My Lifelong Passion for Biochemistry and Anaerobic Microorganisms

Abstract

Early parental influence led me first to medical school, but after developing a passion for biochemistry and sensing the need for a deeper foundation, I changed to chemistry. During breaks between semesters, I worked in various biochemistry labs to acquire a feeling for the different areas of investigation. The scientific puzzle that fascinated me most was the metabolism of the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium kluyveri, which I took on in 1965 in Karl Decker's lab in Freiburg, Germany. I quickly realized that little was known about the biochemistry of strict anaerobes such as clostridia, methanogens, acetogens, and sulfate-reducing bacteria and that these were ideal model organisms to study fundamental questions of energy conservation, CO 2 fixation, and the evolution of metabolic pathways. My passion for anaerobes was born then and is unabated even after 50 years of study.

Flavin-Based Electron Bifurcation, Ferredoxin, Flavodoxin, and Anaerobic Respiration With Protons (Ech) or NAD+ (Rnf) as Electron Acceptors: A Historical Review

“…Structural and mechanistic aspects are highlighted in Buckel and Thauer ( in press ). A short history of the discovery can be found in the prefatory chapter of Annual Reviews of Microbiology 2015 (Thauer, 2015 ).…”

Mechanisms of Antibacterial Action of Quinoxaline 1,4-di-N-oxides against Clostridium perfringens and Brachyspira hyodysenteriae

“…Different from aerobic species, strictly anaerobic micro-organisms have no respiratory (electron-transport) chain (Thauer, 2015), so they cannot generate reactive products from reduction of O 2, such as H 2 O 2 . Therefore, the Fenton reaction would not occur without H 2 O 2, which affects the formation of hydroxyl free radical via Fenton reaction (Pesakhov et al, 2007).…”

Lothar Jaenicke and C1-metabolism: his first 25 years of research

“…At that time Kurt Jungermann and I, both postdocs in the group of Karl Decker, were investigating the synthesis of C2 and C8 of purines, C3 of serine, and the methyl-group of methionine in Clostridia and discovered that they were all derived from CO 2 incorporated via formate and probably -methyl-H 4 F as intermediates. In E. coli and yeast, CO 2 was known to be not a precursor of formate [1]. We discussed these interesting results with Lothar Jaenicke at the "Nachsitzung" that followed his seminar, and ever since then we stayed in close contact and over the years became scientific friends.…”

“…The last time I saw him was at his 90 th birthday on 14 September 2013, at the occasion of which his colleagues at the Universität zu Köln (Cologne) in Germany had organized a symposium to honor him. Lothar Jaenicke had suggested me as one of the speakers, and I talked about C 1 -metabolism, how methane is formed from CO 2 , how methane is anaerobically oxidized to CO 2 by microorganisms, and how flavin-based electron bifurcation allows these processes to be coupled with energy conservation [1]. After my talk Lothar Jaenicke was one of the most active discussants.…”