Bernhard Henrich

Biography

1983 PhD degree (Dr. rer. nat.) in Microbiology, University of Kaiserslautern 1983-1994 Postdoctoral fellow and research associate at the Group of Microbiology, University of Kaiserslautern 1995 University lecturing qualification (Habilitation) in Microbiology, University of Kaiserslautern 1994-1997 Deputyship for the chair of Microbiology, University of Kaiserslautern 1997-2002 Research associate and lecturer at the Group of Microbiology, University of Kaiserslautern since 2002 Associate Professor (apl. Prof.), Microbiology, University of Kaiserslautern

Research Interest

Lactic acid bacteria constitute a group of related grampositive, obligately fermentative organisms many of which have industrial or medical importance. Lactococci and lactobacilli are extensively used as starters in the fermentation of milk products, vegetables and meat, whereas pneumococci can cause severe infections in humans and animals such as pneumoniae and miningitis. My research focusses on the identification and deliberate modification of functions which are expected to be essential for industrial applications and/or the virulence of the respective bacteria. Examples of such functions are the extracellular polysaccharides of both lactobacilli and pneumococci, proteolytic enzymes of lactobacilli, and antibiotic resistance determinants of pneumococci. A substantial part of our work consists in developing molecular tools for DNA transfer, targeted mutagenesis and controlled gene expression in selected strains of lactic acid bacteria.