Göttinger Graduiertenzentrum für Neurowissenschaften, Biophysik und Molekulare Biowissenschaften

Kües, Ursula, Prof. Dr.

Professor of Molecular Wood Biotechnology

  • Dr. rer. nat. in Microbiology under the supervision of Prof. Dr. U. Stahl, Technische Universität Berlin, 1988
  • Research assistant at the Versuchs- und Lehranstalt für Brauerei, Berlin (1988)
  • Post-Doc with Prof. Dr. B. Friedrich, Freie Universität Berlin, (1988/90)
  • Post-Doc with Prof. Dr. L.A. Casselton, Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London (1990/91)
  • Part-time lecturer in Microbial Physiology and Genetics, Birkbeck College, University of London (1991)
  • Post-Doc with Prof. Dr. L.A. Casselton, University of Oxford (1991/93)
  • Violette and Samuel Glasstone Research Fellow at the University of Oxford (1993/94)
  • Group Leader (Oberassistentin), Institute of Microbiology, ETH Zurich (1994/01)
  • Privatdozentin at the ETH Zurich (2000/01)
  • Professor of Molecular Wood Biotechnology, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen since 2001

    • Major Research Interests
    Coprinopsis cinerea is a model fungus for the basidiomycetes used in our group to study genes in developmental processes, such as fruiting body production and asexual spore formation, and their regulation by environmental cues (nutrients, light, temperature). Mating type genes encoding homeodomain transcription factors and pheromones and pheromone receptors are master regulators of development. Hydrophobins and galectins are extracellular matrix proteins with structural roles in fruiting body development. Redox-enzymes such as laccases play a role in development as well as in substrate utilization. In the white-rot fungi, laccases participate in lignin degradation. Laccases from various basidiomycetes are used to modify wood structures and in wood composite production. Modern proteomics serves us to identify secreted and cell-wall bound proteins in white-rot fungi to further understand wood degradation and for biotechnological applications. The research topics that we are focussing on are:
    - Gene functions in fruiting body development of C. cinerea
    - Evolution of mating type genes in basidiomycetes
    - Extracellular matrix proteins, cell-wall bound proteins and redox-oxidases of white-rot fungi
    - Wood biotechnology

    Homepage Department/Research Group:
    https://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/67051.html

    ORCID: 0000-0001-9180-4079