Dr. Simona Huwiler
phone: +41 (0)44 63 54802
fax: +41 (0)44 63 48204 Research InterestsKeywords Education Previous Positions and Research Experience Fellowships and Awards List of Publications |  |
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I am fascinated about predatory bacteria, in particular periplasmic predatory bacterium Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus . Gram-negative predatory bacterium B. bacteriovorus has not only a big potential as a putative 'living antibiotic' by invading a wide range of Gram-negative (antibiotic-resistant) pathogens in/on different organisms, but as well as a biotechnological tool or as a source of potential new drugs due to its predatory and lytic capacity towards Gram-negative bacteria. This predator is ubiquitously found in the environment and recently gained attention in the scientific community as a way to tackle the antibiotic resistance crisis. I aim to learn from predatory bacteria with the help of state-of-the-art 'omics' technologies (transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics) and down to the detailed level of predatory molecular mechanisms. This knowledge is essential in order to use predatory bacteria or their novel enzymes in potential applications.
Predatory Bacteria, Microbiology, Novel Antibiotics, Antimicrobial resistance, Systems Biology (Transcriptomics, Proteomics & Metabolomics), Molecular Mechanisms, Synthetic Biology, Evolution
| 2010/11 - 2016/03 | PhD (Dr. rer. nat.): Universities of Freiburg i. Br. & Leipzig (DE, relocation of laboratory) with Prof. M. Boll. Thesis title: Structure and function of the tungsten-containing active site of class II benzoyl-CoA reductases. |
| 2008/09 - 2010/09 | MSc in Biology, Major in Microbiology and Immunology: ETH Zurich, CH. Best MSc grade in Biology at ETHZ in 2010. |
| 2005/10 - 2008/10 | BSc in Biology, Chemical direction: ETH Zurich, CH. |
| 2021/06 - 2025/05 | Ambizione Group Leader of Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) at University of Zurich (associated to lab of Prof. Leo Eberl). |
| 2021/02 - 2021/05 | Return Postdoc.Mobility Fellowship of SNSF at University of Zurich in the group of Prof. Leo Eberl. |
| 2018/02 - 2021/01 | Early Postdoc.Mobility & Postdoc.Mobility Fellowship of Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) at University of Nottingham (UK) in collaboration with Prof. R. E. Sockett on predatory bacteria. |
| 2016/09 - 2017/06 | Postdoctoral researcher at University of Freiburg (DE) with Prof. M. Boll |
| 2023/09 - 2024/09 | Young Investigator Grant of Novartis Foundation for medical-biological Research |
| 2023/01 - 2024/06 | Gebauer Foundation Grant |
| 2023/01 - 2024/12 | Vontobel Foundation Grant |
| 2022/08 | Swiss Society for Microbiology (SSM) Encouragement Award |
| 2022/04 - 2023/04 | Olga Mayenfisch Foundation Grant |
| 2021/12 - 2023/05 | FreeNovation Grant from Novartis Forschungsstiftung |
| 2021/09 - 2023/05 | FAN (Foerderung des Akademischen Nachwuchses) Fellowship of University of Zurich Alumni, Ernst Goehner Stiftung Fellowship, Kurt und Senta Herrmann Foundation Grant |
| 2021/06 - 2025/05 | Ambizione Fellowship of SNSF |
| 2021/02 - 2021/05 | Return Postdoc.Mobility fellowship of SNSF |
| 2019/08 - 2021/01 | Postdoc.Mobility fellowship of SNSF |
| 2018/02 - 2019/07 | Early Postdoc.Mobility fellowship of SNSF |
| 2013/07 - 2014/12 | Doc.Mobility fellowship of SNSF |
| 2010/11 | Willi-Studer-Award for the best Master degree in Biology at ETH Zurich in 2010 |
| 2009/10 - 2010/10 | Grants from OPO and Hamasil foundations, for realization of my MSc thesis project |
| 2004/05 | Special Award of SGCI Chemie Pharma Schweiz at Schweizer Jugend forscht |
Tyson, J., Radford, P., Lambert, C., Till, R., Huwiler, S. G., Lovering, A. L. & Sockett, R.E.Prey killing without invasion by Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus defective for a MIDAS-family adhesin. Nat Commun 1 (1): 3078, doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-47412-3 (2024).
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Lai, T. F., Ford, R. M. & Huwiler, S. G. # Advances in cellular and molecular predatory biology of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus six decades after discovery. Front Microbiol, 14, 1168709, doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1168709 (2023).
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Seelmann, C. S., Huwiler, S. G., Culka, M., Strampraad, M. J. F., Biskup, T., Weber, S., Ullmann, G. M., Sch?nemann, V., Hagedoorn, P.-L., Pierik, A. J. & Boll M. Enzymatic Birch reduction via hydrogen atom transfer at an aqua-tungsten-bis-metallopterin cofactor. ACS Catalysis 13, 8631-8641, doi: 10.1021/acscatal.3c01781 (2023).
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Cavallaro, A., Roads, W. J., Huwiler, S. G., Stachler, E. & Hammes, F. Potential probiotic approaches to control Legionella in engineered aquatic ecosystems. FEMS Microbol Ecol 28, 9 (8), doi: 10.1093/femsec/fiac07 (2022).
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Harding, C. J.*, Huwiler, S. G.*, Somers, H., Lambert, C., Ray, L. J., Till R., Taylor G., Moynihan P. J., Sockett R. E. & Lovering, A. L. A lysozyme with altered substrate specificity facilitates prey cell exit by the periplasmic predator Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus. Nat Commun 1 (1), 4817, doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18139-8 (2020). *Joint first authors
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Huwiler, S. G.*, Loeffler C.*, Anselmann, S. E. L.*, St?rk, H. J., von Bergen, M., Flechsler, J., Rachel, R. & Boll, M. One-megadalton metalloenzyme complex in Geobacter metallireducens involved in benzene ring reduction beyond the biological redox window. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 11 (6), 2259-2264, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1819636116 (2019). *Joint first authors
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Culka, M., Huwiler, S. G., Boll, M. & Ullmann, G. M. Breaking benzene aromaticity-computational insights into the mechanism of the tungsten-containing benzoyl-CoA reductase. J Am Chem Soc 139, 14488-14500, doi: 10.1021/jacs.7b07012 (2017).
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Eugster, M. R., Morax, L. S., Huels, V. J., Huwiler, S. G., Leclercq, A., Lecuit, M. & Loessner, M. J. Bacteriophage predation promotes serovar diversification in Listeria monocytogenes. Mol Microbiol 97, 33-46, doi: 10.1111/mmi.13009 (2015).
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Weinert, T.*, Huwiler, S. G.*, Kung, J. W., Weidenweber, S., Hellwig, P., Staerk, H. J., Biskup, T., Weber, S., Cotelesage J. J. H., George, G. N., Ermler, U. & Boll, M. Structural basis of enzymatic benzene ring reduction. Nat Chem Biol 11, 586-591, doi: 10.1038/nchembio.1849 (2015). *Joint first authors
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Huwiler, S. G.#, Beyer, C., Froehlich, J., Hennecke, H., Egli, T., Schuermann, D., Rehrauer, H. & Fischer, H. M. Genome-wide transcription analysis of Escherichia coli in response to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields. Bioelectromagnetics 33, 488-496, doi: 10.1002/bem.21709 (2012). #Corresponding author, based on setting up and managing my own MSc thesis project including funding
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Serventi, F., Youard, Z. A., Murset, V., Huwiler, S., Buehler, D., Richter, M., Luchsinger, R., Fischer, H. M., Brogioli, R., Niederer, M. & Hennecke, H. Copper starvation-inducible protein for cytochrome oxidase biogenesis in Bradyrhizobium japonicum. J Biol Chem 287, 38812-38823, doi: 10.1074/jbc.M112.406173 (2012).
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Eugster, M. R., Haug, M. C., Huwiler, S. G. & Loessner, M. J. The cell wall binding domain of Listeria bacteriophage endolysin PlyP35 recognizes terminal GlcNAc residues in cell wall teichoic acid. Mol Microbiol 81, 1419-1432, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2011.07774.x (2011).
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