Ariane presents the Briegel-lab research during the Tinbergen Lecture.

From the press release:

Bacterial noses

Then professor of Ultrastructure Biology Ariane Briegel of the Institute of Biology explains how she, like Niko Tinbergen, studies congenital behaviour, but then of animals that you can’t spot with the naked eye. With super-powerful microscopes, she looks at the locomotion of bacteria, which, for example, look for food.

They have a locomotor system that is controlled by a kind of bacterial nose,’ explains Briegel. This is clearly visible in her microscope photos. Some bacteria even have more than one type of nose, she points out. Briegel: ‘That’s not just a nice story for you to tell at the Christmas table, but actually really useful to know about it.’ Diseases like cholera are caused by bacteria, which use their nose to find and invade hosts. Briegel collects knowledge about these mechanisms, which other scientists can hopefully use to better fight these diseases.