Microbial Networks
Prof. Dr. Victor Sourjik
Research area
We are interested in a broad range of topics in quantitative microbiology using prokaryotic (primarily the bacterium E. coli) and eukaryotic (budding yeast S. cerevisiae) model systems. Our main focus is on the quantitative analysis of molecular and physiological functions of cellular networks in microorganisms. We use quantitative fluorescence microscopy and other techniques to investigate the ability of these networks to sense and integrate multiple environmental and internal stimuli, including those involved in host-microbe interactions (i), to function reliably in a noisy cellular environment (ii), and to adjust their function to changing environmental conditions through gene regulation and evolutionary adaptation (iii). We further aim to better understand the relationship between single-cell and collective behaviors within microbial communities, including cell differentiation, communication and community evolution. In most of our work, we combine experiments with theoretical analysis and computational modeling to elucidate principles common to different biological systems. Finally, we explore how cellular functions can be rationally redesigned for potential bioengineering applications.
Victor Sourjik's research group in 2015
Victor Sourjik and group in 2017
Group members in 2020
Group picture in 2021
the group led by Victor Sourjik in 2023
Selected recent publications
Xu, W.; Jalomo-Khayrova, E.; Gumerov, V. M.; Ross, P. A.; Köbel, T.S.; Schindler, D.; Bange, G.; Zhulin. I. B.; Sourjik, V.: Specificities of chemosensory receptors in the human gut microbiota.
PNAS 122 (35) e2508950122 (2025) [link]
Chen, X.; Wang, L.; Sourjik, V.: Swimming or sessile: the interplay between c-di-GMP signalling and flagellar motility. Current Opinion in Microbiology 87, 102632 (2025) [link]
Kargeti, M.; Kalita, I.; Hoch, S.; Ratnikava, M.; Xu, W.; Ni, B.; Dy, R. L.; Bannard, C.; Sourjik, V.: Experimental evolution partially restores functionality of bacterial chemotaxis network with reduced number of components. PLOS Genetics 21 (7), e1011784 (2025) [link]
Kalita, I.; Colin, R.; Hoch, S.; Baltaci, S. F.; Sitti, M.; Sourjik, V.: Motile and chemotactic minicells and minicell-driven biohybrids engineered for active cargo delivery. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 17 (25), pp. 36387 - 36399 (2025) [link]
Pérez-López, M. I.; Lubrano, P.; Angelidou, G.; Hoch, S.; Glatter, T.; Paczia, N.; Link, H.; Sourjik, V. (2025) The SPFH complex HflK-HflC regulates aerobic respiration in bacteria. PLOS Biology 23 (4), e3003077 [link]
Lisevich, I.; Colin, R.; Yang, H. Y.; Ni, B.; Sourjik, V. (2025) Physics of swimming and its fitness cost determine strategies of bacterial investment in flagellar motility. Nature Communications 16 (1), 1731 [link]
Scarinci, G.; Ariens, J.-L.; Angelidou, G.; Schmidt, S.; Glatter, T.; Paczia, N.; Sourjik, V. (2024) Enhanced metabolic entanglement emerges during the evolution of an interkingdom microbial community. Nature Communications 15 (1), 7238 [link]
Teteneva, N.; Sanches-Medeiros, A.; Sourjik, V. (2024) Genome-wide screen of genetic determinants that govern Escherichia coli growth and persistence in lake water. The ISME Journal 18 (1), wrae096 [link]
Ross, P. A.; Xu, W.; Jalomo-Khayrova, E.; Bange, G.; Gumerov, V. M.; Bradley , P. H.; Sourjik, V.; Zhulin , I. B. (2024) Framework for exploring the sensory repertoire of the human gut microbiota. mBio 15 (6), e01039-24 [link]
Xu, W., Cerna-Vargas, J. P., Tajuelo, A., Lozano Montoya, A., Kivoloka, M., Krink, N., Monteagudo-Cascales, E., Matilla, M. A., Krell, T. & Sourjik, V. (2023) Systematic mapping of chemoreceptor specificities for Pseudomonas aeruginosa. mBio doi: 10.1128/mbio.02099-23. Online ahead of print [link]
Lamprecht, O., Ratnikava, M., Jacek, P., Kaganovitch, E., Büttner, N., Fritz, K., Biazruchka, I., Köhler, R. C., Pietsch, J. & Sourjik, V. (2023) Regulation by cyclic di-GMP attenuates dynamics and enhances robustness of bimodal curli gene activation in Escherichia coli. PLoS genetics 19(5):e1010750. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010750 [link]
Bi, S., Kargeti, M., Colin, R., Farke, N., Link, H. & Sourjik, V. (2023) Dynamic fluctuations in a bacterial metabolic network. Nature communications 14(1):2173. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-37957-0. [link]
Laganenka, L., Lee, J.-W., Malfertheiner, L., Dieterich, C. L., Fuchs, L., Piel, J., von Mering, C., Sourjik, V., Hardt, W.-D. (2022) Chemotaxis and autoinducer-2 signalling mediate colonization and contribute to co-existence of Escherichia coli strains in the murine gut. Nat Microbiol, doi: 10.1038/s41564-022-01286-7 [link]