Wirbel-Lab at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research

Publications

The citations on this page were generated automatically using the Manubot cite utility developed in the Greene Lab, which also developed the template for this website.

Long-read metagenomics reveals phage dynamics in the human gut microbiome
Long-read metagenomics reveals phage dynamics in the human gut microbiome
Jakob Wirbel, Angela S. Hickey, Daniel Chang, Nora J. Enright, Mai Dvorak, Rachael B. Chanin, Danica T. Schmidtke, Ami S. Bhatt
Nature  ·  26 Nov 2025  ·  doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09786-2
For this paper, we aimed to study prophages in the human gut microbiome using long-read sequencing. How stable are prophages in their bacterial hosts? How broad are prophage host ranges? What type of integration strategies do prophages use in the gut? Read more if you also want to learn about a new class of ‘IScream phages’ that we discovered.
Meta-analysis of fecal metagenomes reveals global microbial signatures that are specific for colorectal cancer
Meta-analysis of fecal metagenomes reveals global microbial signatures that are specific for colorectal cancer
Jakob Wirbel, Paul Theodor Pyl, Ece Kartal, Konrad Zych, Alireza Kashani, …, Cornelia M. Ulrich, Hermann Brenner, Manimozhiyan Arumugam, Peer Bork, Georg Zeller
Nature Medicine  ·  01 Apr 2019  ·  doi:10.1038/s41591-019-0406-6
In this study, we asked if microbial biomarkers for colorectal cancer are generalizable across different datasets, populations, and geographies. We found a set of bacterial species that were highly enriched in colorectal cancer metagenomes and could train an accurate and specific machine learning model for the detection of colorectal cancer.

All

2026

Differential effects of two common GVHD prophylaxis regimens on the gut microbiome: Results from the BMT CTN 1801 study
Jakob Wirbel, Wael Saber, Michael J. Martens, Jonathan U. Peled, Tessa M. Andermann, …, Mary M. Horowitz, Mehdi Hamadani, Leslie S. Kean, Miguel-Angel Perales, Ami S. Bhatt
openRxiv  ·  20 Feb 2026  ·  doi:10.64898/2026.02.19.706769

2025

Long-read metagenomics reveals phage dynamics in the human gut microbiome
Jakob Wirbel, Angela S. Hickey, Daniel Chang, Nora J. Enright, Mai Dvorak, Rachael B. Chanin, Danica T. Schmidtke, Ami S. Bhatt
Nature  ·  26 Nov 2025  ·  doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09786-2
A peptide display system identifies a potent mutant β-melanocyte-stimulating hormone agonist of melanocortin-4 receptor
Ann Lin, Kaitlyn Spees, Raeline Valbuena, Jakob Wirbel, Aravind Natarajan, Nora Enright, Ami S. Bhatt, Michael C. Bassik
Cell Genomics  ·  01 Nov 2025  ·  doi:10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100988
ATF6 activation alters colonic lipid metabolism causing tumour-associated microbial adaptation
Olivia I. Coleman, Adam Sorbie, Alessandra Riva, Miriam von Stern, Stephanie Kuhls, …, Josef Ecker, Christina Schmidt, Georg Zeller, Klaus-Peter Janssen, Dirk Haller
Nature Metabolism  ·  01 Sep 2025  ·  doi:10.1038/s42255-025-01350-6
The prototypic crAssphage is a linear phage-plasmid
Danica T. Schmidtke, Angela S. Hickey, Jakob Wirbel, Jordan D. Lin, Ivan Liachko, Gavin Sherlock, Ami S. Bhatt
Cell Host & Microbe  ·  01 Aug 2025  ·  doi:10.1016/j.chom.2025.07.004
Machine learning-based meta-analysis reveals gut microbiome alterations associated with Parkinson’s disease
Stefano Romano, Jakob Wirbel, Rebecca Ansorge, Christian Schudoma, Quinten Raymond Ducarmon, Arjan Narbad, Georg Zeller
Nature Communications  ·  07 May 2025  ·  doi:10.1038/s41467-025-56829-3
Accurate prediction of absolute prokaryotic abundance from DNA concentration
Jakob Wirbel, Tessa M. Andermann, Erin F. Brooks, Lanya Evans, Adam Groth, …, Kathleen L. Poston, Wael Saber, Leslie S. Kean, Miguel-Angel Perales, Ami S. Bhatt
Cell Reports Methods  ·  01 May 2025  ·  doi:10.1016/j.crmeth.2025.101030
Expanding the human gut microbiome atlas of Africa
Dylan G. Maghini, Ovokeraye H. Oduaran, Luicer A. Ingasia Olubayo, Jane A. Cook, Natalie Smyth, …, Furahini Tluway, Michèle Ramsay, Jakob Wirbel, Ami S. Bhatt, Scott Hazelhurst
Nature  ·  29 Jan 2025  ·  doi:10.1038/s41586-024-08485-8

2024

Intragenic DNA inversions expand bacterial coding capacity
Rachael B. Chanin, Patrick T. West, Jakob Wirbel, Matthew O. Gill, Gabriella Z. M. Green, …, Angela S. Hickey, Erin F. Brooks, Krystal K. Lum, Ileana M. Cristea, Ami S. Bhatt
Nature  ·  25 Sep 2024  ·  doi:10.1038/s41586-024-07970-4
A realistic benchmark for differential abundance testing and confounder adjustment in human microbiome studies
Jakob Wirbel, Morgan Essex, Sofia Kirke Forslund, Georg Zeller
Genome Biology  ·  25 Sep 2024  ·  doi:10.1186/s13059-024-03390-9

2023

C. difficile may be overdiagnosed in adults and is a prevalent commensal in infants
Pamela Ferretti, Jakob Wirbel, Oleksandr M Maistrenko, Thea Van Rossum, Renato Alves, …, Ivica Letunic, Michael Kuhn, Georg Zeller, Thomas SB Schmidt, Peer Bork
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd  ·  12 Sep 2023  ·  doi:10.7554/eLife.90111.1
Location and condition based reconstruction of colon cancer microbiome from human RNA sequencing data
Gaia Sambruni, Angeli D. Macandog, Jakob Wirbel, Danilo Cagnina, Carlotta Catozzi, …, Teresa Manzo, Simona P. Ravenda, Georg Zeller, Luigi Nezi, Martin H. Schaefer
Genome Medicine  ·  02 May 2023  ·  doi:10.1186/s13073-023-01180-9

2022

Cultivation-independent genomes greatly expand taxonomic-profiling capabilities of mOTUs across various environments
Hans-Joachim Ruscheweyh, Alessio Milanese, Lucas Paoli, Nicolai Karcher, Quentin Clayssen, …, Jakob Wirbel, Peer Bork, Daniel R. Mende, Georg Zeller, Shinichi Sunagawa
Microbiome  ·  05 Dec 2022  ·  doi:10.1186/s40168-022-01410-z
Depression and fatigue in active IBD from a microbiome perspective—a Bayesian approach to faecal metagenomics
Anne Kerstin Thomann, Torsten Wüstenberg, Jakob Wirbel, Laura-Louise Knoedler, Philipp Arthur Thomann, Georg Zeller, Matthias Philip Ebert, Stefanie Lis, Wolfgang Reindl
BMC Medicine  ·  17 Oct 2022  ·  doi:10.1186/s12916-022-02550-7
Microbiota-dependent activation of the myeloid calcineurin-NFAT pathway inhibits B7H3- and B7H4-dependent anti-tumor immunity in colorectal cancer
Kenneth Peuker, Anne Strigli, Daniele V.F. Tauriello, Alexander Hendricks, Witigo von Schönfels, …, Georg Zeller, Triantafyllos Chavakis, Clemens Schafmayer, Eduard Batlle, Sebastian Zeissig
Immunity  ·  01 Apr 2022  ·  doi:10.1016/j.immuni.2022.03.008
Calorie restriction improves metabolic state independently of gut microbiome composition: a randomized dietary intervention trial
Solomon A. Sowah, Alessio Milanese, Ruth Schübel, Jakob Wirbel, Ece Kartal, …, Daniel Müller, Gabriele I. Stangl, Rudolf Kaaks, Tilman Kühn, Georg Zeller
Genome Medicine  ·  14 Mar 2022  ·  doi:10.1186/s13073-022-01030-0
A faecal microbiota signature with high specificity for pancreatic cancer
Ece Kartal, Thomas S B Schmidt, Esther Molina-Montes, Sandra Rodríguez-Perales, Jakob Wirbel, …, Georg Zeller, Jonel Trebicka, Francisco X Real, Nuria Malats, Peer Bork
Gut  ·  08 Mar 2022  ·  doi:10.1136/gutjnl-2021-324755
Identifying temporal and spatial patterns of variation from multimodal data using MEFISTO
Britta Velten, Jana M. Braunger, Ricard Argelaguet, Damien Arnol, Jakob Wirbel, Danila Bredikhin, Georg Zeller, Oliver Stegle
Nature Methods  ·  13 Jan 2022  ·  doi:10.1038/s41592-021-01343-9

2021

Unravelling the collateral damage of antibiotics on gut bacteria
Lisa Maier, Camille V. Goemans, Jakob Wirbel, Michael Kuhn, Claudia Eberl, …, Michael Zimmermann, Bärbel Stecher, Georg Zeller, Peer Bork, Athanasios Typas
Nature  ·  13 Oct 2021  ·  doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03986-2
Commensal Clostridiales strains mediate effective anti-cancer immune response against solid tumors
Ana Montalban-Arques, Egle Katkeviciute, Philipp Busenhart, Anna Bircher, Jakob Wirbel, …, Onur Boyman, Ralph Fritsch, Markus G. Manz, Marianne R. Spalinger, Michael Scharl
Cell Host & Microbe  ·  01 Oct 2021  ·  doi:10.1016/j.chom.2021.08.001
Prediction of combination therapies based on topological modeling of the immune signaling network in multiple sclerosis
Marti Bernardo-Faura, Melanie Rinas, Jakob Wirbel, Inna Pertsovskaya, Vicky Pliaka, …, Roland Martin, Friedemann Paul, Leonidas G. Alexopoulos, Pablo Villoslada, Julio Saez-Rodriguez
Genome Medicine  ·  16 Jul 2021  ·  doi:10.1186/s13073-021-00925-8
Microbiome meta-analysis and cross-disease comparison enabled by the SIAMCAT machine learning toolbox
Jakob Wirbel, Konrad Zych, Morgan Essex, Nicolai Karcher, Ece Kartal, Guillem Salazar, Peer Bork, Shinichi Sunagawa, Georg Zeller
Genome Biology  ·  30 Mar 2021  ·  doi:10.1186/s13059-021-02306-1

2020

Metabolic models predict bacterial passengers in colorectal cancer
Daniel R. Garza, Rahwa Taddese, Jakob Wirbel, Georg Zeller, Annemarie Boleij, Martijn A. Huynen, Bas E. Dutilh
Cancer & Metabolism  ·  10 Feb 2020  ·  doi:10.1186/s40170-020-0208-9

2019

Metagenomic analysis of colorectal cancer datasets identifies cross-cohort microbial diagnostic signatures and a link with choline degradation
Andrew Maltez Thomas, Paolo Manghi, Francesco Asnicar, Edoardo Pasolli, Federica Armanini, …, Barbara Pardini, Maria Rescigno, Levi Waldron, Alessio Naccarati, Nicola Segata
Nature Medicine  ·  01 Apr 2019  ·  doi:10.1038/s41591-019-0405-7
Meta-analysis of fecal metagenomes reveals global microbial signatures that are specific for colorectal cancer
Jakob Wirbel, Paul Theodor Pyl, Ece Kartal, Konrad Zych, Alireza Kashani, …, Cornelia M. Ulrich, Hermann Brenner, Manimozhiyan Arumugam, Peer Bork, Georg Zeller
Nature Medicine  ·  01 Apr 2019  ·  doi:10.1038/s41591-019-0406-6
Extensive transmission of microbes along the gastrointestinal tract
Thomas SB Schmidt, Matthew R Hayward, Luis P Coelho, Simone S Li, Paul I Costea, …, Anna Heintz-Buschart, Shinichi Sunagawa, Georg Zeller, Paul Wilmes, Peer Bork
eLife  ·  12 Feb 2019  ·  doi:10.7554/eLife.42693

2018

Phosphoproteomics-Based Profiling of Kinase Activities in Cancer Cells
Jakob Wirbel, Pedro Cutillas, Julio Saez-Rodriguez
Methods in Molecular Biology  ·  01 Jan 2018  ·  doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-7493-1_6