Dr. Astrid Collingro
Senior Scientist at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science
Research Profiles
Publications Overview
Fascinated by the interactions between intracellular bacteria and their eukaryotic host cells, Astrid started working on bacteria-protist symbioses at the Technical University Munich (Germany), eventually joining the University of Vienna in 2003. She currently works mainly with chlamydial symbionts. By using infection experiments, comparative ‘omics and phylogenetic methods, she explores how bacteria evolved from symbionts of protists to pathogens of animals and humans. Her work often focuses on yet unexplored chlamydial lineages using ‘omics methods, together with different cultivation approaches. Recently, the impact of chlamydial symbionts on ecosystem processes and microbial community composition have gathered her interest.
Publications
Helmlinger L, Arthofer P, Cyran N, Collingro A, Horn M. The adaptation of chlamydiae to facultative host multicellularity. Current Biology. 2025 Jul 21;35(14):3368-3380.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.06.014
Maire J, Collingro A, Horn M, van Oppen MJH. Chlamydiae in corals: shared functional potential despite broad taxonomic diversity. ISME Communications. 2024 Apr 15;4(1):ycae054. doi: 10.1093/ismeco/ycae054
Maire J, Collingro A, Tandon K, Parkville T, Judd LM, Horn M et al. Chlamydiae as symbionts of photosynthetic dinoflagellates. The ISME Journal. 2024 Jan 1;18(1):wrae139. doi: 10.1093/ismejo/wrae139
Collingro A, Köstlbacher S, Siegl A, Toenshoff ER, Schulz F, Mitchell SO et al. The Fish Pathogen "Candidatus Clavichlamydia salmonicola"-A Missing Link in the Evolution of Chlamydial Pathogens of Humans. Genome Biology and Evolution. 2023 Aug 24;15(8):evad147. doi: 10.1093/gbe/evad147
Maire J, Tandon K, Collingro A, van de Meene A, Damjanovic K, Gotze CR et al. Colocalization and potential interactions of Endozoicomonas and chlamydiae in microbial aggregates of the coral Pocillopora acuta. Science Advances. 2023 May 17;9(20):eadg0773. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adg0773