From the beginning of my scientific career, bacteria of the genus Streptococcus were in the center of my research. Streptococci (latin: streptococcus) are coccoid (spherical) bacteria, appearing as pairs or chains in the microscope. Many of the streptococcal species belong to the physiological flora in men and animals, but they are also able to cause serious infections.

My first publication on group B streptococci appeared in 1974 (1). My further studies on streptococci were greatly influenced by Lewis W. Wannamaker, University of Minnesota (U of M), who spent a sabbatical year at the Institute of Hygiene, University of Cologne. This encounter opened the possibility for me to spent one year (1975/76) in the research lab of Dr. Wannamaker at the Dept. of Pediatrics at the U of M (funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft – DFG). A number of publications resulted from this year including parts of my “Habilitation” thesis (2-7).

In the subsequent years in Cologne (until 1988) several studies on streptococci and streptococcal diseases, in particular on  the epidemiology and antibiotic resistances and on streptococcal genetics were published (see Publications – selection: 8-10). In 1987, I was chairperson of the Xth Lancefield International Symposium on Streptococci and Streptococcal Diseases held in Cologne.

In July 1988 I was appointed full Professor of Medical Microbiology at the RWTH Aachen University and Director of the Institute of Medical Microbiology at the University Hospital there. This position allowed me to hire and educate young scientists (medical doctors, microbiologists) and to enthuse them for the microbiology, pathogenesis, and immunology of streptococci and streptococcal diseases (s. Publications – selection: (11-20); thereby they got the chance to qualify for higher ranks in their scientific career (professorships – within the RWTH University and outside).

Since my official retirement at the end of February 2008, I am free-lancing as a consultant at the DWI Leibniz-Institute for Interactive Materials.There, I am devoting my time to studying the action of antimicrobial polymers and of products of probiotics onto pathogens. In a project funded by the DFG I finished and annotated the complete genome sequence of the Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis strain AC-2713 (16) – see NCBI database.

Selected publications:

1. R. Lütticken, D. Fritsche, Zentralblatt für Bakteriologie und Hygiene, I. Abteilung A 226, 298 (1974).
2. W. Hryniewicz, P. B. Heczko, R. Lütticken, L. W. Wannamaker, J. Clin. Microbiol. 4, 28 (Jul, 1976).
3. R. Lütticken, D. Lütticken, D. R. Johnson, L. W. Wannamaker, J. Clin. Microbiol. 3, 533 (1976).
4. R. Lütticken, L. W. Wannamaker, G. Kluitmann, M. Neugebauer, Dtsch. Med. Wochenschr. 101, 958 (1976).
5. R. Lütticken, U. Wendorff, D. Lütticken, L. W. Wannamaker, Zbl. Bakt. Hyg., I. Abt. Orig. A 237, 35 (31.08.1995, 1977).
6. R. Lütticken, U. Wendorff, D. Lütticken, E. A. Johnson, L. W. Wannamaker, J. Med. Microbiol. 11, 419 (1978).
7. R. Lütticken, Habilitationsschrift, Köln (1979).
8. K. H. Friedrich, R. Lütticken, FEMS. Microbiol. Lett. 25, 183 (1984).
9. R. Kilpper-Bälz, B. L. Williams, R. Lütticken, K. H. Schleifer, Syst. Appl. Microbiol. 5, 494 (1984).
10. O. Schneewind, K. Friedrich, R. Lütticken, Infect. Immun. 56, 2174 (Aug, 1988).
11. A. Podbielski, B. Melzer, R. Lütticken, Med. Microbiol. Immunol. (Berl.) 180, 213 (1991).
12. A. Kaufhold, A. Podbielski, D. R. Johnson, E. L. Kaplan, R. Lütticken, J. Clin. Microbiol. 30, 2391 (31.08.1995, 1992).
13. R. R. Reinert, A. Queck, A. Kaufhold, M. Kresken, R. Lütticken, Clin. Infect. Dis. 21, 1398 (1995).
14. O. Kühnemund, F. Schumacher, M. Casaretto, S. E. Holm, R. Lütticken, APMIS 106, 288 (1998).
15. A. Podbielski, E. Rozdzinski, H. Wiedeck, R. Lütticken, Dt. Ärztebl. 95, A414 (1998).
16. C. M. Brandt, G. Haase, N. Schnitzler, R. Zbinden, R. Lütticken, J. Clin. Microbiol. 37, 4194 (1999).
17. N. Schnitzler, G. Haase, A. Podbielski, R. Lütticken, K. G. Schweizer, Nature Med. 5, 231 (1999).
18. B. Spellerberg et al., Infect. Immun. 67, 871 (1999).
19. R. U. Wahl, R. Lütticken, S. Stanzel, M. van der Linden, R. R. Reinert, Clin. Microbiol. Infect. 13, 1173 (Dec, 2007).
20. H. Peltroche-Llacsahuanga, M. J. Fiandaca, S. von Oy, R. Lütticken, G. Haase, J Med Microbiol 59, 179 (Feb, 2010).