Introduction

 
Origin, history, and overview

 
AG Microbial Interactions and Processes at Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung - HZI (formerly called German Research Centre for Biotechnology - GBF) has it roots in the interest inside the Division of Microbiology in the early 80's, to initiate a research line combining genetic and biochemical disciplines to decipher the metabolic processes taking place in bacteria able to degrade aromatic compounds commonly found as contaminants and as such affecting the environment and the human health.

Dr. Dietmar H. Pieper was appointed to this task, to establish the then just created Microbial Interactions and Processes Research Group under the Division of Microbiology headed at that time by Prof. Timmis, a microbial geneticist recognized for his works in the field of catabolic plasmids and aromatic oxygenases. Dr. Pieper was coming with the background acquired in the lab of Prof. Knackmuss (ISI highly cited researcher 2007, Microbiology), where he did his Ph.D. thesis and spent a Postdoctoral period, elucidating critical reactions of the biodegradation pathways of chloroaromatics in the strain JM134, knowledge which was later on applied on the design of artificial gene assemblies to generate biochemical pathways enhancing the catabolic capabilities of bacterial aromatic degraders.

Since then, the group has been producing an excellent record of articles published in international recognized journals of Microbiology

(more info at Publications).

A number of highly motivated personnel have been working at the AG Microbial Interactions and Processes, where several doctoral students were supervised successfully completing their Ph.D. theses or young researchers experienced fruitful postdoctoral periods

(see Former lab members and Doctoral Theses)

The projects on which the Microbial Interaction and Processes Group at HZI has been involved are in a variety of exciting scientific questions, ranging from e.g. studies analysing the determinants of substrate specificity at the amino acid level in oxygenases performing the activation or cleavage of aromatic rings in pure cultures strains, to studies developing genetic approaches to detect and analyse the catabolic gene content present in microbial communities in a culture independent fashion.

Recently, the scientific direction of the Centre has changed to include and cover also topics touching even more directly the human health, as those studying the mechanisms the microorganisms use to produce diseases (pathogenic processes), the development of prevention mechanisms (vaccines, molecular diagnostics), the analyses of the responses (immunology), and the use of suitable models which can be mutated (mouse genetics). But an overall important factor influencing the capacity to respond to the microbial challenges the humans face every day are closely linked to dietary or nutritional status, and this is also connected to the gut microflora. Thus, taking advantage of the experience of the group in the study of metabolic pathways and in microbial ecology methods, some dietary compounds that are influencing immunological responses and are not metabolized per se by the human metabolisms but instead turned to active forms by the microbial community inhabiting the human gut are currently under study. This approach aims to find some of the mechanisms used by the microflora to attain such activations which are known but not fully described at biochemical and genetic levels.