Best Paper Award (BPA)
Exciting science is at the heart of our Department. However, it is often a long and winding road until novel findings are finally published in recognized peer-reviewed journals. To honor new, innovative, and visibly published discoveries in Biological Sciences and Life Science by members of our faculty, each semester the Department of Biology announces the "Best Paper Award". Twice a year, a 3-person jury consisting of members of the faculty selects a maximum of three accepted papers to be honored and rewarded with €200,-/each. The award ceremony takes place during the final Fachbereichsseminar of the Semester, when the award(s) will be handed over and the awardees will showcase their findings. Ultimately, this award is intended to recognize junior researchers and fellows of our graduate schools, which go the extra mile for publishing their experimental work in respected journals within their fields.
Congratulations to the Awardees in WS 2023/24:
- Rebekka Lambrecht
“Non-canonical BIM-regulated energy metabolism determines drug-induced liver necrosis”Rebekka Lambrecht, Franziska Rudolf, Anna-Katharina Ückert, Valentina C. Sladky, Truong San Phan, Jasmin Jansen, Samara Naim, Thomas Kaufmann, Adrian Keogh, Susanne Kirschnek, Aswin Mangerich, Florian Stengel, Marcel Leist, Andreas Villunger and Thomas Brunner
Cell Death and Differentiation ; accepted on 14 Nov 2023 ; published online 24 Nov 2023 - Anna-Katharina Ückert
"Identification of the bacterial metabolite aerugine as potential trigger of human dopaminergic neurodegeneration”Anna-Katharina Ückert, Sina Rütschlin, Simon Gutbier, Nathalie Christine Wörz, Mahfuzur R. Miah, Airton C. Martins, Isa Hauer, Anna-Katharina Holzer, Birthe Meyburg, Ann-Kathrin Mix, Christof Hauck, Michael Aschner, Thomas Böttcher and Marcel Leist
Environmental International ; accepted on 22 Sept 2023 ; published online 23 Sept 2023 - Nikan Toulany
“Uncovering developmental time and tempo using deep learning”Nikan Toulany, Hernán Morales-Navarrete, Daniel Čapek, Jannis Grathwohl, Murat Ünalan and Patrick Müller
Nature Methods ; accepted on 15 Oct 2023 ; published online 23 Nov 2023
Previous Awardees:
SS 2023
- Daniel Čapek & Hernán Morales-Navarrete
"EmbryoNet: using deep learning to link embryonic phenotypes to signaling pathways”
Daniel Čapek, Matvey Safroshkin, Hernán Morales-Navarrete, Nikan Toulany, Grigory Arutyunov, Anica Kurzbach, Johanna Bihler, Julia Hagauer, Sebastian Kick, Felicity Jones, Ben Jordan and Patrick Müller
Nature methods ; accepted: 5 Apr 2023 ; published online 8 May 2023
- Karin Vogel
“Lipid-mediated activation of plasma membrane-localized deubiquitylating enzymes modulate endosomal trafficking”
Nature Communications ; accepted 1 Nov 2022 ; published online 12 Nov 2022
- Trevor Fristoe
“Evolutionary imbalance, human history, and the global biogeography of alien plants”
Trevor S. Fristoe , Jonas Bleilevens, Nicole L. Kinlock, Qiang Yang, Zhijie Zhang, Wayne, Dawson, Franz Essl, Holger Kreft, Jan Pergl, Petr Pyšek, Patrick Weigelt, Jean-Marc, Dufour-Dror, Alexander N. Sennikov, Pawel Wasowicz, Kristine B Westergaard, and Mark van Kleunen
Nature Ecology & Evolution ; accepted: 18 May 2023 ; published online 31 Aug 2023
WS 22/23
- Simon Maria Kienle
“Electrostatic and steric effects underlie acetylation-induced changes in ubiquitin structure and function”
Simon Maria Kienle, Tobias Schneider, Katrin Stuber, Christoph Globisch, Jasmin Jansen, Florian Stengel, Christine Peter, Andreas Marx, Michael Kovermann and Martin Scheffner
Nature Communications ; accepted: 26 Aug 2022 ; published: 16 Sep 2022
- Lena Schneider
“Cyclin B3 implements timely vertebrate oocyte arrest for fertilization”
Nora Bouftas, Lena Schneider, Marc Halder, Rebecca Demmig, Martina Baack, Damien Cladière, Melanie Walter, Hiba Al Abdullah, Camilla Kleinhempel, Ria Messaritaki, Janina Müller, Francesca Passarelli, Patrick Wehrle, Andreas Heim,
Katja Wassmann and Thomas U. Mayer
Developmental Cell ; accepted: 9 Sep 2022 ; published: 30 Sep 2022
- Anny Cárdenas
“Greater functional diversity and redundancy of coral endolithic microbiomes align with lower coral bleaching susceptibility”
Anny Cárdenas , Jean-Baptiste Raina , Claudia Pogoreutz, Nils Rädecker, Jeremy Bougoure, Paul Guagliardo, Mathieu Pernice and Christian R. Voolstra
ISME Journal ; accepted: 28 Jun 2022 ; published: 15 Jul 2022
SS 2022
- Tanja Grimm
"Lockdown, a selective small-molecule inhibitor of the integrin phosphatase PPM1F, blocks cancer cell invasion”
Tanja M Grimm , Marleen Herbinger , Lena Krüger , Silke Müller , Thomas U Mayer and Christof R Hauck
Cell Chemical Biology ; accepted: 23 Mar 2022 ; published: 16. Jun 2022
- Anna-Katharina Holzer
“Generation of Human Nociceptor-Enriched Sensory Neurons for the Study of Pain-Related Dysfunctions”
Anna-Katharina Holzer, Christiaan Karreman, Ilinca Suciu, Lara-Seline Furmanowsky, Harald Wohlfarth, Dominik Loser, Wilhelm G Dirks, Emilio Pardo González and Marcel Leist
Stem Cells Translational Medicine ; accepted: 9 Apr 2022 ; published: 11. Jun 2022
- Franziska Oliveri
"Immunoproteasome Inhibition Reduces the T Helper 2 Response in Mouse Models of Allergic Airway Inflammation”
Franziska Oliveri, Michael Basler, Tata Nageswara Rao, Hans Joerg Fehling and Marcus Groettrup
Frontiers ; accepted: 5 May 2022 ; published: 30 May 2022
WS 21/22
- Qiang Yang
„The global loss of floristic uniqueness“
Qiang Yang, Patrick Weigelt, Trevor S Fristoe, Zhijie Zhang, Holger Kreft, Anke Stein, Hanno Seebens, Wayne Dawson, Franz Essl, Christian König, Bernd Lenzner, Jan Pergl, Robin Pouteau, Petr Pyšek, Marten Winter, Aleksandr L Ebel, Nicol Fuentes, Eduardo L H Giehl, John Kartesz, Pavel Krestov, Toomas Kukk, Misako Nishino, Andrey Kupriyanov, Jose Luis Villaseñor, Jan J Wieringa, Abida Zeddam, Elena Zykova and Mark van Kleunen
Nature Communications ; accepted: 30 Nov 2021 ; published: 15 Dec 2021
- Katrin Stuber
„Structural and functional consequences of NEDD8 phosphorylation“
Katrin Stuber, Tobias Schneider, Jill Werner , Michael Kovermann , Andreas Marx and Martin Scheffner
Nature Communications ; accepted: 30 Sep 2021 ; published: 12 Oct 2021
- Clovis H. T. Seumen
"Elimination of negative feedback in TLR signalling allows rapid and hypersensitive detection of microbial contaminants"
Clovis H T Seumen, Urte Tomasiunaite, Daniel F Legler and Christof R Hauck
Nature Scientific Reports ; accepted: 24 Nov 2021 ; published: 24 Dec 2021
SS 2021
- Nils Rädecker
„Heat stress destabilizes symbiotic nutrient cycling in corals“
Nils Rädecker, Claudia Pogoreutz, Hagen M. Gegner, Anny Cárdenas, Florian Roth, Jeremy Bougoure, Paul Guagliardo, Christian Wild, Mathieu Pernice, Jean-Baptiste Raina, Anders Meibom and Christian R. Voolstra
PNAS ; accepted: 18 Dec 2020; published: 26 Jan 2021
- Truong San Phan
„Keratinocytes control skin immune homeostasis through de novo–synthesized glucocorticoids“
Truong San Phan, Leonhard Schink, JasminMann, Verena M. Merk, Pascale Zwicky, Sarah Mundt, Dagmar Simon, Dagmar Kulms, Susanne Abraham, Daniel F. Legler, Mario Noti and Thomas Brunner
Science Advances ; accepted: 10 Dec 2020 ; published: 29 Jan 2021
- Trevor S. Fristoe
„Dimensions of invasiveness: Links between localabundance, geographic range size, and habitat breadthin Europe’s alien and native floras“
Trevor S. Fristoe, Milan Chytrý, Wayne Dawson, Franz Essl, Ruben Heleno, Holger Kreft, Noëlie Maurel, Jan Pergl, Petr Pyšek, Hanno Seebens, Patrick Weigelt, Pablo Vargas, Qiang Yang, Fabio Attorre, Erwin Bergmeier, Markus Bernhardt-Römermann, Idoia Biurrun, Steffen Boch, Gianmaria Bonari, Zoltán Botta-Dukát, Hans Henrik Bruun, Chaeho Byun, AndrazCarni, Maria Laura Carranza, Jane A. Catford, Bruno E. L. Cerabolini, Eduardo Chacón-Madrigal, Daniela Ciccarelli, Renata Cušterevska, Iris de Ronde, Jürgen Dengler, Valentin Golub, Rense Haveman, Nate Hough-Snee, Ute Jandt, Florian Jansen, Anna Kuzemko, Filip Küzmič, Jonathan Lenoir, Armin Macanovic, Corrado Marcenò, Adam R. Martin, Sean T. Michaletz, Akira S. Mori, Ülo Niinemets, TomášPeterka, Remigiusz Pielech, Valerijus Rašomavičius, Solvita Rusiŋa, Arildo S. Dias, Mária Šibíková, Urban Šilc, Angela Stanisci, Steven Jansen,Jens-Christian Svenning, Grzegorz Swacha, Fons van der Plas, Kiril Vassilev, and Mark van Kleunen
PNAS ; accepted 12: Apr 2020 ; published: 28 May 2021
WS 20/21
- Tanja M. Grimm:
„PPM1F controls integrin activity via a conserved phospho-switch“
Tanja M. Grimm, Nina I. Dierdorf, Karin Betz, Christoph Paone, and Christof R. Hauck
Journal of Cell Biology ; accepted: 11 Sep 2020 ; published: 29 Oct 2020
- Dominik Loser
"Human neuronal signaling and communication assays to assess fuctional neurotoxicity"
Dominik Loser, Jasmin Schaefer, Timm Danker, Clemens Möller, Markus Brüll, Ilinca Suciu, Anna-Katharina Ückert, Stefanie Klima, Marcel Leist, Udo Kraushaar
Archives of Toxicology ; accepted: 16 Nov 2020 ; published: 02 Dec 2020
- Fabian Offensperger
„Identification of Small-Molecule Activators of the Ubiquitin Ligase E6AP/UBE3A and Angelman Syndrome-Derived E6AP/UBE3A Variants“
Fabian Offensperger, Franziska Müller, Jasmin Jansen, Daniel Hammler, Kathrin H Götz, Andreas Marx, Carissa L Sirois, Stormy J Chamberlain, Florian Stengel, Martin Scheffner
Cell Chemical Biology ; accepted: 24 Aug 2020 ; published: Sep 2020
- Danai Papageorgiou
„Shared decision-making allows subordinates to lead when dominants monopolize resources“
Danai Papageorgiou and Damien R Farine
Science Advances ; accepted: 13 Oct 2020 ; published: 25 Nov 2020
WS 19/20
- Joana Thiel:
„Pyrite formation from FeS and H2S is mediated through microbial redox activity“
Joana Thiel, James M. Byrne, Andreas Kappler , Bernhard Schink and Michael Pester
PNAS ; accepted: 28 Feb 2019 ; published: 02 Apr 2019
- Carina Seitz:
„The orphan nuclear receptor LRH-1/NR5a2 critically regulates T cell functions“
Carina Seitz , Juan Huang, Anna-Lena Geiselhöringer, Pamela Galbani-Bianchi, Svenja Michalek, Truong San Phan, Cindy Reinhold, Lea Dietrich, Christian Schmidt, Nadia Corazza, Eugenia Delgado, Theresa Schnalzger, Kristina Schoonjans and Thomas Brunner
Science Advances ; accepted: 12 Jun 2019 ; published: 17 Jul 2019
- Jochen M. Buck:
„Lhcx proteins provide photoprotection via thermal dissipation of absorbed light in the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum"
Jochen M. Buck, Jonathan Sherman, Carolina Río Bártulos, Manuel Serif, Marc Halder, Jan Henkel, Angela Falciatore, Johann Lavaud, Maxim Y. Gorbunov, Peter G. Kroth, Paul G. Falkowski and Bernard Lepetit
Nature Communications ; accepted: 16 Aug 2019 ; published: 13 Sep 2019
SS 2019
- Johannes Delp
„Development of a neurotoxicity assay that is tuned to detect mitochondrial toxicants“
Johannes Delp, Melina Funke, Franziska Rudolf, Andrea Cediel, Susanne Hougaard Bennekou, Wanda van der Stel, Giada Carta, Paul Jennings, Cosimo Toma, Iain Gardner, Bob van de Water, Anna Forsby and Marcel Leist
Archives of Toxicology ; accepted: 07 May 2019 ; published: 12 Jun 2019
- Jonas Adrian
„Adaptation to Host-Specific Bacterial Pathogens Drives Rapid Evolution of a Human Innate Immune Receptor“
Jonas Adrian, Patrizia Bonsignore, Sebastian Hammer, Tancred Frickey and Christof R. Hauck
Cell Current Biology ; accepted: 22 Jan 2019 ; published: 18 Feb 2019
- Zhijie Zhang
„Common alien plants are more competitive than rare natives but not than common natives“
Zhijie Zhang, Mark van Kleunen
Ecology Letters ; accepted: 16 May 2019 ; published: 17 Jun 2019
WS 18/19
- Simon Gutbier
„Prevention of neuronal apoptosis by astrocytes through thiol-mediated stress response modulation and accelerated recovery from proteotoxic stress“
Simon Gutbier, Anna-Sophie Spreng, Johannes Delp, Stefan Schildknecht, Christiaan Karreman, Ilinca Suciu, Thomas Brunner, Marcus Groettrup and Marcel Leist
Cell Death & Differentiation ; accepted: 11 Oct 2018 ; published online: 02 Nov 2018
- Claudius F. Kratochwil
„Agouti-related peptide 2 facilitatesconvergent evolution of stripepatterns across cichlid fish radiations“
Claudius F. Kratochwil, Yipeng Liang, Jan Gerwin, Joost M. Woltering,Sabine Urban, Frederico Henning, Gonzalo Machado-Schiaffino,C. Darrin Hulsey, Axel Meyer
Science ; accepted: 12 Sep 2018; published: 26 Oct 2018
- Mialy Razanajatovo
"Autofertility and self‐compatibility moderately benefit island colonization of plants"
Mialy Razanajatovo, Mark van Kleunen, Holger Kreft, Wayne Dawson, Franz Essl, Jan Pergl, Petr Pyšek, Marten Winter, Patrick Weigelt
Global Ecology and Biogeography ; accepted: 07 Oct 2018 ; published: 15 Jul 2019
SS 2018
- Weichao Huang
„Reduced vacuolarβ-1,3-glucan synthesis affectscarbohydrate metabolism as well as plastid homeostasisand structure in Phaeodactylum tricornutum“
Weichao Huang, Ilka Haferkampb, Bernard Lepetit, Mariia Molchanova, Shengwei Hou, Wolfgang Jeblick, Carolina Río Bártulosa and Peter G. Kroth
PNAS ; accepted: 21 Mar 2018 ; published: 01 May 2018
- Alexander Egea-Weiss & Alpha Renner
"High Precision of Spike Timing across Olfactory Receptor Neurons Allows Rapid Odor Coding in Drosophila"
Alexander Egea-Weiss, Alpha Renner, Christoph J. Kleineidam and Paul Szyszka
iScience ; accepted 14 May 2018 ; published 29 Jun 2018
- Philipp F. Secker
„Canagliflozin mediated dual inhibition of mitochondrial glutamate dehydrogenase and complex I: an off-target adverse effect“
Philipp F. Secker, Sascha Beneke, Nadja Schlichenmaier, Johannes Delp, Simon Gutbier, Marcel Leist and Daniel R. Dietrich
Cell Death and Disease ; accepted: 27 Dec 2017 ; published online: 14 Feb 2018
WS 17/18
- Arthur Fischbach
„The C-terminal domain of p53 orchestrates the interplay between non-covalent and covalent poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of p53 by PARP1“
Arthur Fischbach, Annika Krüger, Stephanie Happ, Greta Assmann, Lisa Rank, Matthias Hufnagel, Martin T. Stöckl, Jan M.F. Fischer, Sebastian Veith, Pascal Rossatti, Magdalena Ganz, Elisa Ferrando-May, Andrea Hartwig, Karin Hauser, Lisa Wiesmüller, Alexander Bürkle and Aswin Mangerich
Nucleic Acids Research ; accepted: 22 Nov 2017 ; published: 04 Dec 2017
- Jun Li
"Immunoproteasome inhibition prevents chronic antibody-mediated allograft rejection in renal transplantation"
Jun Li, Michael Basler, Gerardo Alvarez, Thomas Brunner, Christopher J. Kirk and Marcus Groettrup
Kidney International ; accepted: 21 Sep 2017 ; published online: 08 Dec 2017
Marie-Kristin Nagel - "Arabidopsis SH3P2 is an ubiquitin-binding protein thatfunctions together with ESCRT-I and the deubiquitylating enzyme AMSH3"
Marie-Kristin Nagel, Kamila Kalinowska, KarinVogel, Gregory D. Reynolds, Zhixiang Wu, Franziska Anzenberger, Mie Ichikawa, Chie Tsutsumi, Masa H. Sato, Bernhard Kuster, Sebastian Y. Bednarek and Erika Isono
PNAS ; accepted: 17 Jul 2017 ; published: 22 Aug 2017
SS 2017
- Katharina Eichler
"The complete connectome of a learning and memory centre in an insect brain"
Katharina Eichler, Feng Li, Ashok Litwin-Kumar, Youngser Park, Ingrid Andrade, Casey M. Schneider-Mizell, Timo Saumweber, Annina Huser, Claire Eschbach, Bertram Gerber, Richard D. Fetter, James W. Truman, Carey E. Priebe, L. F. Abbott, Andreas S. Thum, Marta Zlatic and Albert Cardona
Nature ; accepted: 4 Jul 2017 ; published: 10 Aug 2017
- Julia Körner
"Inhibition and deficiency of the immunoproteasome subunit LMP7 suppress the development and progression of colorectal carcinoma in mice"
Julia Koerner, Thomas Brunner and Marcus Groettrup
Oncotarget ; accepted: 11 Jan 2017 ; published: 07 Feb 2018
- Manuel Serif
"A fast and reliable strategy to generate TALEN-mediated gene knockouts in the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum"
M. Serif, B. Lepetit, K. Weißert, P.G. Kroth, C. Rio Bartulos
Alagal Research ; accepted: 5 Feb 2017 ; published online: 20 Feb 2017
WS 16/17
- Thomas Grabinger
"Inhibitor of Apoptosis Protein-1 Regulates Tumor Necrosis Factor-Mediated Destruction of Intestinal Epithelial Cells“
Thomas Grabinger, Konstantin J Bode, Janine Demgenski, Carina Seitz, M Eugenia Delgado, Feodora Kostadinova, Cindy Reinhold, Nima Etemadi, Sabine Wilhelm, Matthias Schweinlin, Kay Hänggi, Janin Knop, Christof Hauck, Heike Walles, John Silke, Harald Wajant, Ueli Nachbur, Wong W Wei-Lynn and Thomas Brunner
Gastroenterology ; accepted: 01 Nov 2016 ; published online: 23 Nov 2016
- Mialy Razanajatova
"Plants capable of selfing are more likely to become naturalized"
Mialy Razanajatovo, Noëlie Maurel , Wayne Dawson , Franz Essl , Holger Kreft, Jan Pergl, Petr Pyšek, Patrick Weigelt, Marten Winter, Mark van Kleunen
Nature Communications, accepted: 16 Jan 2016, published: 21 Oct 2016
- Annekathrin Widmann
"Genetic Dissection of Aversive Associative Olfactory Learning and Memory in Drosophila Larvae"
Annekathrin Widmann, Marc Artinger, Lukas Biesinger, Kathrin Boepple, Christina Peters, Jana Schlechter, Mareike Selcho, Andreas S. Thum
PLOS Genetics ; accepted: 16 Jan 2016 ; published: 21 Oct 2016