Rudolf K. Thauer
Transcription
Rudolf K. Thauer
Rudolf K. Thauer Emeritus Group Rudolf K. Thauer (Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. mult) born 05.10.1939 Study of Medicine (Frankfurt) and Biochemistry (Tübingen) Dr. rer. Nat (Biochemistry), Freiburg, 1968 Habilitation (Biochemistry), Freiburg, 1971 Postdoc, Case Western Reserve, Cleveland, Ohio, 1972 Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Bochum, 1972-1976 Professor of Microbiology, Marburg, 1978-2005 Director at the MPI Marburg, 1991-2007 Emeritus at the MPI Marburg, since 11/2007 Leibniz Prize of the DFG, 1987 Biochemistry of methanogenic archaea: Present and future projects In the last two years (2008 and 2009) my group continued or started to work on the following five interrelated projects: (i) The structure and function of [Fe]-hydrogenase, an enzyme substituting for F420-reducing [NiFe]-hydrogenase in methanogenic archaea under conditions of nickel limitation, and the biosynthesis of its iron-containing cofactor (Dr. Seigo Shima with Dr. Takeshi Hiromoto, Michael Schick and Stella Vitt in collaboration with PD Dr. Ulrich Ermler, MPI für Biophysik, Frankfurt). (v) The construction of a Methanosarcina strain that can grow on glucose forming 3 CO2 and CH4 (R. Thauer with Christian Sattler in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Michael Rother, University Frankfurt). (i) Structure, function and biosynthesis of [Fe]hydrogenase There are three enzymes known to date that can reversibly activate H2, namely [NiFe]-hydrogenases, [FeFe]hydrogenases and [Fe]-hydrogenase (Fig. 1). (ii) The catalytic mechanism of methyl-coenzyme M reductase catalyzing the methane forming step in methanogenic archaea and the oxidation of methane in methanotrophic archaea (R. Thauer with Dr. Meike Brefort (Goenrich), Reinhard Böcher and Dr. Seigo Shima in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Bernhard Jaun from the ETH Zürich and Prof. Dr. Friedrich Widdel from the MPI für marine Mikrobiologie in Bremen). (iii) Mechanism of the enzyme complex catalyzing the coupled reduction of ferredoxin and of the heterodisulfide CoM-S-S-CoB with H2 (R. Thauer with Anne Kaster and Kristian Parey in collaboration with PD Dr. Ulrich Ermler, MPI für Biophysik, Frankfurt). (iv) Characterization of the enzyme system catalyzing the coupled reduction of ferredoxin and NAD+ with NADPH in Clostridium kluyveri (R. Thauer with Dr. Shuning Wang, Johanna Moll und Haiyan Huang). 104 Fig. 1. The metal sites of the three types of hydrogenases. They have unusual structural features in common such as intrinsic CO ligands. Despite this fact [NiFe]-hydrogenase, [FeFe]-hydrogenases and [Fe]-hydrogenases are phylogenetically not related, neither at the level of apoenzyme primary structure nor at the level of the enzymes involved in their active site biosynthesis. -GMP, guanylyl rest. These enzymes do this at much lower activation energies than e.g. platinum. Their catalytic mechanism is therefore of considerably applied interest. Of the three hydrogenases, the [Fe]-hydrogenase is unique in containing a mononuclear rather than a dinuclear metal Rudolf K. Thauer center and in lacking an iron-sulfur cluster (Shima et al. 2009). The iron in [Fe]-hydrogenase is associated with an extractable organic cofactor covalently linked to the protein only via one Fe-S-Cys bond (Fig. 1) Upon denaturation of the enzyme in the presence of mercaptoethanol [Fe]-hydrogenase can be reversibly dissociated into apoenzyme and the iron guanylylpyridinol cofactor (FeGP-cofactor), the cysteine residue being replaced by mercaptoethanol. Within the last years the structures of the apoenzyme, holoenzyme and holoenzyme substrate complex have been elucidated (Shima et al. 2008; Hiromoto et al. 2009 a and b, Salomone-Stagni et al. 2010). A comparison with [NiFe]-hydrogenases and [FeFe]-hydrogenases reveals striking structural similarities in the active site structure (Fig. 1). Thus the three types of hydrogenases, two of which were discovered in Marburg, contain in their active site a low spin iron with intrinsic CO and cyanide ligands (in the case of [Fe]-hydrogenase the unique acyl-ligand to iron can be considered as cyanide equivalent). For future studies of the catalytic mechanism our recent discovery is of importance that some isocyanides can inhibit [Fe]-hydrogenase by reversibly binding to the low spin iron with Ki lower than 0.1 µM (S. Shima, unpublished results). We have initiated 13C-labeling studies indicating that of the nine carbon of the pyridinol moiety of the FeGPcofactor three are derived from C1 of acetate, two from C2 of acetate, one from the methyl group of methionine and three from CO2 or the carboxyl group of pyruvate. Via 1H and 13C NMR the labeling pattern will be determined. In parallel we have identified a gene cluster most likely coding for FeGP-cofactor biosynthesis. Experiments have been initiated to heterologously express these genes individually and together in Escherichia coli. Also, mutational analyses of the biosynthesis genes in Methanococcus maripaludis have been started in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Michel Rother, Universität Frankfurt. The fact is exploited that [Fe]-hydrogenase is required in methanogenic archaea only under conditions of nickel-limiting growth conditions (Thauer et al. 2010). For a more detailed description of the results obtained for [Fe]-hydrogenase see the chapter “Seigo Shima”. Emeritus Group (ii) The catalytic mechanism of methyl-coenzyme M reductase Methyl-coenzyme M reductase (MCR) catalyzes the methane forming step in methanogenic archaea. The enzyme has recently been proposed to be involved also in the anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) with sulfate mediated by consortia of methanotrophic archaea and sulfate-reducing delta-proteobacteria (Thauer and Shima 2008; Ettwig et al. 2008; Jaun and Thauer 2009; Fig. 2). Fig. 2. Reaction catalyzed by the nickel enzyme methyl-coenzyme M reductase. The nickel in the enzyme is associated with coenzyme F430, a corphinoid tetrapyrrole found unitl now only in methanogenic archaea and methanotrophic archaea. The transition metal has to be in the Ni(I) oxidation state for the enzyme to be active (Thauer et al. 2008; Jaun and Thauer 2009; Mayr et al. 2008). 1 U = 1 µmol per min at 60 °C. With respect to the catalytic mechanism our recent finding is of interest that upon reaction of MCR with its coenzymes M and B a nickel hydride complex is formed (Harmer et al. 2008). Nickel hydrides have been shown to activate methane. Of importance is also our finding that binding of coenzyme B induces a major conformational change in the active site of MCR most probably leading to an increased nucleophilicity of the Ni(I) in F430 (Ebner et al. 2009). Using a novel NMR spectroscopic method, we were able to show for the first time that MCR can catalyze the back reaction at kinetics (apparent Km and Vmax) consistent with the in vivo kinetics of AOM with sulfate (Scheller et al. 2010). The crystal structure of MCR purified from mats catalyzing AOM revealed the presence of coenzyme M and coenzyme B indicating that the enzyme uses the same coenzymes as MCR from methanogenic archaea (Shima et al. unpublished results). MCR from methanotrophic archaea of the ANME-1 cluster 105 Emeritus Group contain a modified F430, the structure of which was elucidated (Mayr et al. 2008). Our findings of a NMR spectroscopic method allowing to follow the formation of methyl-coenzyme M from methane and CoM-S-S-CoB opened the window to a large number of experiments previously thought out of reach. E. g. we have already shown using the method that 12CH3-13CH2-S-CoM rapidly yields 13CH3-12CH2S-CoM upon incubation with MCR in the presence coenzyme B. Ethyl-coenzyme M is reduced to ethane by MCR albeit at a 200 fold lower catalytic efficiency than methyl-coenzyme M is reduced to methane. The mechanisms proposed so far for MCR cannot explain this finding and must therefore be revised. Fig. 3. Cartoon of the MvhADG- HdrABC complex highlighting the putative functions of the individual subunits. The enzyme complex couples the endergonic reduction of ferredoxin with H2 to the exergonic reduction of CoM-S-S-CoB with H2 via the mechanism of flavin-based electron bifurcation. n, mol Fdox reduced per 2 mol H2, is not yet known. The redox potentials are standard potentials at pH 7 (E°’). E°’ of this ferredoxin is assumed to be -500 mV, which is the E°’ of the CO2/CHO-MFR couple, the first step in CO2 reduction to methane. Abbreviations used: Fd, ferredoxin; HS-CoM, coenzyme M; HS-CoB, coenzyme B. The zinc in HdrB is ligated by 3 sulfur and a histidine nitrogen as revealed by Zn K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The four “C” in HdrA is a conserved sequence motif with 4 cysteines. In HdrA from Methanococcus species one the four cysteines is a selenocysteine. (iii) Mechanism of the enzyme complex catalyzing the coupled reduction of ferredoxin and of CoM-SS-CoB with H2 Two years ago we have proposed that the cytoplasmic MvhADG/HdrABC complex from methanogenic archaea couples two reactions via a flavin-based electron bifurcation, namely the endergonic reduction of ferredoxin with H2 to the exergonic reduction of the heterodisulfide (CoM-S-S-CoB) with H2 (Thauer et al. 2008). 106 Rudolf K. Thauer In the meantime we could show that the purified enzyme complex catalyzes a CoM-S-S-CoB dependent reduction of ferredoxin with H2. The stoichiometry of coupling is not clear yet because the coupling in the purified complex is apparently not tight. The conditions of tight coupling remain to be found. In parallel to the coupling studies we are trying to crystallize the MvhADG/HdrABC complex and - after dissociation of the complex in the presence of detergents - the hydrogenase subcomplex MvhADG and the heterodisulfide reductase subcomplex HdrABC. From the crystal structure(s) it is hoped to get insight into the mechanism of flavin-based electron bifurcation. (iv) An enzyme system catalyzing the coupled reduction of ferredoxin and NAD+ with NADPH in Clostridium kluyveri We have recently shown that in Clostridium kluyveri the exergonic reduction of crotonyl-CoA with NADH is coupled with the endergonic reduction of ferredoxin with NADH via flavin-based electron bifurcation (Li et al. 2008). This novel coupling mechanism allowed for the first time to formulate a metabolic scheme for the ethanol-acetate fermentation that could account for the observed fermentation products and growth yields, and thus for the observed ATP gains (Seedorf et al. 2008). One question, however, remained open, namely, why the formation of butyrate from ethanol and acetate in the fermentation involves a NADP- and a NAD-specific ßhydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase despite the fact that in the oxidative part of the fermentation only NADH is generated. The presence of a reduced ferredoxin: NADP oxidoreductase was proposed, which in the following we looked for. Cell extracts of C. kluyveri catalyze the NAD+-dependent reduction of ferredoxin with NADPH and the reduction of NAD+ with NADPH. After partial purification and amino acid sequence determination of a heterodimer, two neighboring genes were identified and heterologously expressed in E. coli. The cell extracts of the recombinant E. coli now also catalyzed the NAD+dependent reduction of ferredoxin with NADPH and the transhydrogenation reaction. The activities were shown to be FAD-dependent. From the available results it appears that the heterologously produced enzyme complex couples the exergonic reduction of NAD+ with NADPH with the endergonic reduction of ferredoxin with NADPH via flavin-based electron bifurcation. The details of this reaction and of its catalyzing complex remain to be worked out. Rudolf K. Thauer (v) The construction of a Methanosarcina strain that can grow on glucose In anoxic environments cellulose, a polymer of glucose, is fermented to CO2 and methane via a syntrophic association of anaerobic bacteria, protozoa and fungi that ferment cellulose to acetic acid, CO2 and H2 and of methanogenic archaea that convert acetic acid, CO2 and H2 to methane. There is no organism known that can ferment glucose to 3 CO2 and 3 CH4 alone. A kinetic theory relating growth rates to the length of metabolic pathways and the number of coupling sites can explain these finding for energy substrate-limited planctonic cells (Pfeiffer, T., Schuster, S. & Bonhoeffer,S. (2001) Cooperation and Competition in the Evolution of ATPProducing Pathways. Science 292, 504-507). The same theory predicts, however, that in biofilms methanogens capable of fermenting glucose to CO2 and methane should exist. To test this we want to clone the genes required for glucose-import and glucose activation to glucose-6-phosphate into Methanosarcina barkeri, a methanogen lacking only these genes for methanogenesis from glucose for which a genetic system has been developed. This project will be pursued together with Prof. Dr. Michael Rother from the University of Frankfurt who has developed the genetic system. It is being financed by the LOEWE center SYNMIKRO in Marburg. Impact 2008-2009 Since start of the emeritus group on November 1, 2007, the group submitted fifteen original papers of which end of 2009 fourteen were published or were in press. The results were additionally summarized in four reviews and six book chapters. Many of the papers were published in high impact journals such as Science, Angewandte Chemie, Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Biochemistry, Journal of Bacteriology, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Nature Microbiology Reviews, and Annual Reviews of Biochemistry. Until end of February 2010, the papers published since 2008 have already been cited more than 150 times. In the group one student completed her doctoral thesis, one his diploma thesis and one his bachelor thesis. Emeritus Group Publications Original papers Vogt, S., Lyon, E.J., Shima, S. and Thauer, R.K. (2008) The exchange activities of [Fe] hydrogenase (iron-sulfurcluster-free hydrogenase) from methanogenic archaea in comparison with the exchange activities of [FeFe] and [NiFe] hydrogenases. J Biol Inorg Chem. 13, 97-106. Guo, Y., Wang, H., Xiao, Y., Vogt, S., Thauer, R.K., Shima, S., Volkers, P.I., Rauchfuss, T.B., Pelmenschikov, V., Case, D. A., Alp, E., Sturhahn, W., Yoda, Y. & Cramer, S.P. (2008) Characterization of the Fe site in iron-sulfur cluster free hydrogenase (Hmd) and of a model compound via nuclear resonance vibrational spectroscopy (NRVS). Inorganic Chemistry 47, 3969-3977. Seedorf, H., Fricke, W.F., Veith, B., Brüggemann, H., Liesegang, H. Strittmatter, A., Miethke, M., Buckel, W., Hinderberger, J., Li, F., Hagemeier C.H., Thauer, R.K. & Gottschalk, G. (2008) The genome of Clostridium kluyveri, a strict anaerobe with unique metabolic features. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 105, 2128-2133. Li, F., Hinderberger, J., Seedorf, H., Zhang, J., Buckel, W. & Thauer, R.K. (2008) Coupled ferredoxin and crotonyl coenzyme A (CoA) reduction with NADH catalyzed by the butyryl-CoA dehydrogenasee/Etf complex from Clostridium kluyveri. J. Bacteriol. 190, 843-850. Ettwig, K.F., Shima, S., van de Pas-Schoonen, K.T., Kahnt, J., Medema, M., op den Camp, H.J.M. Jetten, M.S.M. & Strous, M (2008) Denitrifying bacteria anaerobically oxidize methane in the absence of archaea. Env. Microbiol. 10. 3164-3173. Shima, S., Pilak O., Vogt, S., Schick, M., Stagni, M.S., Meyer-Klaucke, W., Warkentin, E., Thauer, R.K., & Ermler, U.(2008) The crystal structure of [Fe]-hydrogenase reveals the geometry of the active site. Science 321, 572-575. Harmer, J, Finazzo, C., Piskorski, R., Ebner, S., Duin, E.C., Goenrich, M., Thauer, R.K., Reiher, M., Schweiger, A., Hinderberger, D. & Jaun, B (2008) A nickel hydride complex in the active site of methyl-coenzyme M reductase: Implications for the catalytic cycle. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 130, 10907-10920. Mayr, S., Latkoczy C., Krüger, M., Günther, D., Shima, S., Thauer, R.K., Widdel, F. & Jaun, B. (2008) Structure of an F430 variant from Archaea associated with an- 107 Rudolf K. Thauer Emeritus Group aerobic oxidation of methane. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 130, 10758-10767. cally relevant differences in energy conservation. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 6, 579-591. Hinderberger, D., Ebner, S., Mayr, S., Jaun, B., Reiher, M., Goenrich, M., Thauer, R. K., & Harmer, J. (2008). Coordination and binding geometry of methyl-coenzyme M in the red1m state of methyl-coenzyme M reductase. J. Biol. Inorg. Chem., 13, 1275-1289. Thauer, R.K. Kaster, A.-K., Goenrich, M., Schick, M., Hiromoto, T. & Shima, S (2009) Hydrogenases from methanogenic archaea, nickel, a novel cofactor and H2storage. Ann. Rev. Biochem., in press Hiromoto, T., Ataka, K., Pilak O., Vogt, S., Stagni, M.S., Meyer-Klaucke, W., Warkentin, E., Thauer, R.K., Shima, S., & Ermler, U.(2009) The crystal structure of C176A mutated [Fe]-hydrogenase suggests an acyl-iron ligation in the active site iron complex. FEBS Letters 583, 585-590. Hiromoto, T., Warkentin, E., Moll, J., Ermler, U., & Shima, S. (2009) The crystal structure of an [Fe]-hydrogenase-Substrate complex reveals the framework for H2 activation. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 48, 6457-6460. Ceh, K., Demmer, U., Warkentin, E., Moll, J., Thauer, R.K., Shima, S. & Ermler, U. (2009) Structural basis of the hydride transfer mechanism in F420-dependent methylenetetrahydromethanopterin dehydrogenase. Biochemistry 48, 10098-10105. Salomone-Stagni, M., Stellato, F., Whaley, C.M., Vogt, S., Morante, S., Shima, S., Rauchfuss, T.B., and MeyerKlaucke, W. (2010) The iron-site structure of [Fe]-hydrogenase and model systems: an X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy study. Dalton Trans., in press (DOI: 10.1039/b922557a). Ebner, S., Jaun, B., Goenrich, M., Thauer, R. K. & Harmer, J. (2010) Binding of coenzyme B induces a major conformational change in the active site of methylcoenzyme M reductase J. Am. Chem. Soc., in press Scheller, S., Goenrich,M., Böcher R., Thauer R. K., & Jaun, B. (2010) Reverse methanogenesis: the key nickel enzyme MCR catalyses anaerobic oxidation of methane, in revision. Reviews in Journals Thauer, R.K. & Shima, S. (2008) Methane as fuel for anaerobic microorganisms. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1125, 158-170. Thauer, R. K., Kaster, A.K., Seedorf, H., Buckel, W., & Hedderich, R. (2008) Methanogenic archaea: Ecologi- 108 Shima, S (2008) The structure of the [Fe]-hydrogenase and the convergent evolution of the active site of hydrogenases. Seikagaku, 80, 846-849 (in Japanese). Reviews in Books Shima, S (2008) Functions of methyl-coenzyme M reductase in production and degradation of methane, pp. 182-183. In Applied Microbiology (Kumagai, H., Kato, N., Murata, K. & Sakai, Y., eds) Asakura Shoten, Tokyo, Japan (in Japanese). Thauer, R.K. (2008) Of methanotrophic and Methanogenic Archaea. In: Life Strategies of Microorganisms in the Environment and in Host Organisms (Amann R., Goebel, W., Reinhold-Hurek, B., Schink, B. and Widdel, F. eds. Nova Acta Leopoldina 96, 41-44. Thauer, R.K. (2008) Biologische Methanbildung: Eine erneuerbare Energiequelle von Bedeutung? In Die Zukunft der Energie (Gruss, P. und Schüth, Heraus-geber) Verlag C. H. Beck, pp.119-137. Friedrich, B. & Thauer, R.K. (2008) Molekularfunktion von Katalysatoren bei der Produktion von BioH2. Jahrbuch 2007 der Deutschen Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina, Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft mbH Stuttgart, pp. 349-350. Jaun, B. & Thauer, R.K. (2009) Nickel-alkyl bond formation in the active site of methyl-coenzyme M reductase (MCR). In Metal-carbon bonds in enzymes and cofactors, Vol.6 of Metal Ions in Life Sciences (Sigel, A., Sigel, H., Sigel, R.K.O., eds). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK, pp. 115-132. Shima, S., Thauer, R.K. & Ermler, U. (2009) Carbon monoxide as intrinsic ligands to iron in the active site of [Fe]-hydrogenase. In Metal-carbon bonds in enzymes and cofactors, Vol. 6 of Metal Ions in Life Sciences (Sigel, A., Sigel, H., Sigel, R.K.O., eds). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK, pp 219-240. Rudolf K. Thauer Emeritus Group Miscellaneous Structure of the group (12/2009) Thauer, R.K. (2008) Leopoldina als nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften. BIOspektrum 14, 567. Group leader: Prof. Dr. Rudolf K. Thauer (emeritus) ter Meulen, V. & Thauer, R.. (2009) Celebrating Achim Trebst´s 80th birthday. Phoptosynthesis Research 100, 117-119. Associated group leader: Seigo Shima, PhD (permanent position) Secretary: Claudia Schäfer (1 hour per day) Finished theses PhD thesis Hinderberger, Julia (2008) Ferredoxin Reduktion und Oxidation im Stoff-wechsel von Clostridium kluyveri Diploma thesis Schick, Michael (2008) [Fe]-Hydrogenase (Hmd) in zwei methanogenen Archaea ohne Gene für die vermuteten FeGP-Kofaktor Scaffold-Proteine Hmd II und Hmd III. BSc thesis Daniel Andritschke (2008) Crotonyl-CoA: Acetat CoATransferase (Cat1) aus Clostridium kluyveri Postdoctoral fellows: Dr. Meike Brefort (Goenrich) (unil 10/10), Dr. Takeshi Hiromoto (until 08/10) and Dr. Shuning Wang (until 10/10) PhD students*): Anne Kaster (until 10/10), Kristian Parey (until 10/10), Michael Schick (until 06/11), Stella Vitt (since 10/09), Christian Sattler (since 11/2009) Technical assistants: Reinhard Böcher (50%) and Johanna Moll (both permanent positions) Research student: Huang Haiyan (since 03/09) Guest Scientist: Alexander Netrusov (01/08, 07/08, 01/09, 07/09) PhD thesis of Stella Vitt is being supervised together with Dr. S. Shima and PD Dr. U. Ermler (MPI for Biophysics Frankfurt). Michael Schick will be financed via the PRESTO grant to S. Shima from April 2010. The PhD thesis of Christian Sattler is being supervised together with Prof. Dr. M. Rother (University of Frankfurt) and financed via the LOEWE grant to R. Thauer. Written agreements have been made that Stella Vitt and Christian Sattler will be able to finish their theses and graduate in Frankfurt if this turns out to be necessary. *) External funding Japan Science and Technology Agency (PRESTO Program): Euro 400 000 for 5 years starting 10/09 (to Seigo Shima) Fonds der Chemischen Industrie (to R. Thauer) Memberships Kuratorium der Angewandten Chemie Präsidium der Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina: Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften Scientific Advisory Board of LanzaTech Limited, Auckland, New Zealand Invited lectures abroad Seminar, 16th April 2008, Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. Microbial Diversity Course, 21-29 June 2008, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA (four lectures) Fachbeirat Future Capital AG, Frankfurt Fourth International Symposium on Biooranometallic Chemistry, 16.-10 July, 2008, Missoula, Montana, USA Gordon Research Conference on “Molecular Basis of Microbial One-Carbon Metabolism, 20-25 July 2008, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine, USA 109 Rudolf K. Thauer Emeritus Group XII. International Congress of Bacteriology and Applied Microbiology, 5-9 August 2008, Istanbul, Turkey Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) meeting, 10-14 November 2008, Peking, China Bioenergy Genome Center, 17. November 2008, Qingdao, China EMBO-FEMS Workshop on Microbial Sulfur Metabolism, 15-18 March 2009, Tomar, Portugal American Society for Microbiology 109th General Meeting, 17-21 May 2009, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Gordon Research Conference on Archaea: Ecology, Metabolism and Molecular Biology, 26-31 July 2009, Waterville Valley, NH, USA Gordon Research Conference on Vitamin B12 and Corphins, 2-7 August 2009, Oxford, United Kingdom Seminar, 4th November 2009, Johannes Kepler Universität, Linz, Austria Seminar, 11th November 2009, ETH Zürich, Switzerland Awards Carl Friedrich Gauß-Medaille, Braunschweigische Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft 05/08 Honorary member of the „Vereinigung für Allgemeine und Angewandte Mikrobiologie“ (VAAM) 03/09 110 Lab retreats 10.–15. August 2008 in Hirschegg, Kleinwalsertal, together with the group of Ulrich Ermler from the Max Planck Institute for Biophysics in Frankfurt, the group of Bernhard Jaun from the ETH Zürich, the Group of Georg Fuchs from the University of Freiburg and the groups of Wolfgang Buckel and Johann Heider from the University of Marburg. 23.-28. August 2009 in Hirschegg, Kleinwalsertal, together with the group of Ulrich Ermler from the Max Planck Institute for Biophysics in Frankfurt, the group of Bernhard Jaun from the ETH Zürich, the group of Georg Fuchs from the University of Freiburg and the groups of Wolfgang Buckel and Johann Heider from the University Marburg. Address Prof. Dr. Rudolf K. Thauer Max-Planck-Institut für terrestrische Mikrobiologie Karl-von-Frisch Straße 10 35043 Marburg/Germany Phone: +49 6421 178-101 Fax: + 49 6421 178-109 E-mail: [email protected] Rudolf K. Thauer Emeritus Group Seminar in Hirschegg, Kleinwalsertal, from 10.-15. August 2008. First row (from left to right): Seigo Shima; Johanna Moll; Anne-Kristin Kaster; Sebastian Kölzer; Michael Schick Second row: Takeshi Hiromoto; Astrid Brandis-Heep; Sieglinde Ebner; Katharina Körner; Liv Rather; Sibylle Ziegler Third row: Georg Fuchs; Eberhard Warkentin; A. Parthasrathy; Sylvan Scheller; Ulrike Demmer; Berhard Jaun; S. Marx; Kathrin Schneider; M. Lippert; Rolf Thauer; Johann Heider; Shuning Wang; Last row: Reinhard Böcher; Ulrich Ermler; Kristian Parey; Hana Pandelikova; D. Kockelhorn; A. Petri; Robin Teufel, R.; D. Kathrei; Juri Dermer; Michael Rother; Ivan Berg; Karola. Schühle; Birgit Alber; T. Erb; Hugo Ramos Seminar in Hirschegg, Kleinwalsertal, from 23.-28. August 2009. First row (from left to right): Tobias Weinert; Meike Brefort; Anne-Kristin Kaster; Ivan Berg; Seigo Shima Second row: Michael Schick; Elamparithy Yamayayamani; Marie Kim; Karola Schühle; Carlotta DebnarDaumler; Johann Heider; Takeshi Hiromoto Third row: Basem Soboh; Markus Hilberg; Daniel Knack; Vikrant; Sibylle Ziegler; Ulrike Demmer; Anne Brettschneider; Hana Pandlikova; Michaela Voss; Liv Rather; Astrid Brandis-Heep; Shuning Wang; Johanna Moll. Forth row: Rolf Thauer; Peter Friedrich; Eberhard Warkentin; Kristian Parey; Wolfgang Buckel; Janos Retey; Robin Teufel; Ulrich Ermler; Constanze Pienske; Michael Cather; Frederick Lyatuu; Birgit Alber; Kathrin Schneider; Michael Rother 111