03.12.2024 Katharina Höfer and Johannes Rebelein selected as EMBO Young Investigators
Prof. Dr. Katharina Höfer and Dr. Johannes Rebelein have been appointed to the European Molecular Biology Organisation's network of top young European researchers.
Two researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology (MPI-TM) and the Philipps University of Marburg have been selected by the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) for the 'Young Investigator' programme. Dr. Johannes Rebelein and Prof. Dr. Katharina Höfer, along with 27 other scientists from across Europe who were honoured this year, will receive financial support and access to mentoring and training programmes for a period of four years.
The new young scientists join the programme as active members for a period of four years starting in January and become part of an international network of almost 800 current and former members. The programme's core focus is on networking between researchers. Their research topics range from cell biology to immunology and neuroscience.
Prof. Dr Katharina Höfer and her research team are investigating the role of novel RNA building blocks in bacteria infected by viruses, known as bacteriophages. They recently discovered a previously unknown enzymatic reaction that links RNAs to proteins. During the infection of bacteria by bacteriophages, completely new biomolecules are produced that were previously unknown in nature. We are currently investigating the function of this RNAylation both at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology and as part of my LOEWE professorship at the Institute of Pharmaceutical biology and biotechnology. Thanks to the excellent EMBO network, we will be able to investigate the importance of RNAylation in other organisms, including humans," says Katharina Höfer. One of Katharina Höfer's long-term goals is to establish RNAylation as an innovative method for controlling microbial processes, including the production of novel RNA-based therapeutics. "EMBO's international network opens up opportunities for us to explore completely new approaches and also to further develop successful interdisciplinary research at the University of Marburg, for example within the Centre for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO) and the planned Microbes-4-Clima (M4C) Cluster of Excellence," she emphasises. Katharina Höfer studied Life Sciences and Biotechnology in Hannover and Heidelberg. After completing her doctorate and postdoctoral studies at the University of Heidelberg, she joined the Max Planck Institute in Marburg in 2020 as a Max Planck Research Group Leader. From December 2024, she will be a LOEWE Top Professor at at the Philipps-University of Marburg.
Dr Johannes Rebelein's research focuses on one of the most important enzymes on earth: nitrogenase. This enzyme is the only one we know that can turn nitrogen from air into bioavailable nitrogen sources. Nitrogenase converts nitrogen into a form that can be processed and taken up by plants, and is an essential building block for the construction of DNA and proteins. Johannes Rebelein and his team at the Max Planck Institute in Marburg are working to elucidate the exact mechanism of nitrogenase in order to enable more sustainable agriculture. At the same time, he has shown that nitrogenases, and in particular the metal clusters they contain, not only break the triple bond of molecular nitrogen, but can also convert the greenhouse gas CO2 into hydrocarbons such as methane, ethylene and propane. The team showed that this nitrogenase-catalysed CO2 conversion also occurs naturally in microbes. These results open up new avenues for the development of biotechnological processes for the fixation of CO2 and the production of basic chemicals, thus contributing to a green circular economy. We are trying to understand one of the oldest and most reactive enzymes and modify it using synthetic biology to enable novel reactions in CO2 fixation,' says Johannes Rebelein. "Being accepted into the EMBO Young Investigator Programme is a great honour. Here in Marburg, we have an excellent interdisciplinary network focused on the role of microorganisms in climate change, as evidenced by our Microbes-for-Climate (M4C) initiative. The EMBO programme will enable me and my entire team to establish new scientific contacts and thus advance our research into the mechanisms and engineering of nitrogen fixation." Johannes Rebelein studied biotechnology at the TU Braunschweig and received his PhD in Biological Sciences in 2016 from the University of California, Irvine, USA. After his postdoc as an EMBO Fellow at the University of Basel, Switzerland, he has been an Emmy Noether Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology and SYNMIKRO since 2020.
EMBO's Young Investigator Programme supports excellent group leaders who have been in an independent position for less than four years, run their own laboratory and have an outstanding scientific track record. The programme offers group leaders the opportunity to further develop their research careers and laboratories and to establish lifelong contacts. EMBO Young Investigators receive a grant of €15,000 in the second year of their appointment and can apply for further grants of up to €10,000 per year. This includes training and access to key facilities at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). Further information: www.embo.org.