The focus of this research unit is the genomic analysis of microbial genomes. Using modern tools of laboratory automation, we analyze the complete genome sequence of microbial species.
The sequence determination is followed up by a detailed bioinformatic analysis that allows for predicting the physiology of the studied organism. The bioinformatic analysis is followed up by a functional analysis that tests experimentally the predicted gene function.

The availability of a large number of microbial genomes from a broad range of organisms has shaped our current understanding of the dynamics of genome structure from pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria. Such, it has been suggested that close adaptation towards a host in a symbiotic or pathogenic relationship results in small, minimalist genomes, which are required for survival in a host.
Our group studies the genomes from related host-adapted and potentially free-living bacteria in order to gain insight into the molecular mechanisms that have driven the speciation process from free-living last common ancestors to the obligatory pathogenic species that we see today.