DOME

Division of Microbial Ecology (DOME)

Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science

About DOME

The Division of Microbial Ecology | DOME at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science | CeMESS is a team of microbiologists and molecular biologists. Our mission is to unravel the complexities of microbial life and its profound impact on our health and environment.

Our researchers explore the evolution, ecophysiology, interactions and functions of microbes across a broad range of systems. We apply cutting-edge methods, from 'omics analysis, to single-cell isotope probing, to microbial imaging, to computational community modelling.

More about CeMESS

News

Annual DOME trip

11.09.2026 DOME

Yesterday was a good reminder that team spirit is not weather-dependent. ☔🥾

NEW STUDY: Archaea as “flexitarians”: ammonia-oxidising microbes also feed on amino acids

07.09.2026 DOME

New CeMESS-led research overturns the assumption that marine sponge archaea feed exclusively on ammonia, offering new insights into one of the oldest…

New paper: New study traces the evolution of microbial sulfur oxidation metabolism through Earth’s oxygenation history

28.07.2026 DOME

How did microbes adapt as Earth transformed from an oxygen-free world into the oxygen-rich planet we know today? A new study with contributions from…

New paper: Antarctic bacterium yields previously unknown iron-scavenging molecules

22.07.2026 DOME

A bacterium isolated from Antarctic soils produces a new group of natural products that help them compete for one of life's most important nutrients:…

DOC Fellowship for Zeynep Kurt

03.07.2026 DOME

Zeynep Kurt, PhD student at CeMESS, has been awarded a DOC Fellowship by the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW). With this competitive grant, she will…

New Tenure-Track Professors at CeMESS

03.07.2026 CeMESS

CeMESS is delighted to welcome Megan Sorensen and Clarissa Campbell, who joined the University of Vienna as Tenure-Track Professors in May 2026. We…

Events

Sex and death: contact dependent antagonism in plant pathogenic bacteria

16.04.2026 DOME Lecture Series

Honour McCann

Microbial oral-gut translocation in inflammatory and gastro-intestinal diseases

30.06.2025 DOME Lecture Series

Melanie Schirmer

From the Ocean to the Clinic - Exploring Prophage-driven Pathogen Evolution

26.05.2025 DOME Lecture Series

Carolin Wendling

Latest Publications at DOME

Glasl B , Kitzinger K, Luter HM, Legin A, Schuster S, Salas E et al. Branched-chain amino acid assimilation enables mixotrophy of ammonia-oxidizing archaeal sponge symbionts. Science Advances. 2026 Sept 4;12(36):1-15. eaef9450. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aef9450

Ren XY, Lin XY, Tanabe TS , Loy A, Hu L, Zhu YG et al. Evolutionary trajectory of microbial sulfur oxidation pathways recapitulates Earth's oxygenation history. Nature Communications. 2026 Jul 20. Epub 2026 Jul 20. doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-75310-3

Meier DV, Greve A, de Beer D, Abed RMM, Woebken D. Sulfide-oxidizing potential and hypersalinity tolerance strategies in salt-crust covered coastal microbial mats. ISME Journal. 2026 Jun 26;20(1):1-17. wrag166. doi: 10.1093/ismejo/wrag166

Kralova S, Spacek P, Gafriller J, Bezdicek M, Medvedcova V, Séneca J et al. Kineochelins-A New Group of Siderophores From an Antarctic Bacterium. Microbial Biotechnology. 2026 Jun;19(6):1-24. e70386. doi: 10.1111/1751-7915.70386

Abergel C, Abrahão JS, Coulibaly F, Fischer M, Jeudy S, Knorr RL et al. Infection cycles of viruses of the phylum Nucleocytoviricota. Nature Reviews. Microbiology. 2026 May 29. Epub 2026 May 29. doi: 10.1038/s41579-026-01319-6