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Wolfgang Liebl
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since 2003 |
Full Professor (Applied Microbiology), Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen |
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1997-2003 |
Associate Professor (Applied Microbiology), Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen |
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1997 |
Habilitation (Microbiology), Technische Universität München |
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1986-1988 |
Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA |
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1986 |
Ph.D. (Dr. rer. nat.), Technische Universität München |
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1984 |
Diploma (Biology), Technische Universität München |
Research Interests of the Group
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One of the main
interests of our group is the analysis of polysaccharide and
oligosaccharide breakdown and utilization by microorganisms adapted to
extreme habitats. In the last few years, we have focussed our work on
xylan and starch degrading enzyme systems from hyperthermophiles, i. e.
organisms that grow optimally at 80°C or higher. These organisms
represent very deep branches within the prokaryotic lineages of the
phylogenetic tree of organisms. We are interested in unusual glycosyl
hydrolases and transferases from Thermotoga maritima, the
model organism of hyperthermophilic bacteria. Current projects are
aimed at the elucidation of the biochemical properties, the molecular
structure and catalytic mechanism, the function(s) of non-catalytic
domains, and the cellular localization of selected enzymes of T.
maritima. Other projects in the field of extremophilic
microorganisms deal with the enzymology and molecular biology of
thermoalkaliphiles and thermoacidophiles. We are presently engaged in
the analysis of the genome sequence and of selected enzymes of the
extreme thermoacidophilic archaeon Picrophilus torridus. Another group of
bacteria studied in the laboratory
are the Gram-positive bacteria with a high G+C content. We employ
molecular biological techniques to study and modify physiological
traits of amino acid-producing corynebacteria and micrococci.
Also, the group is interested in the
characterization of genome (metagenome) structures of various microbial
habitats (Prof. Dr. W.
Streit, PD
Dr. R. Daniel). DNA libraries are constructed from microbial
consortia and biofilms in order to explore the genetic diversity of the
different environments. Also, classical activity-based screens are used
for the isolation of novel enzymes useful for biotechnology. |
Picrophilus torridus
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Selected publications:
Wassenberg,
D., Liebl, W.,
and R. Jaenicke (2000) Maltose-binding protein from the
hyperthermophilic
bacterium Thermotoga maritima: Stability and binding properties.
J. Mol.
Biol., 295:279-288.
Meissner,
K., Wassenberg, D.,
and W. Liebl (2000) The ‘thermostabilising domain’ of the modular
xylanase XynA
of the hyperthermophilic bacterium Thermotoga maritima
represents a
novel type of binding domain with affinity for soluble xylan and
mixed-linkage
beta -1,3/beta -1,4-glucan. Mol. Microbiol,
36:898-912.
Raasch,
C., Streit, W., Schanzer, J., Bibel, M., Gosslar, U. and W.
Liebl (2000) Thermotoga maritima
AglA, an
extremely thermostable NAD+-, Mn2+ -, and thiol-dependent
alpha-glucosidase. Extremophiles
4:189-200.
Roujeinikova,
A., Raasch, C.,
Burke, J., Baker, P. J., Liebl, W., and D. W. Rice (2001) The crystal
structure
of Thermotoga maritima maltosyltransferase and its
implications for the
molecular basis of the novel transfer specificity. J. Mol. Biol.
312:119-131.
Entcheva,
P., Liebl, W., Johann, A., Hartsch, T., and W. Streit
(2001) Direct cloning from
enrichment
cultures, a reliable strategy for isolation of complete operons and
genes from
microbial consortia. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
67:89-99.
Sterner,
R., and W. Liebl (2001) Thermophilic
adaptation of proteins. Crit. Rev. Biochem. Mol. Biol. 36:39-106.
Roujeinikova,
A., Raasch, C.,
Sedelnikova, S., Liebl, W., and D. W. Rice (2002) The crystal structure
of Thermotoga
maritima 4-alpha-glucanotransferase and its acarbose complex:
implications
for substrate specificity and catalysis. J. Mol. Biol.
321:149-162.
Liebl, W.,
Kloos, W. E., and
W. Ludwig (2002) Plasmid-borne macrolide resistance in Micrococcus
luteus.
Microbiology 148:2479-2487.
Raasch, C.,
Armbrecht, M.,
Streit, W., Höcker, B., Sträter, N., and Liebl, W. (2002)
Identification of
residues important for NAD+-binding by the Thermotoga
maritima alpha-glucosidase
AglA, a member of glycoside hydrolase family 4. FEBS Lett. 517:267-271.
Raasch,
C., Roujeinikova, A., Meissner, H., Rice, D. W., and Liebl, W. (2002) Biochemical
Properties and Structural Features of the
Thermostable Maltodextrin Transglycosidases from Thermotoga maritima.
Biologia
57/Suppl.11:101-108.
Lodge,
J. A., Maier, T., Liebl, W., Hoffmann, V., and Sträter, N. (2003)
Crystal
structure of Thermotoga maritima alpha-glucosidase AglA defines
a new
clan of NAD+-dependent glycosidases. J. Biol.
Chem. 278:19151-19158.
Tzvetkov,
M., Klopprogge, C., Zelder, O., and Liebl, W. (2003) Genetic dissection
of
trehalose biosynthesis in Corynebacterium glutamicum:
inactivation of
trehalose production leads to impaired growth and an altered cell wall
lipid
composition. Microbiology
149:1659-1673.
Veith,
B., Zverlov, V. V., Lunina, N.
A., Berezina, O. V., Raasch, C., Velikodvorskaya, G. A.,
and Liebl, W. (2003) Comparative
analysis of the recombinant alpha-glucosidases from the Thermotoga
neapolitana and Thermotoga maritima maltodextrin
utilization gene
clusters. Biocatal. Biotransform. 21:147-158.
Bertoldo,
C., Armbrecht, M., Becker, F., Schäfer, T., Antranikian, G., and
Liebl, W.
(2004) Cloning, sequencing and characterization of thermoalkalistable
pullulanase
type I from Anaerobranca gottschalkii. Appl. Environ.
Microbiol.
70:3407-3416.
O.
Fütterer, A. Angelov, H. Liesegang, G. Gottschalk, C. Schleper, B.
Schepers, C.
Dock, G. Antranikian, W. Liebl (2004) Genome sequence of Picrophilus
torridus and its implications for life around pH 0. Proc. Natl.
Acad. Sci.
U.S.A. 101:9091-9096.
page
last updated
11 Juni 2004;
Email comments, questions to: wliebl@gwdg.de
