Developing genetic methods for cable bacteria

Cable bacteria apparently have a fascinating physiology but many of their traits remain hypothetical predictions based on genome/transcriptome analyses. The goal of this project is to develop methods to generate cable bacteria mutants or reporter strains to verify predicted functions or localizations of certain proteins. This is a great challenge given that we cannot currently grow cable bacteria in pure culture (only as enrichment), that they have to be grown in a gradient system (they do not form colonies on plates), they are filamentous (multicellular!), and no genetic system is so far available. So the ideal student for this project is the adventurous type, ready for a "high risk - high gain" project!

Supervisors: Thomas Boesen, Andreas Schramm

Methods: molecular biology & microbiology, fluorescence microscopy (CRISPR-Cas9, GFP, knock-out mutants...)

Contact:

Andreas Schramm ([email protected])

The project proposal has been submitted 07.05.2026