Pseudomonas syringae is a soil‐dwelling bacterium that exhibits remarkable niche adaptability, and it is known for its devastating impact as a plant pathogen. This bacterium has an outstanding capability to produce a wide array of biologically active natural products. P. syringae coexists with amoebal…
Covering: 2000 up to the first half of 2024 Milk and its derived dairy products have long been integral to the human diet, with evidence of consumption dating back over 9000 years. Milk's high nutritional value renders dairy products an important element of human diet while also offering a fertile environment…
Published: The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2025-03-03
Summary Photosynthetic protists, named microalgae, are key players in global primary production. The green microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a well‐studied model organism. In nature, it dwells in acetate‐rich paddy rice soil, which is not mimicked by standard liquid laboratory conditions. Here,…
γ-Butyrolactones (GBLs) act as signaling molecules in Gram-positive bacteria, regulating secondary metabolism and differentiation. Their biosynthesis relies on the α C–H acidity of a 3-keto fatty acid precursor, enabling lactone formation via condensation with dihydroxyacetone phosphate. This study examines…
Soil organisms, including bacteria and amoebae, often engage in a wide range of interspecific and intraspecific interactions. Social amoebae, among other bacterivores, play a crucial role in regulating microbial communities and are often used as a non-mammalian model system to understand several metazoan…
Cyanobacteria are attractive hosts for sustainable biotechnology due to their ability to perform oxygenic photosynthesis and directly convert light energy and carbon dioxide into valuable compounds. Their photosynthetic electron transport chain offers a unique opportunity to drive heterologous enzymatic…
In this thesis, the psilocybin biosynthetic enzymes PisM and PsiK were investigated structurally and biochemically. The structural data obtained by colleagues from the Medical University of Innsbruck, combined with the kinetic and binding data as well as mutagenesis experiments revealed the modes of…
Raw milk has a rich microbiota that engages in complex mutualistic or antagonistic interactions. These interactions shape microbial communities in dairy products, influencing fermentation, preservation, and product quality. This thesis investigates the ecological role of microbial natural products in…
Abstract Low molecular weight compounds biosynthesized by microorganisms, commonly known as natural products, are indispensable in modern medicine. They serve as the basis for many antibiotics, immunomodulators, and anti cancer agents. The new research field of paleobiotechnology allows access to natural…
Die Fähigkeit zur Kommunikation ist ein zentrales Merkmal des Lebens und ein grundlegender Aspekt der biologischen Interaktion. Die Erforschung der Kommunikationsmechanismen in verschiedenen Organismen ermöglicht ein besseres Verständnis der Evolution und der Anpassungsfähigkeit von Lebensformen. Innerhalb…
Abstract Background The terphenylquinones represent an ecologically remarkable class of basidiomycete natural products as they serve as central precursors of pigments and compounds that impact on microbial consortia by modulating bacterial biofilms and motility. This study addressed the phylogenetic…
Phototrophic phytoplankton fuel the marine food web and play a role in all major biogeochemical cycles in our ecosystem. They are responsible for over half of the world’s CO2 fixation as well as the production of half the global oxygen supply annually. Though these communities are generally considered…
Der in der vorliegenden Arbeit untersuchte Organismus Dictyostelium discoideum ist eine ubiquitär vorkommende Amöbe mit der Fähigkeit bei Nahrungsmangel in einen vielzelligen Fruchtkörper zu differenzieren. Bei der Sequenzierung des Genoms wurden 40 funktionale Gene für Polyketidsynthasen (PKS) beschrieben.…
Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurden pilzliche Sekundärmetaboliten auf Ihre Struktur, Biosynthese und Wirkung hin untersucht. Im Fokus stand dabei das sekundäre Metabolom eines bisher unbeschriebenen Basidiomyceten, nachfolgend BY1 genannt. Aus BY1 wurden insgesamt elf neue sowie vier bekannte Naturstoffe…
This PhD thesis describes the development of an effective total synthesis of the strongly cytotoxic polyazole cyclopeptide natural product aurantizolicin. The synthesis design combined building block synthesis in solution with solid-phase peptide synthesis to enable the rapid diversification of the natural…
In the course of evolution virtually all eukaryotes have established symbiosis with bacteria. lt is now evident that microorganisms, in particular bacteria, colonise not only most host surfaces (exosymbionts) but also reside within the cells of their hosts (endosymbionts). The close interactions between…
The goal of this doctoral thesis was the close examination of the biosynthesis of different indole alkaloides produced by different species of the fungal genus Psilocybe. This included the first characterization of the biosynthesis of psilocybin as the main psychotropic agent and the first discovery…
Die Dictyosteliden sind eine monophyletische Gruppe innerhalb der Amoebozoa. Sie leben im Waldboden, ernähren sich von Bakterien und Pilzsporen und vermehren sich durch Zweiteilung. Bei Nahrungsmangel zeigt sich der einzigartige Entwicklungszyklus der Dictyosteliden: Die Amöben aggregieren, differenzieren…
Amino acids represent universal building blocks in the biosynthesis of a variety of structurally diverse natural products. While mega-enzymes like non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS) produce oligomeric products, monomodular NRPS-like enzymes catalyze the homodimerization of two amino acid derivatives.…