Synthetic and Speedy
Vibrio natriegens is the bacterium with the fastest known growth rate. Researchers led by Dr. Daniel Schindler have discovered that the fact that it has two chromosomes, like its relative Vibrio cholerae, is not the reason for its speed. They have developed an equally fast variant with just one chromosome, which could simplify research and applications in the future.
Tobias Erb receives an ERC Advanced Grant
Congratulations to our Director Prof. Dr. Tobias Erb on this prestigious funding from the European Research Council
First Discovery of a Molecular Fractal
Fractal patterns in nature can be found in macroscopic objects such as riverbeds or fern leaves. At the molecular level, however, fractals were unknown. Now a team including Georg Hochberg and Franziska Sendker found that a cyanobacterial citrate synthase has a famous fractal structure.
A new path to drug diversity
Many important medicines, such as antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs, are derived from natural substances made by bacteria. A team led by Prof. Dr. Helge Bode has now taken a closer look at evolution: New starting points will enable faster and more targeted development of potential drugs in the future.
How the very first microorganisms made use of hydrogen
Hydrogen, the key to sustainable energy for the future, is actually ancient energy: microbes have been using it as an energy source since the dawn of life. A new study by Martina Preiner and colleagues sheds light on this process that can still be found in deep-sea habitats today.
Welcome to the
Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology
Life without microorganisms is simply impossible. Microbes were the first life forms on early Earth. They evolved the ability to capture carbon dioxide and nitrogen, providing life with energy and nutrients. Microbes also invented photosynthesis, brought oxygen to the atmosphere and gave birth to multicellularity and the evolution of higher life. Microbes are more numerous and diverse than all other living organisms and there is no ecological niche that is not covered by them. They live in constant interactions with their environment, affecting health, agricultural productivity, and the climate on a global scale.Our mission is to understand the function, communication, and interaction of microorganisms with their environment, to describe them with mathematical models, and to modify them with synthetic biological approaches.
We specifically focus on the microbial metabolism of greenhouse gases, the synthesis and function of bioactive natural compounds, cellular communication and regulation networks, as well as their spatial and temporal organization. Our research scale ranges from the atomic level up to global ecosystems.
Together with our two affiliated centers, SYNMIKRO and the Microcosm Earth Center, MPI-TM is one of Europe’s leading Institutes in the fields of Molecular and Synthetic Microbiology, currently hosting more than 300 scientists and students from more than 35 countries.
