Prof. Dr. Rolf Müller participates in RESIST research project C3.
| My Research Interest in RESIST |
As a part of the RESIST consortium, we will investigate molecular interactions within microbial communities relevant to human health and disease. A special focus will be put on the role of lung-based microbes and their influence on the emergence and progression of respiratory diseases. Previous studies by RESIST scientist Burkhard Tümmler identified a panel of bacteria that either positively or negatively affect the course of respiratory conditions.
We will apply a set of microbiological, analytical, and bioinformatics technologies developed in our institute to shed light on the molecular mechanisms underlying the interaction between these isolates. In these studies, we will leverage on our experience with analysing the molecular physiology of myxobacterial communities. The generated knowledge will contribute to a better understanding of the observed correlation between composition of the lung microbiome and disease progression.
Prof. Müller about his scientific work
Prof. Dr. Rolf Müller – Curriculum Vitae
Current Position
Since 2009 Managing Director of the newly established Helmholtz-Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS)
Undergraduate and Postgraduate Training
1986 – 1990 University of Bonn, Pharmacy Studies
1991 Approbation as Pharmacist
1991 – 1994 University of Bonn, Promotion (Ph.D.)
1995 University of Bonn, Post-doc at the Department of Pharmaceutical Biology
1996 – 1997 University of Washington, Seattle, Research scholarship of the German Research Foundation (DFG)
2000 TU Braunschweig, Habilitation
Academic and Research Posts
1998 – 2003 German Research Centre for Biotechnology in Braunschweig (GBF), Junior group leader
1998 – 2003 Technical University Braunschweig, Department of Pharmaceutical Biology Research Assistant
Since 2003 Saarland University, Full professor for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
2010 Co-founder of PharmBioTec GmbH in Saarbrücken
Since 2009 Managing Director of the newly established Helmholtz-Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS)
Other Scientific Roles
2000 – 2013 Scientific Advisory Council, Biotica Technology Ltd.
Since 2005 Steering Committee DECHEMA board “Low molecular natural products with biological activity”
2008 – 2014 Chairman, DECHEMA board “Low molecular natural products with biological activity”
Since 2009 Member of Selection Committee, DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service)
Since 2010 Deputy Coordinator, DFG Research Units 1406
2012 – 2016 Coordinator, German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Natural Compound Library
Since 2013 Chairman of Scientific Advisory Council, LOEWE-Center for Synthetic Microbiology
(SYNMIKRO)Since 2013 Scientific Advisory Council, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-BI) Hinxton, UK
Since 2014 Expert Consultant, Support of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in the development of a China strategy
Since 2015 Scientific Advisory Council, Foundation of the German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology (DGHM)
Since 2016 Coordinator, German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Thematic Translational Unit “Novel Antibiotics”
Since 2017 Scientific Advisory Council, KIST Europe (Korea Institute of Science and Technology)
Awards and Prizes
2001 & 2007 & 2016 PHOENIX Pharmacy Research Award
2002 DECHEMA award for natural products research
2003 BioFuture Award of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research
2010 DECHEMA-Prize 2010 by Max Buchner Research Foundation
2012 Elected member of acatech (National Academy of Science and Engineering)
2012 Arthur E. Schwarting Award for best paper in the Journal of Natural Products
2014 Honorary director of “Shandong University – Helmholtz Joint Institute for Biotechnology (SHIB)”, Qingdao, China
2016 David Gottlieb Lecturer 2016, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Illinois
2016 “Invitation Fellowship for Research in Japan”, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
2016 Elected member of the National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina)
2017 Elected member of the German Academy of Sciences and Literature
2018 Inhoffen Medal 2018
2018 The 2018 Treat B. Johnson Lecture in Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Yale
2019 Honorary doctorate from Shandong University, China
2019 Honorary Professorship at the University of Cape Town, South Africa
2020 Leibniz Research Award 2020, Leibniz Research Alliance “Bioactive Compounds and Biotechnology”
10 Selected Publications (of > 225 original publications)
Hoffmann, T., Krug, D., Bozkurt, N., Duddela, S., Jansen, R. Garcia, R., Gerth, K., Steinmetz, H. and Müller, R. Correlating chemical diversity with taxonomic distance for discovery of natural products in myxobacteria, Nature Communications, 2018, 9(1):803.
Hüttel, S., Giambattista, T., Herrmann, J., Planke, T., Gille, F., Moreno, M., Stadler, M., Brönstrup, M., Kirschning, A. and Müller, R. Discovery and total synthesis of natural cystobactamid derivatives with superior activity against Gram-negative pathogens, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2017, 56 (41): 12760-64.
Fu, C., Sikandar, A., Donner, J., Zaburannyi, N., Herrmann, J., Reck, M., Wagner-Döbler, I., Koehnke, J. and Müller, R. Carolacton is a potent myxobacterial inhibitor of folate biosynthesis via specific interaction with FolD/MTHFD, Nature Communications, 2017, 8 (1):1529.
Fu, C., Keller L., Bauer, A., Brönstrup, M., Froidbise, A., Hammann, P., Herrmann, J., Mondesert, G., Kurz, M., Schiell, M., Schummer, D., Toti, L., Wink, J. and Müller, R. Biosynthetic studies of telomycin reveal new lipopeptides with enhanced activity, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2015, 137 (24): 7692-705.
Kling, A., Lukat, P., Almeida, D.V., Bauer, A., Fontaine, E., Sordello, S., Zaburannyi, N., Herrmann, J., Wenzel, S.C., König, C., Ammerman, N.C., Barrio, M.B., Borchers, K., Bordon-Pallier, F., Brönstrup, M., Courtemanche, G., Gerlitz, M., Geslin, M., Hammann, P., Heinz, D.W., Hoffmann, H., Klieber, S., Kohlmann, M., Kurz, M. Lair, C., Matter, H., Nuermberger, E., Sandeep T., Fraisse, L., Grosset, J.H., Lagrange, S. and Müller, R. Antibiotics. Targeting DnaN for tuberculosis therapy using novel griselimycins, Science, 2015, 348 (6239): 1106-12.
Fu, J., Bian, X., Hu, S., Wang, H., Huang, F., Seibert, P.M., Plaza, A., Xia, L., Müller, R.*, Stewart, A. F.* and Zhang Y.* Full-length RecE enhances linear-linear homologous recombination and facilitates direct cloning and bioprospecting, Nature Biotechnology, 2012, 30: 440-446. (* Corresponding authors)
Quade, N., Huo, L., Rachid, S., Heinz D.W. and Müller, R. Unusual carbon fixation gives rise to diverse polyketide extender units, Nature Chemical Biology, 2012, 8 (1): 117-124.
Schneiker, S., Perlova, O., Kaiser, O., Gerth, K., Alici, A., Altmeyer, M.O., Bartels, D., Bekel, T., Beyer, S., Bode, E., Bode, H.B., Bolten, C.J., Choudhuri, J.V., Doss, S., Elnakady, Y.A., Frank, B., Gaigalat, L., Goesmann, A., Groeger, C., Gross, F., Jelsbak, L., Jelsbak, L., Kalinowski, J., Kegler, C., Knauber, T., Konietzny, S., Kopp, M., Krause, L., Krug, D., Linke, B., Mahmud, T., Martinez-Arias, R., McHardy, A.C., Merai, M., Meyer, F., Mormann, S., Muñoz-Dorado, J., Perez, J., Pradella, S., Rachid, S., Raddatz, G., Rosenau, F., Rückert, C., Sasse, F., Scharfe, M., Schuster, S.C., Suen, G., Treuner-Lange, A., Velicer, G.J., Vorhölter, F.J., Weissman, K.J., Welch, R.D., Wenzel, S.C., Whitworth, D.E., Wilhelm, S., Wittmann, C., Blöcker, H., Pühler, A. and Müller R. Complete genome sequence of the myxobacterium Sorangium cellulosum, Nature Biotechnology, 2007, 25 (11): 1281-1289.
Gemperlein, K., Zipf, G., Bernauer, B.S., Wenzel, S.C. and Müller, R. Polyunsaturated fatty acid production by Yarrowia lipolytica with myxobacterial PUFA synthases, Nature Communications, in press.
Gaitatzis, N., Kunze, B. and Müller, R. In vitro reconstitution of the myxochelin biosynthetic machinery of Stigmatella aurantiaca Sg a15: Biochemical characterization of a reductive release mechanism from nonribosomal peptide synthetases, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2001, 98 (20): 11136-11141.
