On February 21, the University of Münster published the interview "Ways of decomposing chemicals may be developed in just a few decades of time" with the microbiologist and ZIN member Prof. Bodo Philipp.

A team headed by Prof. Bodo Philipp and Dr. Johannes Holert from the Institute of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology has found bacteria in Münster’s wastewater which can completely decompose a substance called “TRIS” (tris hydroxymethyl aminomethane), and the researchers were able to throw light on the metabolic pathway. In this interview with Christina Hoppenbrock, Bodo Philipp explains what role new microbial metabolic pathways can play in treating wastewater, and why wastewater treatment plants are a good place to carry out research on the evolution of bacteria. You can read the full interview here.

Original publication:
Johannes Holert, Aron Borker, Laura Lucia Nübel, Rolf Daniel, Anja Poehlein, Bodo Philipp (2024): Bacteria use a catabolic patchwork pathway of apparently recent origin for degradation of the synthetic buffer compound TRIS, The ISME Journal, Volume 18, Issue 1, wrad023; DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wrad023