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

New Nature article shows growth of comammox nitrifiers on guanidine

16.08.2024 DOME

This unexpected finding revealed a fourth growth substrate for ammonia oxidizers and offers new insights into niche partitioning of nitrifiers,…

FWF "Tausend Ideen" for Alejandro Manzano Marín

16.07.2024 DOME

DOME Senior Scientist Alejandro Manzano Marín received funding for his project “SymBirth – Development of an artificial symbiont’s birth” from the…

New FWF project for Stephanie A. Eichorst

12.07.2024 DOME

Stephanie A. Eichorst, a Senior Scientist at DOME, received funding for her project “Beyond O2 – factors influencing the use of microbial terminal…

New paper in Science Advances explores gravitational sinking in unicellular algae

08.07.2024 DOME

Unicellular algae are the main primary producers in the ocean, collectively being responsible for about half of the globally fixed carbon dioxide.…

Out in Nature: Novel diatom-rhizobia symbiosis with major contribution to marine nitrogen fixation

27.06.2024 DOME

DOME senior scientists Katharina Kitzinger and Daan Speth recently co-authored a landmark paper in Nature led by a team from the Max Planck Institute…

Barbara Bayer appointed Assistant Professor

24.05.2024 DOME

DOME is excited to announce the appointment of Barbara Bayer as a new Assistant Professor (Tenure Track). Her research focusses on the interactions…

Events

Exploring and Exploiting the Chemistry of Microbial Interactions

17.10.2019 DOME Lecture Series

Thomas Böttcher

Advanced Chemical Microscopy for Life Science and Precision Medicine

03.10.2019 DOME Lecture Series

Ji-Xin Cheng

Organizing principles of marine microbial communities

06.09.2019 DOME Lecture Series

Otto Cordero

Latest Publications at DOME

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

Hodžić A, Kunert M, Juračić M, Veinović G, Sukara R, Tomanović S et al. Immune-mediated microbial interference governs Borrelia colonization of the tick gut. iScience. 2026 May 15;29(5):115628. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2026.115628

Treichel NS, Pauvert C, Séneca J , Pjevac P , Berry D, Penders J et al. Benchmarking of shotgun sequencing depth reveals the potential and limitations of shallow metagenomics and strain-level analysis. Nature Microbiology. 2026 May;11(5):1233-1244. Epub 2026 Apr 21. doi: 10.1038/s41564-026-02334-2

Rigou S, Aldaroub J, Horn M, Aylward FO. Rise of the viral giants: common themes underlying genome gigantism in eukaryotic viruses and bacteriophages. Current Opinion in Microbiology. 2026 Mar 28;91:1-9. 102741. Epub 2026 Mar 28. doi: 10.1016/j.mib.2026.102741