An examination of academic organization at the forefront of the biotechnology revolution

The Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL) is an internationally oriented institute for research and education in biology. We are part of the Faculty of Science at Leiden University.

We investigate bacteria and fungi to understand their malicious or beneficial impact on food crops and their pathogenic or antibiotic role in human health.

BlaC is the β-lactamase of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We show that it can recover from inhibition by clavulanic acid and that phosphate helps it do so.

Through courses and research projects, you are trained by experts in the field.

Promotor: Prof.dr. G.P. van Wezel

Almost all bacteria are enveloped by a cell wall that provides cellular protection.

Bacteria are highly complex and diverse organisms that have adapted to survive in ecological niches ranging from the most extreme to the most heterogeneous environments.

Vaccination is the most effective method to prevent influenza infection. However, current influenza vaccines have several limitations. Relatively long production times, limited vaccine capacity, moderate efficacy in certain populations and lack of cross-reactivity are important issues that need to be…

This thesis focuses on the design and synthesis of activity-based probes and inhibitors targeting enzymes involved in the degradation of specific plant glycans.

Autopaghy is an intracellular degradation system which targets cytosolic components to lytic compartments for degradation and recycling of the building blocks of the cell.

Edith Schippers, Minister of Health, will be investing six million euros over the coming four years to boost research on new antibiotics. The programme will be set up by several different parties, including the Leiden Centre for Antimicrobial Research.

The master’s programme Biology at Leiden University offers seven specialisations ranging from Cell Biology to Molecular Genetics. The programme prepares you for a career in research within or outside academia.

The availability of complete plant genome sequences together with the ever increasing amount of data on the molecular, cellular and physiological mechanisms of plant development require mathematical and computational models to obtain a complete overview of and generate new insights into the quantitative…

The filamentous bacteria Streptomyces are widespread inhabitants of terrestrial soils.

Aspergillus niger is an important industrial producer of organic acids and enzymes producing large amounts of spent fungal biomass.

This thesis investigates the application of deep learning techniques in image analysis across various domains, focusing on four main themes: feature extraction, classification, segmentation, and integration, demonstrating the transformative potential of these technologies.

Transplantation of labial salivary glands to the eyelids for patients with dry eye appears to give excellent results clinically.

The increasing resistance of pathogenic bacteria to antibiotics necessitates the discovery of new medicines.

Promotor: G.P. van Wezel

After graduation you have a lot of opportunities: academics are highly sought after in Dutch secondary education or mbo teaching. You can also aim for a management position or work as a researcher within the field of Life Sciences.

Streptomyces bacteria are a valuable source of natural products, many of which are used in the clinic or in biotechnology.

Promotor: Prof.dr. G.P. van Wezel, Co-Promotor: E. Vijgenboom

The soil-dwelling, filamentous bacteria of the genus Streptomyces are renowned for their production of useful secondary metabolites including antibiotics. The work described in this thesis provides new insights on the role and regulation of antibiotic production and resistance in these bacteria.

Promotor: Prof.dr. R. Verpoorte, , Co-Promotor: Young Hae Choi

Streptomyces are filamentous bacteria that produce more than two-thirds of known antibiotics.

Streptomyces are multicellular, Gram-positive bacteria in the phylum of actinobacteria which produce a high amount of bioactive natural products of which the expression is tightly coordinated with the life cycle.

Metabolomics group, LCQUI, Universidade UENF, Campos dos Goytacazes/Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

Streptomyces are bacteria abundant in soil that participate in diverse and complex interactions. These bacteria are the main producers of the antibiotics we currently use in the clinic.

Plants are colonized by an astounding number of microorganisms that can provide different life-support functions, including nutrient acquisition and protection against (a)biotic stresses like drought or pathogen attack.

Bacterial chemosensory arrays are protein assemblies that are the key structural and functional component for motile bacteria to sense their internal or environmental chemical signals.

Streptomyces are prolific producers of enzymes and secondary metabolites, including more than 50% of all clinical antibiotics. This makes them highly attractive for medical, biotechnological, and industrial purposes.

The ongoing increase in antimicrobial resistance combined with the low discovery of novel antibiotics is a serious threat to our health care.

Promotor: Prof.dr. R. Verpoorte, Co-Promotores: N.R. Mustafa, A.E. Schulte

Promotor: Prof.dr. R. Verpoorte, Co-promotores: Dr. Y.H.Choi, N.R. Mustafa

Research in the Lars Jeuken group focusses on redox-active proteins and membranes enzymes, aiming to understand bacterial respiration at the molecular level for the development of antimicrobials and semi-artificial photo-synthetic cells.

Natural vanilla flavor is one of the most important in the world. However, the cost of this flavor is expensive. Production of this flavor by alternative methods, could reduce the cost.

Fungal food spoilage often starts with a contamination with spores. Experimental data strongly indicate the existence of subpopulations of spores with different levels of resistance to preservation methods.

Actinobacteria are well known for the production of bioactive natural products, many of which have applications in the fields of human, animal and plant health. Subject of this thesis are the anthracyclines, glycosylated aromatic polyketides with potent anticancer activity.

This thesis describes the structural and biochemical characterization of the β-lactamase BlaC from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), and the Alr and YlmE proteins from Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2).Mtb is the main cause of tuberculosis.

Filamentous Actinobacteria, such as Streptomyces, produce a plethora of chemically diverse bioactive metabolites that have found applications across medicine, agriculture and biotechnology.

This thesis examines enzyme domain architecture and engineering to improve the breakdown of lignocellulose and starch, abundant biopolymers crucial for sustainable biofuel and biochemical production. Carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) facilitate this degradation, but the structural complexity of…

Promotor: G.P. van Wezel, Co-promotor: D. Claessen

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria pose a major health threat. Addressing this challenge requires among others the development of new antibacterial compounds. The research described in this thesis focuses on discovering novel antibiotics from soil bacteria, specifically Streptomyces and Paenibacillus.Despite…

Exploiting the Ecological Role of Natural Products as Novel Biocontrol Agents (LIPQUORUM): The central aim of LIPQUORUM is to unravel the intricate interkingdom signaling mechanisms between the Bacillus subtilis species complex and the devastating fungal pathogen Sporisorium scitamineum.

Acidobacteria is a widely distributed phylum but their functional roles in ecosystem processes are still largely elusive.

Promotor: Prof.dr. G.P. van Wezel

The bacterial cell wall is a nearly universal structure that offers protection and gives the cell its shape. However, environmental stressors, such as cell wall-targeting antibiotics and hyperosmotic conditions, can induce bacteria to shift to a wall-deficient state. It is unknown whether the lack of…