Martin Thanbichler
Dr. Martin Thanbichler
MPI für terrestrische Mikrobiologie
Karl-von-Frisch-Straße
D-35043 Marburg / Germany
Phone: +49 6421 178300
Fax: +49 6421 178209
Email:
thanbichler@mpi-marburg.mpg.de
Research group members
Group Leader: Dr. Martin Thanbichler
Graduate students: Daniela Kiekebusch, Juliane Kühn, Andrea Möll, Susan Schlimpert, Anne Raßbach
Undergraduate students: Alexandra Jung, Oliver Leicht, Wolfgang Strobel
Technical assistant: Stephanie Wick
Dr. Martin Thanbichler
Curriculum Vitae
Martin Thanbichler (born 1973)
Diplom (Biology), University of Munich, 1998
Dr. rer. nat. (Microbiology), University of Munich, 2002
Postdoc (Prokaryotic Cell Biology), Stanford University, USA, 2002-2006
Head of the Independent Junior Research Group "Prokaryotic Cell Biology" at the MPI for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, since 2007
Junior Professor for Microbiology at the Department of Biology, Philipps University, Marburg, since 2008
Research area: Cellular differentiation and cell division in bacteria
Caulobacter crescentus is an oligotrophic alpha-proteobacterium that has emerged as a powerful model system for the study of prokaryotic cell biology. Its characteristic is an asymmetric cell division which gives rise to a mobile swarmer cell and an immobile stalked cell. This differentiation process is governed by a complex regulatory network and involves the dynamic reorganization of polarity determinants and cytoskeletal structures.
Our group uses a combination of cell biological, biochemical, and genetic approaches to investigate the mechanisms underlying Caulobacter's developmental programme. In particular, we are interested in chromosome segregation, the cell division machinery, cell polarity, and morphogenesis. These studies will contribute to understanding the astonishing level of internal organization many bacteria exhibit despite their moderate genome sizes.
More about "Cellular differentiation and cell division in bacteria"
Recent publications
Kühn, J., Briegel, A., Mörschel, E., Kahnt, J., Leser, K., Wick, S., Jensen, G.
J. and Thanbichler, M. (2009) Bactofilins, a ubiquitous class of cytoskeletal proteins mediating polar
localization of a cell wall synthase in Caulobacter. EMBO J. (in press)
Möll, A & Thanbichler M. (2009) FtsN-like proteins are conserved components of the cell division machinery in proteobacteria. Mol. Microbiol.72: 1037-1053.
Radhakrishnan, S. K., Thanbichler, M. & Viollier, P. H. (2008) The dynamic interplay between a cell fate determinant and a lysozyme homologue drives the asymmetric division cycle of Caulobacter crescentus. Genes Dev. 22: 212-225.