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INSTITUTE OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

Mission statement

Welcome to the Institute of Molecular Biology at the Biocenter Innsbruck

The institute of Molecular Biology is responsible for teaching and training students in various currcicula (Human Medicine, Dental Medicine, Molecular Medicine) in molecular biology, microbiology and infectious disease control. 

The research of the institute is devoted to various topics in the molecular life sciences (molecular microbiology, epigenetics, applied microbiology and protein structure and function).

Research Interest 

Structure & Function of Chromatin: filamentous fungi

In eukaryotic cells, the readout of the genetic information is significantly controlled by structural changes of chromatin. Covalent modifications of DNA and core-histone proteins, the building blocks of nucleosomes, are primarily responsible for genome-wide or localized chromatin alterations. In response to cellular or environmental signals, these modifications affect a variety of regulatory processes during growth, differentiation and development, metabolism, diseases, and abiotic and biotic stress.

Within the last decade, we have deleted numerous histone modifying enzymes in pathogenic and non-pathogenic filamentous fungi and have analyzed the corresponding mutants with regard to pathogenicity, production of fungal metabolites and fitness under different growth conditions.

Whereas some deletions show only negligible effects, others significantly impact viability, production of important secondary metabolites such as antibiotics and toxins or affect pathogenicity of causative fungi. A further characterization of histone modifying enzymes and the elucidation of their roles as regulators of metabolites, as virulence factors or targets of antifungal substances more...
Group Brosch / Grässle

Antifungal Therapeutics and Resistance

Annually, more than 1.5 million people die as result of fungal infections. Around one third of deaths are caused by the genus Aspergillus, in particular, the major human mold pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. 

Fungi as well as mammals belong to the domain of eukaryotes and vital processes in mammalian cells are also conserved in fungal species. Therefore, substances with antifungal activity often have toxic effects on human cells, which makes it particularly challenging more...
Group Gsaller

Molecular Microbiology

Fungi affect the life of mankind positively and negatively. On the one hand, fungi are major players in saprobic decomposition, mutually interact with plants (mycorrhiza), serve directly as food (mushrooms) or in food production (e.g., bread, cheese, alcohol), and produce widely used primary (e.g. citrate, enzymes) and secondary metabolites (e.g. penicillin, cyclosporine A). On the other hand, some fungi are pathogens of plants (e.g. Fusarium spp.) and animals more...
Group Haas

Chromatin- and Epigenetics

The way in which eukaryotic DNA is organized in chromatin has profound effects on all processes that direct DNA metabolism (such as transcription, replication, repair and recombination). Chromatin controls access to the DNA, and it harbors epigenetic information. We are interested to learn about the establishment, maintenance and modification of eukaryotic chromatin structure. We are approaching this question by studying the molecular mechanisms and biological context more...
Group Lusser

Applied Mycology

Filamentous fungi secrete a wide array of different proteins into the external medium where they accomplish the most diverse functions, e.g. assimilation of complex nutrients, communication between other fungal cells, interaction between pathogenic fungi and their host; apart from some secreted enzymes which have been developed for a variety of commercial uses (mainly for the fermentation industry) only few extracellular proteins are well characterized in respect to more...
Group Marx-Ladurner

Former faculty members

Publications of the Institute of Molecular Biology