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Research Area A: Nucleotide-based synthesis and regulation

P1

The laboratory of Gert Bange studies the “Second messenger-based regulation of nucleotide metabolism”. Most cellular reactions either utilise nucleotides or are regulated by nucleotides. Nucleotide metabolism is thus of fundamental importance to cellular life, upstream of most reactions and regulatory circuits. The project focuses on the molecular mechanisms by which (p)ppGpp and Ap4A regulate the biosynthetic pathways leading to the tri-phosphorylated nucleotides ATP, GTP, CTP and UTP.

The doctoral researcher of P1 is Fabiana Burchert

P2

Anke Becker’s group investigates the “Environmental change-dependent adaptive regulation of the nucleotide-sugar pool in Sinorhizobium meliloti”. Nucleotide-activated sugars (NDP-sugars) play essential roles in all domains of life. They act as glycosyl donors in glycosylation reactions and, as such, are involved in the biosynthesis of carbohydrates and their conjugates. Rhizobia use different NTPs to activate the same sugar; the regulation and consequences of this differential sugar activation will be studied in P2.

The doctoral researcher of P2 is Alexander Zülch.

P3

A main focus of Marcus Lechner’s project is the “Evolutionary diversification of bacterial nucleotide metabolism”. In a largely bioinformatic approach, the group aims to gain an overarching view of the dissemination and diversification of enzymes involved in nucleotide metabolic pathways, including taxa-specific particuliarities, protein subfamilies, variations such as fusions, fissions and shuffled domains along with variants of these pathways using alternative enzymes.

The doctoral researcher of P3 is Fareha Masood

P4

The group of Jan Schuller investigates the “Structure/function relationship of respiratory enzymes that employ nucleotide-based electron bifurcation”. Electron bifurcation allows bacteria to increase the electron transfer potential of single electrons, increasing energy yield for low-ATP generating pathways. Using single particle cryo-electron microscopy and physiological approaches, detailed structure-function analyses of bifurcating enzymes and their role in anaerobic bacterial species will be performed down to atomic detail.

The doctoral researcher of P4 is Sophia Paul

P5

The project of Lars-Oliver Essen, “Class V ACs from Rhizobiales” characterises the predicted class V ACs from S. meliloti and related Rhizobiales. Cyclic-3’,5’-AMP (cAMP) is a well-known central second messenger in bacteria and eukaryotes, synthesized by adenylate cyclases (ACs). These are grouped into classes I to VI, of which the classes I, III and IV are structurally and biochemically well-investigated. Therefore, class V enzymes will be investigated in terms of their structure, substrate specificity and catalytic mechanism.

The doctoral researcher of P5 is Stefan Petschak