Dr. Ute Marx

Bruker BioSpin
Germany.
Fax: 49-721-516-1297
Email: [email protected]

Ute Marx

About Ute

Dr. Ute C. Marx has over 16 years experience in high-resolution NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy, and completed her PhD (1996) and "Habilitation" (2003) in biophysical chemistry. The main focus of her research is protein structure determination and metabonomics, where she is specialised in the determination of metabolic variations associated with different phenotypes. The international standard of her research is reflected by 21 entries in the protein data bank (PDB), 30 publications in peer-reviewed international scientific journals, as well as 5 book contributions and numerous oral and poster presentations on international conferences. In August 2008 Dr. Marx joined the company Bruker BioSpin GmbH, the leading global developer and manufacturer of NMR systems and solutions. One focus of her work is Metabonomics. Metabonomics is the study of biofluids in order to identify subtle metabolic changes related to altered phenotype. Data acquisition is mainly carried out with NMR spectroscopy and followed by statistical/chemometric data analysis.

Research Focus

The metabonomic analysis of biofluids is one research area of the facility. Metabonomics is the study of biofluids in order to identify subtle metabolic changes related to altered phenotype. Data acquisition is carried out with NMR spectroscopy and/or mass spectrometry followed by statistical/chemometric data analysis. The measurement of NMR spectra for metabonomic analysis and the methodologies of PCA (principal component analysis) classification and PLS (partial least square) prediction for the statistical analyses of these data to identify metabolic changes are well established in the NMR Facility.

Key Projects

Within the Solar Bio Fuel Consortium we harness the technique of NMR based Metabonomics to identify metabolite differences between different phases of algal growth (aerobic, anaerobic, microoxic) within one strain, and to compare algal strains with different H2 producing capabilities. Furthermore, we use NMR spectroscopy to monitor the metabolite flows from water and carbohydrates to hydrogen. This research will allow the identification of the metabolic pathways involved and will assist in the determination of the bottlenecks of hydrogen production. The gained knowledge will facilitate targeted metabolic engineering of H2 production by engineering critical end point and regulatory genes.