Molecular Microbiology

The research in the department of Molecular Microbiology aims at understanding protein export, solute transport and cell division in micro-organisms. All these processes take place at the cytoplasmic membrane of micro-organisms, and membrane biology is where our department excels. Protein export and cell division are studied in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis, whereas solute transport is studied in a range of (predominantly Gram-positive) bacteria, archaea and lower eukaryotes (fungi). The emphasis of the work is on understanding protein export, solute transport and cell division at a mechanistic level. In addition to the experimental research, bio-informatics analyses are performed to classify (predicted) membrane proteins in structural classes.