Curriculum vitae Prof. Dr. Jörg Stülke Professor of Microbiology * 1990 Diploma
(Biology), Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University Greifswald * 1994 Dissertation
(Dr. rer. nat.), Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University Greifswald * 1994 –
1996 Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institut Pasteur, * 1996 –
2003 Group leader at the Chair of Microbiology, University Erlangen-Nürnberg * 2000 Habilitation (Microbiology), University
Erlangen-Nürnberg * since 2003
Professor of General Microbiology, Head of the Department of General
Microbiology at the Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, University of
Göttingen Major Research
Interests: Our group is
interested in the regulation of carbon and nitrogen metabolism in
Gram-positive bacteria. We are following global ("post-genomic")
and gene-specific approaches. Metabolism in Bacillus subtilis is studied by transcriptomics, protein arrays,
and metabolome and fluxome analyses. Our specific interests are focussed on
two key pathways: glycolysis and glutamate biosynthesis, the decisive link
between carbon and nitrogen metabolism. We are studying three regulatory
mechanisms of glycolysis: a controlled protein-RNA interaction, site-specific
mRNA degradation and proteolysis. We discovered recently that genes for
glutamate biosynthesis in B. subtilis
are only expressed if rich carbon sources are available and we identified a regulatory protein-protein interaction that govern this
sugar induction. In another project, we study the regulation of gene
expression in the pathogenic bacterium Mycoplasma
pneumoniae. This is highly interesting because this bacterium is an
important cause of pneumonia. Moreover, M.
pneumoniae is one of the organisms with the smallest genetic equipment
that is capable of independent life. Understanding M. pneumoniae means understanding life! So far, we have studied
one of the few regulatory proteins of M.
pneumoniae and determined its crystal structure. Interestingly, the mode
of action of this protein is opposed to that of homologous proteins from
other bacteria: a hint to the parasitic lifestyle of M. pneumoniae! We are now starting to study the metabolic
responses of M. pneumoniae to the
infection process. If we understand what happens upon infection, we may
subsequently try to interrupt this chain of events. |