Marc Erhardt

How do bacteria build their flagella?

We’ve put together an animation of Salmonella flagellum assembly based on cryo-EM and X-ray structures.

From the membrane-embedded machinery to the growing filament, here’s how the parts come together, step-by-step.

Bacteria have immune systems to defend against their viruses.
This animation shows the proposed mechanism of the Zorya defense system from our work with @NMITaylorLab: a proton-driven membrane complex related to the bacterial flagellar stator.
doi.org/10.1038/s41586…

Can bacteria have too many flagella?

More flagella help Salmonella swim faster and spread farther, but building them slows growth.

In our new preprint, we quantify this trade-off and predict an optimum close to wild type.

📄 doi.org/10.64898/2026.…

PhD opening in my lab
@HumboldtUni

Join our DFG SPP 2389 project on bacterial biofilms & multicellularity.

Study how F-pili conjugation shapes biofilms using genetics, microfluidics & 3D imaging.

📅 Apply by 3 June 2026
🔗 hu.berlin/SPP2389-PhD

#PhD #Microbiology #Biofilms

Postdoc opening in my lab @HumboldtUni!

Join our Einstein Foundation-funded collaboration with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on T3SS, spatial RNA localization, imaging & bacterial cell biology.

📅 Apply by 2 June 2026
🔗 hu.berlin/T3SSjob

#Postdoc #Microbiology