FOR 929:  Dynamics of Bacterial Membrane Proteins

• Subject Area: Medicine ; Biology
• Term: from 2008 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 43311986

Modern cell biology has recently provided new experimental tools to monitor the site(s) of action of proteins within live cells, to study dynamic and transient protein interactions and to visualise even single molecules at work. These new developments have greatly changed our view on bacterial architecture, from membrane-bounded cells containing freely diffusing proteins within their membrane and cytosol, to the now established knowledge that bacteria contain a multitude of specifically subcellularly localised proteins and protein complexes. Specific localisation patterns are indeed required for many proteins to fulfil their essential physiological function.
The long-term goal of this Research Unit is to understand dynamic processes that occur at specific sites within and along bacterial membranes, encompassing functional interaction of cytosolic and membrane proteins, and among membrane proteins during assembly of and transport by multimeric membrane protein complexes. The cell membrane poses the vital barrier between the cell and its surrounding, must regulate a multitude of import and export reactions as well as energy generation, and contains at least one forth of all cellular proteins, underscoring the vital nature of the cell membrane. In contrast to eukaryotic cells, bacteria are biochemically and genetically well amenable, making them ideal for the study of dynamic processes that occur in all kinds of membranes.
This Research Unit synergistically combines new powerful cytological, biochemical and biophysical tools that potentiate each other. Combined with cell biology, biochemical and biophysical investigation of membrane processes can quantify transport events, assembly and interactions in time, providing a new avenue in microbiology.

• DFG Programme: Research Units
• International Connection: France, Switzerland

Projects

• Assembly of E. coli complex I and its interaction with other proteins (Applicant Friedrich, Thorsten )
• Dynamic Membrane association of the bacterial SRP receptor in E. coli (Applicant Koch, Hans-Georg )
• Elucidation of principles in the assembly of outer membrane proteins (Applicant Gescher, Johannes )
• Interaction of bacterial actin-like proteins with the cell membrane (Applicant Graumann, Peter )
• Interaction of sugar transporters and signalling proteins in E. coli chemotaxis (Applicant Sourjik, Victor )
• Protein targeting, transport, and translocation in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 (Applicant Schneider, Dirk )
• Role and dynamic behavior of cyclic di-GMP signaling proteins in development and cell cycle control (Applicant Jenal, Urs )
• Structural and Functional Analysis of Bacterial Formate Channels (Applicant Einsle, Oliver )
• Substrate-translocase interactions during two-partner secretion in Gram-negative bacteria (Applicant Müller, Matthias )

• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Peter Graumann