Nicola Gericke

Nicola Gericke is an active Researcher in the Cellular and Molecular Microbiology working group within the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. Her work focuses on glycopeptide antibiotics (GPAs) like vancomycin, which serve as critical last-resort treatments against bacterial infections including MRSA by inhibiting cell wall biosynthesis.

Her core research interests encompass:

• Antibiotic Resistance mechanisms
• Microbial genetics and physiology
• Molecular biosynthesis pathways
• Natural product chemistry
• Bacterial transporter systems
• Enzyme kinetics in antibiotic production

Current research investigates whether ATP-binding cassette transporters encoded in GPA biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) exhibit substrate specificity and interact with non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS) to optimize antibiotic production efficiency. This work addresses fundamental questions about microbial self-resistance and biosynthetic coordination.

No scientific awards are documented in the available materials.

Information regarding student supervision or research grants is not provided in the source text.

She operates within the Cellular and Molecular Microbiology research team, which studies microbial systems through genetic, biochemical, and structural approaches to understand antibiotic production and resistance mechanisms.