One third of the human population carries the invasive pathogen Staphylococcus aureus within the nasal cavity. This colonization increases the risk of infection and antibiotic resistant lineages (especially MRSA) put urgency on the development of new strategies to prevent and treat infections. The Heilbronner lab addresses this problem in three distinct research topics.
1) Virulence: We investigate the molecular mechanisms of S. aureus pathogenicity during invasive disease with a special focus on trace metal acquisition
2) Interaction with the Microbiota: We investigate if bacteria of the nasal microbiome can provide resilience against S. aureus colonization
3) Proactive Diagnostic: Using clinical cohorts, we investigate if metagenome sequencing of nasal specimen can identify microbiome signatures (biomarkers) predicting the risk of a patient to be infected by S. aureus
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Simon Heilbronner
Biozentrum der LMU
Großhaderner Str. 2-4 E01.028
82152 Martinsried
simon.heilbronner@bio.lmu.de
Phone: + 49 89 2180 74611
Selected publications:
Adolf LA., Müller-Jochim A., Kricks L., Puls JS., Lopez D., Grein F., Heilbronner S*. Functional membrane microdomains and the hydroxamate siderophore transporter ATPase FhuC govern Isd-dependent heme acquisition in Staphylococcus aureus Elife, 12, doi: 10.7554/eLife.85304 (2023)
Krauss S, Harbig TA, Rapp J, Schaefle T, Franz-Wachtel M, Reetz L, Elsherbini AMA, Macek M, Grond S, Link HP, Nieselt K, Krismer B, Peschel A, Heilbronner S*. Horizontal transfer of bacteriocin biosynthesis genes requires metabolic adaptation to improve compound production and cellular fitness. Microbiol Spectr, e0317622 (2023)
Belikova D, Jochim A, Powers J, Holden MT, Heilbronner S*. Gene accordions cause genotypic and phenotypic heterogeneity in clonal populations of Staphylococcus aureus. Nat Commun 11, 3526 doi:10.1038/s41467-020-17277-3 (2020)
Jochim A, Adolf L, Belikova D, Schilling NA, Setyawati I, Chin D, Meyers S, Verhamme P, Heinrichs DE, Slotboom DJ, Heilbronner S*. An ECF-type transporter scavenges heme to overcome iron-limitation in Staphylococcus lugdunensis. Elife 9, doi:10.7554/eLife.57322 (2020)
Heilbronner S*, Brötz-Österheld H, Krismer B, Peschel A. The microbiome-shaping roles of bacteriocins. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. doi:10.1038/s41579-021-00569-w (2021)
Heilbronner S* and Foster TJ, Staphylococcus lugdunensis. A skin commensal with invasive pathogenic potential. Clin Microbiol Rev, 2021. 34(2). (2021)