The group is jointly affiliated with the Department of Computational Molecular Biology at the MPI for Molecular Genetics and the Department of Cellular Microbiology at the Max-Planck-Institute for Infection Biology.
We are interested in the interactions of microorganism and their hosts, particular those that lead to human disease. We use computational approaches to determine the function of genes involved in the pathomechanisms, both in the microorganisms and the host organisms.

Research

Genes in prokaryotes involved in the pathology of the infection can be identified based on the patterns in the organization of genes into operons or pathogenicity islands, or the presence and absence of genes between virulent and avirulent strains. The genomes of the Enterobacteriaceae, including several closely related pathogenic and non-pathogenic strains, are particularly well represented amongst the more than 300 prokaryote genomes sequenced. Today, comparative analysis of this rich resource of information requires extensive bioinformatics studies.
Computational approaches can be based on the fact that virulence factors interact specifically and highly adapted with the host cell in order to control it. The evolutionary history of the host-pathogen interaction has left traces in the genomes of both host and pathogen. Additionally, a strong host preference of several pathogens, — e.g. Shigella infections occur exclusively in human — can also be exploited with the growing number of genomes. Predictions of novel virulence factors or processes can be reinforced by integrating further data from large scale screens of mRNA-transcription, gene knock outs, and protein-protein interactions.

People

Roland Krause, Group leader.

Open positions

The group provides opportunities for computational biologists and computer scientists with interest in biological questions. Applicants with a background in biochemistry or molecular biology should be experienced in a programming language such as Perl, Python, Java, or C++/C#. Students interested in PhD position can apply via one of the International Max Planck Research Schools of the institutes, the IMPRS for Infectious Diseases and Immunology and the IMPRS for Computational and Scientific Computing.
The group is located at the Max-Planck-Institute for Infection Biology on the Campus Mitte of the Charité in the centre of Berlin.

Contact

Roland Krause
Dept. Cellular Microbiology
Max-Planck-Institute for Infection Biology
Charité Campus Mitte
Schumannstr. 21/22
D-10117 Berlin
Germany
Email:roland.krause@molgen.mpg.de