Dr Frank Bürmann

Dr Frank Bürmann

Bacterial genome remodelling machines

Genetic information is stored in spectacularly large and thread-like molecules, the chromosomal DNA. This poses the fundamental entanglement problem: DNA threads must be organised into structured entities called nucleoids or chromosomes to prevent entanglement. Most, if not all, organisms solve this problem by the action of structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) complexes, motor proteins which extrude very large DNA loops. Interestingly, this process is targeted by viral effector proteins.

We are interested in:

1. The detailed molecular choreography by which SMC complexes extrude chromosomal DNA.
2. How bacteriophages and other mobile genetic elements manipulate host chromosomes, and how the host fights back.

We address these questions using biochemical reconstitution, cryo-EM, and bacterial and bacteriophage genetics. We capture genome remodelling machines in action, aiming to directly visualize how they work. Our long-term goal is a full mechanistic understanding of the processes that control and protect the three-dimensional structure of chromosomes across the tree of life.

To find out more, please visit http://www.burmann-lab.net/