Dr Christian Jenul

I am a Lecturer in Molecular Microbiology at the Department of Genetics and Genome Biology.

I studied Molecular Biology (BSc) and Molecular Microbiology (MSc) at the University of Graz, Austria. For my master’s thesis, I worked on Vibrio cholerae chemotaxis and motility in the group of Prof. Joachim Reidl and Prof. Stefan Schild (1).

For my PhD studies, I joined the the research group of Prof. Leo Eberl (Department of Plant and Microbial Biology) at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. My research focused on natural product biosynthesis by the opportunistic pathogen Burkholderia cenocepacia. More specifically, in collaboration with the group of Prof. Karl Gademann, we studied the biosynthesis of diazenium diolate compounds and their role in cell-cell signaling, metal binding and antibiotic and antifungal activity (2-4).

After obtaining a Postdoc Mobility Fellowship from the Swiss National Science foundation, I moved to the research lab of Prof. Alexander Horswill, first at the University of Iowa and later at the University of Colorado in the USA. In collaboration with the group of Prof. Vanessa Phelan, I investigated the enzyme-driven modification of natural products in polymicrobial infections. By combining mass spectrometry guided natural product analysis, bacterial genetics and in vitro and in vivo model systems, we identified a staphylococcal enzyme that increases S. aureus fitness in polymicrobial infections by inactivating the P. aeruginosa derived siderophore pyochelin (5).

In November 2023, I moved to the University of Leicester to start my position as Lecturer and establish my independent research group.

1. Moisi M, Jenul C, Butler SM, New A, Tutz S, Reidl J, et al. A novel regulatory protein involved in motility of Vibrio cholerae. J Bacteriol. 2009;191(22):7027-38.
2. Jenul C, Sieber S, Daeppen C, Mathew A, Lardi M, Pessi G, et al. Biosynthesis of fragin is controlled by a novel quorum sensing signal. Nat Commun. 2018;9(1):1297.
3. Sieber S, Daeppen C, Jenul C, Mannancherril V, Eberl L, Gademann K. Biosynthesis and Structure-Activity Relationship Investigations of the Diazeniumdiolate Antifungal Agent Fragin. Chembiochem. 2020;21(11):1587-92.
4. Sieber S, Mathew A, Jenul C, Kohler T, Bar M, Carrion VJ, et al. Mitigation of Pseudomonas syringae virulence by signal inactivation. Sci Adv. 2021;7(37):eabg2293.
5. Jenul C, Keim KC, Jens JN, Zeiler MJ, Schilcher K, Schurr MJ, et al. Pyochelin biotransformation by Staphylococcusaureus shapes bacterial competition with Pseudomonas aeruginosa in polymicrobial infections. Cell Rep. 2023;42(6):112540.

My research group works at the intersection of microbiology and chemical biology with a focus on bacterial chemo-ecology, the chemical interaction of bacteria.

We employ bacterial genetics, mass spectrometry guided metabolite analysis and molecular networking to investigate natural product biosynthesis and modification in bacterial communities.

The main model organisms in my research group are Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Burkholderia cenocepacia. These three opportunistic pathogens frequently co-infect the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients.

Key research areas include the investigation of bacterial fitness in polymicrobial infections, bacterial cell-cell signaling, metallophore (metal binding molecules) biology and characterization of cryptic natural product biosynthesis clusters.

I supervise PhD, master’s and undergraduate students.

Research topics:

• Bacterial infections
• Natural product analysis, biosynthesis and enzyme-driven modification
• Bacterial communities and interactions

I participate in undergraduate and graduate teaching at the University of Leicester.

• BS1040 The Cell - An Introduction to Cell Biology and Microbiology
• BS3X00 Third Year Projects
• BS3011 Microbial Pathogenesis and Genomics