The role of earthworm gut-associated microorganisms in the fate of prions in soil [Elektronische Ressource] / von Taras Jur'evič Nechitaylo

THE ROLE OF EARTHWORM GUT-ASSOCIATED MICROORGANISMS IN THE FATE OF PRIONS IN SOIL Von der Fakultät für Lebenswissenschaften der Technischen Universität Carolo-Wilhelmina zu Braunschweig zur Erlangung des Grades eines Doktors der Naturwissenschaften (Dr. rer. nat.) genehmigte D i s s e r t a t i o n von Taras Jur’evi č Nechitaylo aus Krasnodar, Russland 2 Acknowledgement I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Kenneth N. Timmis for his guidance in the work and help. I thank Peter N. Golyshin for patience and strong support on this way. Many thanks to my other colleagues, which also taught me and made the life in the lab and studies easy: Manuel Ferrer, Alex Neef, Angelika Arnscheidt, Olga Golyshina, Tanja Chernikova, Christoph Gertler, Agnes Waliczek, Britta Scheithauer, Julia Sabirova, Oleg Kotsurbenko, and other wonderful labmates. I am also grateful to Michail Yakimov and Vitor Martins dos Santos for useful discussions and suggestions. I am very obliged to my family: my parents and my brother, my parents on low and of course to my wife, which made all of their best to support me. 3 Summary.....................................................………………………………………………... 5 1. Introduction...........................................................................................................……... 7 Prion diseases: early hypotheses...………...………………..........…......…......………..