Dr. Erik Borchert

Forschungsbereich 3: Marine Ökologie
FE Marine Symbiosen 

Büro:
Raum: 4.512
Phone: +49 431 600-4485
Email: eborchert@geomar.de
Mailing address:
Wischhofstraße 1-3, Gebäude 5, Büro: 4.512
D-24148 Kiel

Forschungsinteresse

Meine Forschungsprojekte beschäftigen sich mit der Untersuchung von marinen Mikroorganismen und deren Anwendung in biotechnologischen Verfahren. Insbesondere fokussiere ich mich auf die Untersuchung von bakteriellen Gemeinschaften und deren Fähigkeiten, komplexe Substrate im Verbund abzubauen (wie zum Beispiel Plastik oder Knochen). Das Ziel ist es, sowohl mit bioinformatischen Methoden aktive Mikroorganismen und Enzyme (Biokatalysatoren) zu identifizieren, als auch die Aktivität und Effektivität der mikrobiellen Gemeinschaften durch gerichtete Evolution zu steigern. Zusätzlich zu diesen Projekten interessiere ich mich für die Nutzbarmachung von marinen Ressourcen für Pharmazeutika, Biokatalysatoren, Biopolymere und andere Stoffe, die uns helfen unser Leben nachhaltiger in Bezug auf die Ressourcen der Erde zu gestalten.

Keywords: Marine microbiology, Host-microbiome interactions, Metagenomics, Next generation sequencing, Enzyme discovery

Wissenschaftlicher Werdegang

  • Seit 2018 postdoctoral researcher (ERA-NET Marine Biotechnology ProBone, BMBF PLASTISEA)
  • 2017 PhD in Microbiology, University College Cork (Ireland)
  • 2014-2017 PhD student, University College Cork (Ireland)
  • 2013 MSc Biochemistry, Friedrich-Schiller University Jena (Germany)
  • 2011 BSc Biochemistry, Friedrich-Schiller University Jena (Germany)

Auszeichnungen, Stipendien

  • Poster prize at the EMBRIC workshop „Treasures from the Deep“. Brussels, Belgium (March 2019)
  • 2014-2017 Marie Skłodowska Curie initial training network (MC-ITN) fellowship, BluePharmTrain

Projektförderung

BMBF (Februar 2020 bis Januar 2023)

Mittelgeber: Capri Sun Vertriebs GmbH (März 2020 bis März 2022)

Neue Methoden für die Erforschung des marinen knochanabbauenden Mikrobiomes als Quelle neuer Enzyme
BMBF (März 2018 bis August 2021)

Veröffentlichungen

  • Tora D, Hentschel U, Lips S, Schmitt-Jansen M, Borchert E (2023) 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of the microbial community on microplastic samples from the North Atlantic and Great Pacific Garbage Patches. Afr. J. Microbiol. Res. 17(5), 123-138. DOI: doi.org/10.5897/AJMR2022.9682
  • Galarza-Verkovitch D, Turak O, Wiese J, Rahn T,  Hentschel U, Borchert E (2023) Bioprospecting for polyesterase activty relevant for PET degradation in marine Enterobacterales isolates. AIMS Microbiology 9(3), 518-539, DOI: 10.3934/microbiol.2023027
  • Borchert E, Chow J, Hentschel U, Streit, WR (2022) Marine Mikroorganismen für den Plastikabbau. Biospektrum 28, 594–596. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12268-022-1848-9
  • Fernandez-Lopez L, Sanchez-Carrillo S, Garcia-Moyano A, Borchert E, Almendral D, Alonso S, Cea-Rama I, Miguez N, Larsen O, Werner J, Makarova KS, Plou FJ, Dahlgren TG, Sans-Aparicio J, Hentschel U, Bjerga GEK, Ferrer M (2021) The bone-degrading enzyme machinery: From multi-component understanding to the treatment of residues from the meat industry. Comp Struct Biotechnol J. Volume 19, 6328-6342 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csbj.2021.11.027
  • Coons AK, Busch K, Lenz M, Hentschel U and Borchert E (2021) Biogeography rather than substrate type determines bacterial colonization dynamics of marine plastics. Peer J, https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12135
  • Borchert E, Hammerschmidt K, Hentschel U and Deines P (2021) Enhancing microbial pollutant degradation by integrating eco-evolutionary principles with environmental biotechnology. Trends Microbiol., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2021.03.002
  • Borchert E, Garcia-Moyano A, Sanchez-Carrillo S, Dahlgren TG, Slaby BM, Bjerga GEK, Ferrer M, Franzenburg S, Hentschel U (2021) Deciphering a marine bone-degrading microbiome reveals a complex community effort. mSystems, 6, 1
  • Villalobos AS, Wiese J, Borchert E, Rahn T, Slaby BM, Steiner LX, Künzel S, Dorador C and Imhoff JF (2021) Micromonospora tarapacensis sp. nov., a bacterium isolated from a hypersaline lake. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol., 71 (11). Art.Nr. 005109. DOI 10.1099/ijsem.0.005109
  • Choo S, Borchert E, Wiese J, Saha M, Künzel S, Weinberger F, Hentschel U (2020) Polaribacter septentrionalilitoris sp. nov., isolated from the biofilm of a stone from the North Sea. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol., 7, 4305-4314
  • Wiese J, Imhoff JF, Horn H, Borchert E, Kyrpides NC, Göker M, Klenk HP, Woyke T, Hentschel U (2019) Genome analysis of the marine bacterium Kiloniella laminariae and first insights into comparative genomics with related Kiloniella species. Arch. Microbiol., 202, 815-824
  • Steinert G, Huete-Stauffer C, Aas-Valleriani N, Borchert E, Bhushan A, Campbell A, Chaib de Mares M, Costa M, Gutleben J, Knobloch S, Lee RG, Munroe S, Naik D, Peters EE, Stokes E, Wang W, Einarsdóttir E, Sipkema D (2018) BluePharmTrain: Biology and biotechnology of Marine Sponges. In: Rampelotto P, Trincone A (eds) Grand Challenges in Marine Biotechnology. Springer, Cham
  • Borchert E, Knobloch S, Dwyer E, O’Flynn S, Jackson SA, Jóhannsson R, Marteinsson VT, O’Gara F, Dobson ADW (2017) Biotechnological potential of cold adapted Pseudoalteromonas spp. isolated from ‘deep sea’ sponges. Mar. Drugs, 15, 184
  • Borchert E, Selvin J, Kiran GS, Jackson SA, O’Gara F, Dobson ADW (2017) Characterization of a novel cold active deep sea esterase from a metagenomic library from the sponge Stelletta normani. Front. Mar. Sci., 4:287
  • Borchert E (2017) The biotechnological potential of deep sea sponges and their associated microbiome. PhD Thesis, University College Cork.
  • Borchert E, Jackson SA, O’Gara F, Dobson ADW (2017) Psychrophiles as a source of novel antimicrobials. In: Margesin R. (eds) Psychrophiles: From Biodiversity to Biotechnology. Springer, Cham
  • Borchert E, Jackson SA, O'Gara F, Dobson AD (2016) Diversity of natural product biosynthetic genes in the microbiome of the deep sea sponges Inflatella pellicula, Poecillastra compressa, and Stelletta normani. Front. Microbiol., 7:1027.
  • Jackson SA, Borchert E, O'Gara F, Dobson ADW (2015) Metagenomics for the discovery of novel biosurfactants of environmental interest from marine ecosystems.Curr. Opin. Biotechnol., 33:176-182.

Beiträge zu Konferenzen

  • Oral presentation at the ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting. "Plastisphere microbial communities depend on geographic location rather than plastic polymer type" (June 2021)
  • Poster at the EMBRIC workshop “Treasures from the Deep”. “ProBone – New tools for prospecting the marine bone-degrading microbiome for novel enzymes” Brussels, Belgium (March 2019)
  • Poster at the 17th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology (ISME). “Biotechnological potential of deep sea sponge microbiomes for novel cold adapted enzymes and secondary metabolite gene clusters” Leipzig, Germany (August 2018)
  • Oral presentation at the “Blue Symposium – Sponges, Corals and the World”. “Biotechnological potential and comparative genomics of Pseudoalteromonas spp. from deep sea sponges” Blanes, Spain (March 2017)
  • Oral presentation at the 11th International Marine Biotechnology Conference. “Diversity of natural product biosynthetic genes in deep sea sponges” Baltimore, MD, USA (September 2016)
  • Poster at the 11th International Marine Biotechnology Conference. “Comparative genomics of Pseudoalteromonas spp. isolates from three different deep sea sponges” Baltimore, MD, USA (September 2016)
  • Oral presentation at the Sea Change Researchers Workshop. “Exploiting the biotechnological potential of deep sea sponges” Galway, Ireland (June 2016)
  • Poster at the GEOMAR Biotech Mini Symposium. “The biological potential of the microbial community of deep sea sponges Poecillastra compressa and Stelletta normani” Kiel, Germany (December 2015)
  • Oral short presentation and Poster at the 2nd International Symposium on Sponge Microbiology. “The biological potential of the microbial community of deep sea sponges Poecillastra compressa and Stelletta normani” Baltimore, MD, USA (October 2014)
  • Poster at the Weimar Sepsis Update. “The multiple roles of the hyphae-regulating transcription factor Cph2 in Candida albicans” Weimar, Germany (August 2013)

Lehre

- Master programm Biological Oceanography module BIOC-202 practical course 2019, 2020, 2021

- Master theses: Simeon Choo, Ashley Coons (United States of America), Denisse Galarza-Verkovitch (Ecuador), Maelle Zonnequin (France), Emmanuel Dkwalma Tora (Togo)

- Bachelor theses: Hanna Nordström, Vincent Richter, Stefan Schmiedel

- students lab GEOMAR

Öffentlichkeitsarbeit

  • Seminarvortrag für den „Bund Deutscher Verpackungsingenieure“ (BDVI e.V., 2021)
  • Vortrag an der Toni-Jensen-Schule (2021)
  • Beiträge in verschiedenen Fernsehformaten: NDR DAS!, NDR Schleswig-Holstein Magazin (2020-2021)
  • Zeitungsartikelbeitrag für die Welt am Sonntag („Kampf dem Kunststoff“, 2021)
  • Vortrag und Poster bei dem Start-Up Event „Waterkant Festival“ (2020)

Verbundpartner*innen

Wolfgang Streit, University Hamburg, DE

Karl-Erich Jaeger, Research Centre Jülich, DE

Ulrich Schwaneberg, RWTH Aachen, DE

Ruth Schmitz-Streit, University Kiel, DE

Gunnar Gerdts, AWI Helgoland, DE

Gisela Lannig-Bock, AWI Bremerhaven, DE

Mechthild Schmitt-Jansen, UFZ Leipzig, DE

Annika Jahnke, UFZ Leipzig, DE

Antonio Garcia-Moyano, NORCE Bergen, Norway

Gro Bjerga, NORCE Bergen, Norway

Manuel Ferrer, CSIC Madrid, Spain

Alan Dobson, UCC Cork, Ireland

Ausfahrten

  • Feb./Mar. 2022: MSM106 on RV Maria S. Merian (WASCAL floating University)
  • Nov. 2020 - Jan. 2021: SO279 on RV "Sonne" (plastic pollution expedition to the North Atlantic Garbage patch)
  • Aug./Sep. 2019: POS536 on RV “Poseidon” (plastic pollution expedition to the North Atlantic Garbage patch)
  • Mai 2019: AL522 on RV “Alkor“ (fisheries and hydrography, Baltic Sea)