Göttingen Graduate Center for Neurosciences, Biophysics, and Molecular Biosciences

Stülke, Jörg, Prof. Dr.

Professor of Microbiology


  • 1990 Diploma (Biology), Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald
  • 1994 Dissertation (Dr. rer. nat.), Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald
  • 1994 - 1996 Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institut Pasteur, Paris
  • 1996 - 2003 Group leader at the Chair of Microbiology, University Erlangen-Nürnberg
  • 2000 Habilitation (Microbiology), University Erlangen-Nürnberg
  • since 2003 Professor of General Microbiology, Head of the Department of General Microbiology at the Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, University of Göttingen




Major Research Interests

Our group studies the regulation of metabolism in the pathogenic bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae and the model organism Bacillus subtilis. We are following global (“post-genomic”) and gene-specific approaches. In Mycoplasma pneumoniae, we study the regulation of gene expression in this pathogenic bacterium and its relation to pathogenicity. This is highly interesting because this bacterium is an important cause of pneumonia. Moreover, M. pneumoniae is one of the organisms with the smallest genetic equipment that is capable of independent life. Understanding M. pneumoniae means understanding life! Specifically, we are analysing protein phosphorylation and mechanisms of transcription regulation in M. pneumoniae. We have shown, that protein phosphorylation of is of key importance for pathogenicity of M. pneumoniae. Metabolism in Bacillus subtilis is studied by transcriptomics, metabolome and fluxome analyses. Our specific interests are focussed on two key pathways: glycolysis and glutamate biosynthesis, the decisive link between carbon and nitrogen metabolism. The regulation of glycolysis is studied at the level of a controlled protein-RNA interaction. Regulation through RNA has become widely recognized in the past few years. Our studies revealed that glycolytic enzymes themselves are part of a protein complex that is required for mRNA processing and degradation. Finally, we are interested in systems biology approaches to the analysis of B. subtilis and develop web interfaces for the functional annotation.



Homepage Department/Research Group

http://genmibio.uni-goettingen.de/


Selected Recent Publications


  • O’Reilly FJ, Xue L, Graziadei A, Sinn L, Lenz S, Tegunov D, Blötz C, Hagen WJH, Cramer P, Stülke J, Mahamid J, Rappsilber J (2020) In-cell architecture of an actively transcribing-translating expressome. Science 369: 554-557
  • Reuß DR, Faßhauer P, Mroch PJ, Ul-Haq I, Koo BM, Pöhlein A, Gross CA, Daniel R, Brantl S, & Stülke J (2019) Topoisomerase IV can functionally replace all type 1A topoisomerases in Bacillus subtilis. Nucleic Acids Res. 47: 5231-5242.
  • Zhu B, & Stülke J (2018) SubtiWiki in 2018: From genes and proteins to functional network annotation of the model organism Bacillus subtilis. Nucleic Acids Res. 46: D743-D748.
  • Gundlach J, Herzberg C, Kaever V, Gunka K, Hoffmann T, Weiß M, Gibhardt J, Thürmer A, Hertel D, Daniel R, Bremer E, Commichau FM, Stülke J (2017) Control of potassium homeostasis is an essential function of the second messenger cyclic di-AMP in Bacillus subtilis. Science Signal. 10: eaal3011.
  • Reuß DR, Altenbuchner J, Mäder U, Rath H, Ischebeck T, Sappa PK, Thürmer A, Guérin C, Nicolas P, Steil L, Zhu B, Feussner I, Klumpp S, Daniel R, Commichau FM, Völker U, Stülke J (2017) Large-scale reduction of the Bacillus subtilis genome: consequences for the transcriptional network, resource allocation, and metabolism. Genome Res. 27: 289-299.
  • Michna RH, Zhu B, Mäder U, Stülke J (2016) SubtiWiki 2.0-an integrated database for the model organism Bacillus subtilis. Nucleic Acids Res 44: D654-D662
  • Großhennig S, Ischebeck T, Gibhardt J, Busse J, Feussner I, Stülke J (2016) Hydrogen sulfide is a novel virulence factor of Mycoplasma pneumoniae: characterization of the unusual cysteine desulfurase/ desulfhydrase HapE. Mol Microbiol 100: 42-54
  • Commichau FM, Dickmanns A, Gundlach J, Ficner R, Stülke J (2015) A jack of all trades: the multiple roles of the unique essential second messenger cyclic di-AMP. Mol Microbiol 97: 189-204.
  • Schmidl SR, Otto A, Lluch-Senar M, Pinol J, Busse J, Becher D, Stülke J (2011) A trigger enzyme in Mycoplasma pneumoniae: Impact of the glycerophosphodiesterase GlpQ on virulence and gene expression. PLOS Pathogens 7: e1002263.