Emeritus Professor Ben Lugtenberg received ‘The Arima Award for Applied Microbiology’ from the IUMS (International Union of Microbial Societies) for his life-time contributions to this field.

How can we find novel natural products from Actinomycetes that act as growth modulators on mammalian cells? Can we harvest and develop the potential of these novel compounds for industrial and medical biotechnology?

Which microorganisms live near and inside plant roots? How do they contribute to plant health? Can microorganisms be employed in plant protection?

Biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) for natural products are widespread in microbial genomes, and they are rapidly exchanged. This research assesses the factors that control the spread of BGCs and resistance genes in nature. This includes risk assessment for the spread of engineered DNA in nature.

PhD defence

Which compounds and microorganisms that live near and inside plant roots are beneficial? Can we use this knowledge to improve the health and growth of crop plants?

Professors Jos Raaijmakers (NIOO) and Gilles Van Wezel (IBL) received an STW Perspectief- grant of €3 million from the Dutch Technology Foundation and several supporting companies.

How do plants lure microscopically small 'support teams' into their roots for protection against diseases? And what functions are activated in the microbes and the plants?

Microbial Sciences' contribution to the Host-Microbe Interactions research theme is to investigate how beneficial or disease-causing microbes associate and interact with their host.

How can cell wall engineering approaches be used to improve streptomycetes for industry to make new antibiotics?

GitLab is a single application for the entire software development lifecycle. We use the Leiden University gitlab services

Science, Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR)

In the master’s specialisation Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology at Leiden University students are trained by experts in the areas of molecular biology, microbiology, plant genetics, cellular imaging, animal disease models, and various –omics technologies and the corresponding bioinformatics.

Can we use indigenous microbial rice communities to reduce methane production in agricultural settings?

Now online in Molecular Microbiology our studies on the motility of Sulfolobus acidocaldarius and its unique swimming organelle, the archaellum.

The Advisory Board of the IBL consists of five eminent scientists with specialist expertise in complementary disciplines. They all have prominent positions for the field of Biology in the Netherlands outside our own institute.

Microbial Sciences' contribution to the Evolution & Biodiversity research theme focuses on understanding how bacteria sense and respond to their environment, and how bacterial diversity and evolution is influenced by cooperative and antagonistic interactions taking place between microbes.

Soil bacteria can produce a wealth of antibiotics that are new to us, claims Gilles van Wezel, Professor of Molecular Biotechnology at the Institute of Biology Leiden. His research group has developed a method that can rapidly identify and produce these unknown compounds.

Science, Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC)

The CMCB brings together a diverse range of unique expertise in microbial cell biology. Members of the CMCB investigate both model and non-model organisms, bacteria and archaea, pathogens and non-pathogens.

Our group operates at the cross-roads of different disciplines: molecular and cellular microbiology, biochemistry, structural biology and biophysics. The group harbors expertise in a multitude of molecular and cellular approaches including:

The central question of this Vici proposal is to investigate if, and how actinobacteria exploit life without a cell wall.

The lipid membrane is a basic structural component of all living cells. Embedded in this nanometer-thin barrier, membrane proteins shape the membrane and at the same time respond to the shape of the membrane.

From 1 October, two new Directors of Education will start at the Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL). Dennis Claessen as the new director for the master's programme of Biology and Marcel Schaaf as director for the Biology bachelor's programme. Claessen and Schaaf have been appointed for a period of four…

How are links between macro-invertebrate diversity and ecosystem functioning influenced by anthropogenic pressures?

Natural vanilla flavor is one of the most important in the world. However, the cost of this flavor is expensive. Production of this flavor by alternative methods, could reduce the cost.

A main goal of MSBB research is to address the major bottle-necks in combatting viral diseases: the lack of experimental models that are representative of human pathology and are cost effective and versatile. Viral diseases such as those that cause viral hemorrhagic syndromes or severe acute respiratory…

Microbial Sciences' contribution to the Bioactive Molecules research theme is to discover new bioactive molecules and enzymes and unravel their mechanisms of action, regulatory networks, and the (bio)synthetic pathways required for their production.

In an unpredictable environment bacteria evolve the same strategy as shareholders who try to protect themselves against unpredictable swings in the stock market. Experimental evolution biologist Dr Bertus Beaumont published an article on this discovery on 5 November in the journal Nature.

Edith Schippers, Minister of Health, will be investing six million euros over the coming four years to boost research on new antibiotics. The programme will be set up by several different parties, including the Leiden Centre for Antimicrobial Research.

Science, Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL)

Key research articles and book chapters of the Chromatin group.

Science, Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL)

What are the principles of genome folding and dynamics in bacteria?

What are the genes and molecular mechanisms involved in bacteria-mediated plant drought tolerance?

What are the functions of autophagy in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger?

The Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL) is an internationally oriented institute for research and education in biology. We are part of the Faculty of Science at Leiden University.

Research aims: Identification of key genes involved in programming the cellular architecture of A. niger & Genetic engineering of A. niger in order to improve its secretory capacities and rheological behavior under industrial fermentation conditions.

In order to achieve a more sustainable food system, the food industry has to come up with new, environmentally friendly products. One aspect is producing proteins for meat substitutes. Bachelor’s student Rose Vossen modified, grew and studied different yeast strains to see whether they can be used to…

Key publications of the Quantitative Pharmacology group

Science, Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML)

Speakers that have accepted to participate:

Remko Offringa, Associate Professor in Plant Developmental Genetics, and Associate Professor in Molecular Microbiology Arthur Ram both have been appointed as the new Directors of Education at the IBL. Offringa in the role as Director of Education for the Master program and Ram as Director for the Bachelor…