Download Prof. Michael M. Meijler

HIPS Talk
Prof. Michael M. Meijler
Department of Chemistry and the National Institute for
Biotechnology in the Negev,
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er Sheva, Israel
will give a presentation entitled
“Using chemical tools to unravel small-molecule
based communication between species“
Tuesday, March 8, 2016, at 17:00h s.t.
in Blg E8.1, Seminar Room (Ground Floor)
Host: Prof. Dr. Rolf Hartmann
There is opportunity to talk with the speaker before the talk.
There will be a follow-up session (Nachsitzung).
For details and for making appointments please contact: May Küffner,
0681-98806-2001 or per email: [email protected]
Guests are welcome!
HIPS Talk
Abstract
Life on earth is heavily based on chemical communication between cells. Quorum sensing
enables unicellular organisms to coordinate their behavior and function in such a way that
they can adapt to changing environments and compete, as well as coexist, with multicellular
organisms. A prime example of this phenomenon is displayed by the opportunistic pathogen
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which causes disease in immunocompromised humans. Quorum
sensing in this pathogen is mediated by binding of the transcriptional activator, LasR, to its
ligand 3-oxo-C12-HSL, leading to biofilm formation and secretion of virulence factors. We are
targeting QS in P. aeruginosa and other pathogens with various chemical tools, such as a set
of electrophilic probes that are designed to bind QS receptors covalently, leading to inhibition
of QS regulated gene expression. We use these probes as molecular tools to obtain new
insights into the mechanisms of activation and deactivation of bacterial quorum sensing.
Furthermore, we recently found that certain QS molecules and other natural products can
also directly affect the behavior of other bacterial species as well as that of eukaryotes.
Diverse eukaryotes have been found to react strongly to the presence of these compounds
(often initiating counter-warfare to jam bacterial communication), however, to date no
eukaryotic protein has been identified that binds bacterial QS molecules. We have
synthesized and used a set of `tag-free` probes to isolate and identify for the first time such
receptors. We have also discovered several previously unknown signaling molecules from
plants that interfere with bacterial communication, and studied their mechanism of action.
CV
Michael Meijler obtained his MSc degree in Chemistry from the University of Amsterdam and
his PhD degree from the Weizmann Institute of Science (with Abraham Shanzer). He then
moved to The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, for postdoctoral studies with
Kim Janda. After spending a year as Assistant Professor in the Janda group in 2005, he
started his own group at the Department of Chemistry at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
(Be'er Sheva, Israel) in the fall of 2006 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2011
and Full Professor in 2015. His research focuses on chemical communication between
bacteria themselves, in various settings, and between bacteria and other species such as
plants, fungi and animals.