Dr. Wagner is a leading scientist in the field of non-coding RNAs in bacteria.  In a long eminent series of publications, he unravelled the replication control system of plasmid R1, which together with that of plasmid ColE1, has become the best-understood replication control system of any plasmid. He has also contributed with studies on other antisense RNA-regulated gene loci.  Recently, Dr. Wagner has worked studied RNAs in bacteria, showing that Hfq, an RNA chapererone, is intimately involved in the way that small RNAs recognize target RNAs in bacteria.