Research Projects

Microbial physiology

The Boundary Keepers: Structure, Activity, And Genomic Potential Of Intestinal Mucus-Associated Microbial Communities

The entire gastrointestinal tract is lined with a mucosal layer which forms the barrier between the inside of the host and the “outside world”. The...

Microbial physiology

Effects Of Dietary Fiber On The Fine-Scale Spatial Structuring And Activity Of The Gut Microbiota

Fiber, which includes many plant-derived compounds resistant to human digestive enzymes, aids in satiety, reduces risk of cardiovascular disease, and...

Symbiosis

Keystone Species Of The Human Gut Microbiome

The composition of the human gut microbiome is characterized by substantial inter-individual variability. Despite this individuality we still observe...

Symbiosis

The Premature Gut Microbiome And The Influence On Neonatal Immunity, Brain Development And White Matter Injury - The Premibrain Study

Recent advances in neonatal intensive care have dramatically increased the survival rate of extremely premature infants but the number of survivors...

Microbial physiology

Diversity And Ecophysiology Of Sulfur-Compound-Metabolizing Microorganisms In The Intestinal Tract Of Different Mammalian Hosts

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a ubiquitous gasotransmitter in humans and animals and it is particularly produced by sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) in the...

Symbiosis

From Bacteria To Bivalves To Birds: Inter-Kingdom Interactions In A Marine Symbiosis

Lucinid clams host a nutritional symbiosis with chemosynthetic sulfide-oxidizing bacteria within gill epithelial cells. Their ancient age and...

Nutrient cycles

Sulfur, Carbon And Nitrogen Metabolism In Chemosynthetic Nematode Symbioses

My PhD explores a fascinating animal-bacterium symbiosis, the one engaging interstitial marine nematodes belonging to the Stilbonematinae. They are...

Symbiosis

Giant Viruses As Symbionts In Amoeba

The discovery of giant viruses changed our perception of the viral world. With genome and particle sizes comparable to those of bacteria and a number...

Nutrient cycles

Species Diversity In Ant-Made Fungal Patches From Cecropia-Azteca Systems And Their Impact On Nutrient Recycling

Many ants live in symbiotic relationships with plants (myrmecophytes) that provide nesting space (domatia) and plant-derived food sources in the form...

Symbiosis

Chromosome Segregation In Animal Associated Bacteria

Bacterial chromosome segregation has been only studied in free-living organisms under controlled culturing conditions. In the course of my PhD, I...

Symbiosis

Genome Evolution And Metabolic Characterization Of Lucinid Symbionts And Close Relatives

Virtually every animal on Earth evolved with and among trillions of microbes in the environment. Interactions with these microbes are mostly invisible...

Symbiosis

Giant Ciliate – Thiotrophic Symbiont Mutualism Maintenance And Persistence

Knowledge of the identity of the partners in mutualism, their taxonomic placement and their potential functional repertoire is crucial basic...

Symbiosis

Characterization Of Natural Chlamydial Communities

Chlamydiae, such as Chlamydia trachomatis or C. pneumoniae, are well known bacterial pathogens of humans and animals. Only in the past 20 years...

Symbiosis

Biology And Evolution Of The Intracellular Lifestyle In Protists

Bacteria infecting protists are diverse and often share conserved virulence mechanisms. Yet, they may differ fundamentally with respect to their...

Technology / method development

Genome-Metabolome Modeling And Metabolome Predictions In Microbial Symbioses

Metabolites are central for host-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions. Whole genome or metagenomic bin-based predictions of bacterial metabolism...

Symbiosis

Biology Of Macroscopic Bacterial Consortia From Karst Cave Streams

Dinaric karst caves are unique ecosystems that host an extraordinarily high biodiversity. Recently, centimeter-long “sprout-like” microbial consortia...

Microbial physiology

Effects And Dynamics Of The Root-Microbiome Of Halophytic Plants Under Changing Environmental Conditions

Plant-microbe associations harbor multiple beneficial effects for both the plants and associated microbiota. Such associations are also recognized for...

Symbiosis

Chlamydiae In Woodlice: Studying Microbe-Host Interaction In The Natural Environment

Chlamydia are well-known pathogens of humans and animals but are also ubiquitous in the environment. Rhabdochlamydia porcellionis infecting the rough...

Symbiosis

Interactions Of Members Of The Candidate Phyla Radiation (CPR) With Prokaryotic And Eukaryotic Hosts In A Wwtp

Members of the Candidate Phyla Radiation (CPR) represent a significant fraction (>15%) of the total bacterial diversity of Earth. Almost all members...

Microbial physiology

Physiological Determinants Of Microbial Sulfidogenesis In The Intestinal Environment

H2S is an ambivalent molecule produced by commensal gut bacteria but also by the human host. It has detrimental impact on gut epithelial barrier...

Symbiosis

Host-Microbe Interactions In Marine Lucinid Clams

The symbiosis between lucinid clams and their chemosynthetic endosymbionts is ideal for understanding effects of seasonality; the symbionts rely on...

Symbiosis

Compaction And Organization Of Animal Symbiont Chromosomes

The bacterial nucleoid is highly condensed and forms compartment-like structures within the cell. Although its dynamic organisation is being...

Symbiosis

Giant Ciliate Mutualism Response To Variable Abiotic Environment

H2S plays a central role in the nutritional interactions of thiotrophic Cand. Thiobios zoothamnicoli and the colonial ciliate Zoothamnium niveum....