Cells, Organisms and Molecular Genetics

Our research team

The Cells, Organisms and Molecular Genetics team here at the University of Nottingham’s School of Life Sciences is a diverse, collaborative group of researchers. We’re academics, postdoctoral research fellows, research technicians and postgraduate students, all working together to break new ground and make a real impact on the world around us.

Image of Klaus Winzer

Klaus Winzer

Associate Professor; PGT Senior Tutor, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences

Contact

Biography

Diploma degree in Biology, Göttingen, Germany, 1992

PhD, Göttingen, 1995

Research Fellow, School of University of Nottingham, 1996

Senior Research Fellow, University of Nottingham, 2000

Lecturer, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Lancaster, 2006

Associate Professor, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, 2008

Expertise Summary

Bacterial metabolism and physiology, Clostridia, CO-utilising bacteria, quorum-sensing, metabolic engineering, synthetic biology

Research Summary

Klaus Winzer is a microbiologist with more than 25 years' experience in bacterial physiology and metabolism. He is experienced in bacterial strain isolation, characterisation and engineering, and has… read more

Selected Publications

Current Research

Klaus Winzer is a microbiologist with more than 25 years' experience in bacterial physiology and metabolism. He is experienced in bacterial strain isolation, characterisation and engineering, and has worked extensively in the field of bacterial cell-cell communication. Over his career, Klaus has studied a wide range of physiologically diverse bacteria including numerous pathogens and industrial strains, with an increasing focus on C1-utilising bacteria.

Current efforts focus on understanding and engineering the metabolism of anaerobic clostridia and aerobic gas-fermenting Cupriavidus species, with the ultimate aim of generating platform organisms for the production of biofuels and chemical commodities.

His group is investigating the molecular, genetic, and evolutionary mechanisms underlying bacterial strain degeneration and studying the roles of bacterial signalling in high density fermentations, with the goal of developing more stable and better performing production strains. In collaboration with computational scientists and mathematical modellers the team is working towards integrating complex metabolic pathways into new hosts, using a combination of synthetic biology approaches and in vitro evolution. Current examples include the engineering of carbon monoxide-tolerant and utilising strains for improved fermentation of industrial waste gases.

Cells, Organisms and Molecular Genetics

School of Life Sciences
University of Nottingham
Medical School
Queen's Medical Centre
Nottingham NG7 2UH