CV Müller

Prof. Dr. Volker Müller

BIOGRAPHY

ACADEMIC POSITION

Professor and Head of the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Bioenergetics

at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Germany

EDUCATION

Diplom (Biology), Georg-August-University Göttingen, 1985

Dr. rer. nat. (Microbiology), Georg-August-University Göttingen, 1987

CAREER

Postdoc, Microbiology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, 1987 - 1988

Postdoc, Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, 1989-1990

Group leader (Habilitand), Microbiology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, 1991 – 1995

Habilitation (Microbiology), Georg-August-University Göttingen, 1995
Heisenberg Fellow of the German Science Foundation (DFG), 1995-1997
Associate Professor (Microbial Biochemistry), Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, 1997 – 2002
Professor of Microbiology & Bioenergetics, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, 2003

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Editor, Environmental Microbiology (2016)
Editor, Applied and Environmental Microbiology (2015 - )
Minireview-Editor, Applied and Environmental Microbiology (2009 - 2014)
Editorial Board: Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Environmental Microbiology, Aquatic Systems, Archaea, Frontiers in Microbiology, Extremophiles
Scientific advisory board, ZuvaSyntha Ltd (2015 - 2016)
Director, Institute of Molecular Biosciences (2005 - 2007)
Director, Center of Membrane Proteomics (2007 - 2009)
Dean, Faculty of Biosciences (2007 - 2009)
Vice Dean, Faculty of Biosciences (2006 - 2007, 2009 - 2010)
Board of Trustees (Chair), Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology (2007 - )
Board of Trustees, Frankfurt Bio Tech Alliance (2007 - )
Advisory Board, German Society for General and Applied Microbiology (VAAM) (2013 - 2017)
Member, Faculty of 1000 (Chemical Biology) (2013 - 2016)
Director, Research Unit 2251: Adaptation and Persistance of the emerging pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii (2014 - )

HONORS AND AWARDS

Ph. D. thesis award, German Society for General and Applied Microbiology (VAAM), 1988
Postdoctoral fellowship, German Science Foundation (DFG), 1989
Young Investigator Award (Förderpreis), German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology (DGHM), 1995
Heisenberg Fellowship, German Science Foundation, 1996
ERC Advanced Investigator Grant, 2017

MEMBERSHIPS

Member of the Society for General and Applied Microbiology (Germany)
Member of the Society for Microbiology and Hygiene (Germany)
Member of the Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (Germany)
Member of the Society for Applied Microbiology (UK)
Member of the American Society for Microbiology (USA)
Member of the International Society for Extremophiles (Germany)

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Metabolism and biochemistry of anaerobic microorganisms: Physiology of anaerobic acetogenic bacteria and methanogenic archaea; Bioenergetics of acetogenesis and methanogenesis; Structure, function and evolution of ATP synthases; ion-motive membrane proteins linked to acetogenesis or methanogenesis; Structure and function of the ion-motive Rnf complex (ferredoxin:NAD+oxidoreductase); Electron bifurcation: a new paradigm in microbial energy conservation; Hydrogenase; Caffeyl-CoA-Reduktase; Biochemistry of acetogenesis and caffeate respiration; Regulation of carbon and electron flow in acetogenic bacteria

Biotechnology/Metabolic engineering: Anaerobic microbes in biotechnological applications: Synthesis of biocommodities via synthesis gas fermentation; genetic engineering and rationale metabolic design; synthetic microbiology; Synthesis and application of organic osmolytes, carotenoids and exoenzymes

Molecular basis of salt adaptation in halotolerant and halophilic microorganisms: Transport and biosynthesis of compatible solutes; Ion homoeostasis; Signalperception and signal transduction chains; Gene activation; Functional genome analyses

Role of chloride in microorganisms: Chloride, a new signal molecule for microbes; Identification of chloride induced genes and proteins; Analyses of the chloride regulon; gene expression; enzyme activation