. Dina Grohmann and Prof. Christine Moissl-Eichinger as heads of the speciality group at the "21st Frankfurt meeting on genome function and gene regulation in Archaea". Both scientists will guide and support the "archaeophile" community at least until 2023. Congratulations Dina and Christine!

September 2021

Happy to announce that the DFG-funded SPP2141 goes into the next funding period allowing us to continue our research on Cas proteins that fulfill functions beyond the canonical CRISPR-Cas defence mechanism.

c: Peter Ferstl, Stadt Regensburg

JULY 2021

The construction fence exhibition "Bio?konomie findet Stadt¡°, organized by proWissen Potsdam, was opened at PrinzLeoKultur in Regensburg. This exhibition takes place in the year of science, is shown in 9 German cities and presents bioeconomy projects. Here, we show Regensburg's expertise in the field of methanation at the joint project ORBIT (BMWi funded; OTH and UR Regensburg) as well as the underground methanation, which will be used to produce green natural gas for the energy transition (Microbify GmbH).
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Weiterf¨¹hrende Links:

https://wissenschaft-in-der-stadt.de/biooekonomie/project/regensburg/

https://www.microbify.com/post/er%C3%B6ffnung-der-bauzaunausstellung-bio%C3%B6konomie-findet-stadt

/pressearchiv/pressemitteilung/1109808.html

JULY 2021

Congratulations to Alexander Gust for successfully defending his PhD thesis. Very well done!

JULY 2021

Congratulations to Felix Gr¨¹nberger for successfully defending his PhD thesis titled ¡°Genome and Transcriptome architecture in Pyrococcus furiosus¡°. Very well done!

c: Germann Popp

JUNE 2021

Success for our spin-off company Microbify: the Microbify team participated in the PlanB start-up competition (www.planb-wettbewerb.de). We successfully convinced the jury that our business model for the production of green gas in underground gas storage facilities can contribute significantly to a green energy transition. We are thrilled that our project was selected from 62 applications and was awarded the 3rd place in the competition! Find more information about underground biomethanation and a press release here:
https://www.microbify.com/biomethanisierung
/pressearchiv/pressemitteilung
/1108920.html

JUNE 2021

Incollaboration with Ivan Berg (Univ. M¨¹nster), we were able to provide definitive proof for the existence and biochemical activity for four crucial enzymes involved in the unusual carbon fixation cycle (DC/HB cycle) in Ignicoccus cells, and in particular their subcellular distribution: NO, they are NOT present in the "central cytoplasmic compartment", but in the "peripheric cytoplasmic compartment", close to the outer cytoplasmic membrane. In contrast, DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis are all found in the central compartment, only. Thus, there is a need to understand the transport of proteins and metabolites, crossing the inner cytoplasmic membrane. - This paper was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.

https://www.pnas.org/content/118/25/e2022114118

/pressearchiv/pressemitteilung/1107814.html

JUNE 2021
In collaboration with researchers from the University Hospital Regensburg, we investigated on interactions of carbonate and phosphate ions with flavin photosensitizers and the implications for bacterial inactivation. The work that was published in PLOS ONE will contribute to defining possible future fields of application of mentioned photosensitzers.
Check out the publication at PLOS ONE.
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0253212? DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253212
May 2021
2021 is officially the year of bioeconomy. With the exhibition ¡°Bio?konomie findet Stadt¡±, which tours through nine German cities, we are part of this exciting public relations work. Our achievements on the use of methanogenic archaea in underground gas storages are represented by Microbify on the Regensburg hoarding banner. Also featured: power-to-gas applications using methanogenic Archaea developed by the ORBIT consortium we are part of. Find the video press release here (German only):
May 2021

Many years of experience in anaerobic cultivation and organismic work lead to a spin-off company from our institute! We are happy to announce the birth of Microbify GmbH, a companydedicated to the analysis of anaerobic microorganisms, cultivation and underground methanation. The Microbify team develops smart solutions for tough microbes!
www.microbify.com

May 2021

If you love Archaea you certainly know Harald Huber: among others, he discovered and studied the Ignicoccus-Nanoarchaeum symbiosis. This year, he taught the organismic lab course for the last time as he will retire in atumn. Good chance to surprise him with a golden microscope to honor his work as a devoted teacher!

May 2021

In this perspective we ponder the question whether the recent bacterial expressome structures can provide some clues if and how coupling of RNAP and the ribosome happens in Archaea https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389
/fmicb.2021.661827/full?utm_source=F-NTF&utm_medium=EMLX&
utm_campaign=PRD_FEOPS_20170000_ARTICLE

may 2021

We join the CRISPR-Cas club! See our latest publication on the role of the bridge helix on Cas12a function, mismatch tolerance and conformations. Includes single-molecule FRET measurements to follow the conformational transitions of Cas12a through ist activity cycle. Congrats to Elisabeth W?rle on publishing part of her PhD work.
https://academic.oup.com/nar/advance-article/doi/10.1093/nar/gkab286/6261794

April 2021
Power-to-Gas is one of the promising technologies to transform energy systems towards renewable generation. In this paper, we describe the fully automated process of the ORBIT trickle-bed reactor, which we developed in only 3 years from lab scale to field test level. The methanation reaction is catalyzed by a pure culture of Methanothermobacter thermoautrotrophicus IM5 that was isolated many years ago at our Institute.
March 2021

For her PhD project, Linda Dengler travelled multiple times to Costa Rica to take samples from an oil well to isolate new bacteria and archaea. She shared her experience how to get permission for sampling and which documents are required for access and benefit-sharing (ABS) with the DSMZ who hosts the German Nagoya Protocol HuB. You can find these information using the following link: https://www.nagoyaprotocol-hub.de/costa-rica-microorganisms/

JANUARy 2021
Transcription is one of our key research interests at the Archaea Centre Regensburg. Have a look at our latest work focusing on the transcriptional regulator CopR in P. furiosus. Congratulations to
Felix Gr¨¹nberger, Winfried Hausner and the rest of the team! Check out the publication at Frontiers in Microbiology https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389
/fmicb.2020.613532/full

2020

Dezember 2020

Congratulations to Kevin Kramm for successfully defending his ? PhD thesis titled ¡°Single-molecule analysis of transcription
initiation in archaea and eukaryotes¡°. Very well done!

November 2020

A warm welcome to Florian Mayer who continues to investigate the Ignicoccus-Nanoarchaeum relationship in a joint project with the Spang, Baum and Villanueva labs (funded by the Moore Foundation).

c: Hermann Pentermann, Westenergie AG

OKTober 2020

The ORBIT biological methanation plant was officially put into feed-in operation by Federal Minister Anja Karliczek (Federal Ministry of Education and Research; BMBF) together with State Secretary Andreas Feicht (Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy; BMWi) and Harald He? (Technical Manager of Westenergie AG) on October 23, 2020.

Many thanks to the whole ORBIT-team, namely the OTH Regensburg, FAU Nuremberg, Electrochaea, MicrobEnergy (Viessmann Group), MicroPyros BKB, Westenergie and DVGW, for successful cooperation and strong efforts to take the system from planning over lab scale to application within only 38 months!
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see


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Foto: Hermann Pentermann, Westenergie AG
Young investigators of the ORBIT-team together with Federal Minister Anja Karliczek (BMBF) in front of the ORBIT methanation reactor.
From left to right: Dr. Annett Bellack (UR), Tobias Weidlich (FAU), Martin Thema (OTH), Anja Karliczek (BMBF), Andea B?llmann (UR), Anja Kaul (OTH).
oktober 2020

The Argonaute protein family is one of our favourite. In a feature in the journal Biospektrum, we report how our and the research of colleagues in the field contributed to a better understanding of the function and mechanisms of Argonaute proteins.

see

see

SEPTEMBER 2020

The Archaea Centre Regensburg is featured in the special issue "Archaea" of the Laborjournal (please note: article in german).

see

JULY 2020

The unique archaeal symbiosis between Ignicoccus and Nanoarchaeum was first isolated and described by Harald Huber and Karl O. Stetter at the Lehrstuhl f¨¹r Mikrobiologie. This archaeal symbiosis will also be the star of a new collaborative effort with Anja Spang (NIOZ, Netherlands) Laura Villanueva (NIOZ, Netherlands) and Buzz Baum (UCL, UK), which is funded by the Moore foundation in the ¡°Symbiosis in Aquatic Systems Initiative¡± scheme. For more details see

JULY 2020

It was nice to contribute to a study led by the Bolt lab to characterise the archaeal Lhr DNA helicase. For details see

JuLy 2020
A month ago Oxford Nanopore published a white paper pointing out some strengths of Nanopore sequencing for microbiological research. Happy to see that our native RNAseq approach found its way into the white paper, too!? https://nanoporetech.com/resource-centre/microbiology-white-paper
Logocrispwhispr05-s
June 2020
We are part of the DFG-funded SPP2141, which focuses on "CRISPR-Cas beyond defence". Our work is highlighted by the public outreach group of the SPP2141 who created a cool website called "CRISPR whisper" (https://crispr-whisper.de/). You can find the article (in german) about our work here https://crispr-whisper.de/2020/06/16/fret-mit-fluoreszenz-den-ungewohnlichen-funktionen-von-cas1-und-cas9-auf-der-spur
Origami-klammer
JUNE 2020

Origami im Mikrokosmos: Wie man Gene in die Zange nimmt

Biolog:innen der Universit?t Regensburg zeigen, wie Proteine in unserem Zellkern zusammenarbeiten, damit unsere Gene effizient abgelesen werden.? see

Fig1
June 2020

Our next transcription story is published in Nature Communcations. Based on single-molecule force spectroscopy measurements employing a DNA origami force clamp, we demonstrate the synergy of initiaton factors in the Pol II and Pol III system to stabilize transcription initiation. This was a great interdisciplinary collaboration with the Tinnefeld lab, Liedl lab, Vannini lab, Berger lab and Engel lab.
https://tinyurl.com/y9ee6nvv

Nicole Landgraf

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JUNE 2020

Welcome to Nicole Landgraf who starts her master theses in the Huberlab.

Andi Schmidbauer
April 2020

Welcome to Andreas Schmidbauer who starts his master thesis in the Grohmann lab.

Stop
March 2020

Coronavirus crisis:
The opening times of buildings have been reduced and on-site face-to-face office hours of all kinds have been suspended.

Photochemistry
February 2020
Researchers from our institute showed for the first time that photodynamic inactivation with commercial photosensitizers is capable of killing Halobacterium salinarum efficiently. Furthermore, the article shows the functionality of photodynamic inactivation in high salt concentrations. Describing a fast and efficient method for the measurement of microbial reduction, the publication might also be of interest to other researchers outside of the field of phtotodynamic inactivation.
https://doi.org/10.1111/php.13229
Martin-2020
January 2020
Welcome to Martin Fenk who starts his master theses in the Hausner lab.
January 2020
Congratulation to Larissa Kalb who finished her Master thesis in the Huber lab.

2019

Bernd-19
November 2019
Welcome to Bernd Daller who starts his master theses in the Hausner lab.
Sprecher-simonetta-gribaldo
November 2019

Guest lecture by Simonetta Gribaldo, Unit "Evolutionary Biology of the Microbial Cell", Institut Pasteur, Paris (invited by Linda Dengler, Rigel gradiated school).

LogoBiotechnikum-2
September 2019

Symposium

Press release of the University in terms of Re-Opening of the Archaea Fermentation Facility.

see

Logo
September 2019

Symposium

The Biology and Biotechnological Application of Archaea &?Re-Opening of the Archaea Fermentation Facility.

26./27.?September 2019

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see programm

MZ Mediathek
September 2019

Local press puplishes an interview about the reopening of our biotechnicum.. (only in german language)

see

Leo Schmutterer
September 2019
Welcome Leo Schmutterer who starts his bachelor theses in the Grohmann lab.
Biotechnikum
September 2019
Finishing touches for the re-opening of the ArchaeaCentre Regensburg.
Katharina Lippl
September 2019
Welcome to Katharina Lippl, who starts as technician!
Alex M?uerl
September 2019

Welcome to Alexander M?uerl, who starts his master theses in the Grohman lab under the direction of Robert Reichelt.

Smlm
August 2019

In this review published in Journal of Molecular Biology, we discuss single-molecule approaches suitable to examine molecular mechanisms of transcription and highlight findings that shaped our understanding of the archaeal transcription apparatus. We furthermore explore the possibilities and challenges of next-generation single-molecule techniques, for example, super-resolution microscopy and single-molecule tracking, and ask whether these approaches will ultimately allow us to investigate archaeal transcription in vivo.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article
/pii/S0022283619303717

August 2019

Recently, an interdisciplinary group of researchers, in which our PhD student Daniel Eckl is involved, published a field study in two hospitals where they showed that newly developed photodynamic coatings are capable of reducing the number of bacteria on near-patient surfaces.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2019.07.016

Pfu-felix
July 2019
In our new study published in Frontiers in Microbiology we provide an updated and improved genome assembly of Pyrococcus furiosus using a combination of DNA-Seq and differential RNA-Seq. Our data further demonstrate that it is possible to ensure genome stability in lab cultures and that bidirectional transcription is a significant source for archaeal antisense transcription.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389
/fmicb.2019.01603/full
Renate Abschied

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July 2019

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Celebration of the retirement of Renate Richau. Many thanks for 20 years on honorable and fruitful collaboration in the development and continuous operation of the archael center in Regensburg.

Ois Guade, Renate!
Simon Dechant
June 2019

Welcome to Simon Dechant who starts as a technician in the archaea center.

May 2019
Power-to-Gas technology has been recognized globally as one of the key elements for the transition towards a sustanaible energy system. However, studies on biological CO2-methanation as one part of this technology are difficult to compare since they lack a coherent nomenclature. In this article, we attempt to set standards for a comprehensive description of biological methanation processes including not only technical but also microbiological parameters.
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May 2019

The joint project ORBIT reached an important milestone: at a news conference at the OTH Regensburg, the trickle-bed bioreactor of the project was initially operated by inoculation with methanogenic archaea. Aim of this innovative research facility is to produce ¡°green methane¡± out of power from renewable energies. During the next year, Andrea B?llmann and Annett Bellack will analyze and optimize the efficiency of the microorganisms to produce high-quality methane, which should be directly fed into the gas grid in the next step of the project.

/pressearchiv/pressemitteilung
/981738.html

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Studienstiftung
Andi Dina
May 2019

Congratulation to Andreas Schmidbauer who received a scholar ship of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes.

Graduate Colloquium
April 2019

Congratulations to Linda Dengler who became speaker of the RIGeL Graduate Colloquium. This group regularly invites international guest speakers to give scientific talks and to discuss their results with RIGeL PhD students.

Ipur
March 2019

Congratulations to Linda Dengler who received a travel and research grant for a field trip to Costa Rica by the International PhD Program at Universit?t Regensburg (iPUR). This grant enabled her to sign research and collection permits that meet the Nagoya protocol and to collect new environmental samples for her PhD thesis.

Ecki - Daniel Eckl
February 2019
Welcome back to Daniel Eckl who starts his PhD thesis in the Huber lab.
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February 2019

The most conserved initiation factor is the TATA-binding protein (TBP), which is of crucial importance for all archaeal-eukaryotic transcriptioninitiation complexes. Recent structural, biochemical and genome-wide mapping data showed that the functional importance of TBP in the RNAP I system is divergent from the canonical role TBP plays in RNAPII transcription. Here, we review the role of TBP in the different transcription systems including a TBP-centric discussion of archaeal andeukaryotic initiation complexes.

http://www.biochemsoctrans.org/content/early/2019/01
/31/BST20180623

Sfb-antues
January 2019
Guest lecture by Andr¨¦ Antunes, Group for Extreme &?Marine Microbiology, Edge Hill University, UK (invited by Annett Bellack and Harald Huber)
Andrea B?llmann
January 2019
Welcome back to Andrea B?llmann who joins the ORBIT?project.
SFB Tobias Warnecke
January 2019

Guest lecture by Tobias Warnecke, Molecular Systems Group, MRC London Institure of Medical Sciences & Imperial Collage London (invited by Prof. Dina Grohmann)

January 2019
Welcome to Larissa Kalb who starts her master thesis in the Huber lab.
January 2019

We are grieving for our colleague and friend Reinhard Wirth who passed away on 3 January 2019. His untimely death cames as a shock to us.


Reinhard Wirth accepted a call to the University of Regensburg in 1994 and was a passionate scientist and teacher. Reinhard Wirth's research focused - among others - on gene transfer in and mobility of Archaea. He also isolated and characterised a number of new archaeal strains. In 2017 Reinhard retired and looked back at his career in his farewell lecture (see https://mediathek.uni-
regensburg.de/playthis/5954f045ce6a82.97432830
). Since 2017, he dedicated himself to translate "the Brock" - the standard reference work for Microbiologist - into German.


Reinhard Wirth will be greatly missed and we will always remember Reinhard Wirth as a friend, mentor and colleague.


  1. STARTSEITE UR

Lehrstuhl f¨¹r Mikrobiologie & Archaeenzentrum

Prof. Dr. Dina Grohmann

Grohmann-portrait

Universit?tsstra?e 31
93053 Regensburg

Phone +49 941 943 3147
Office +49 941 943 3161

dina.grohmann[at]ur.de
sekretariat.mikrobiologie[at]ur.de