The Microbial Network group at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg focuses on quantitative analysis of cellular networks and their dynamics in microorganisms. The group is particularly interested in elucidating mechanisms that enable cellular networks to sensitively detect and integrate multiple extra- and intracellular cues, to robustly function in noisy and perturbing environments, and to plastically adjust their function dependent on the environment. Ultimately, the researchers would like to understand how the structure and function of the network have been shaped by the evolutionary selection. As model systems, the group uses chemotaxis, sugar uptake and two-component signaling in bacteria, as well as the mating behavior in budding yeast.
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