Spotlight on nitrification research at DOME

A series of articles on the Rudolphina research news platform highlights the efforts and achievements of DOME members in nitrification research. A…
Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science

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.

Get to know our research by exploring our active projects and the researcher profiles of our principle investigators.

We are committed to nurturing the next generation of scientists, including undergraduate and doctoral programs, as well as intensive methods-based courses.

Our Facilities and Ressources include Joint Microbiome Facility, NanoSIMS, probeBase, and daime.


A series of articles on the Rudolphina research news platform highlights the efforts and achievements of DOME members in nitrification research. A…

The FWF features female researchers in a recent social media video. Barbara Bayer, postdoctoral researcher at DOME, is also portrayed in the video.…

Shaul Pollak has joined CMESS as a new Junior Research Group Leader at DOME. He enriches the research portfolio of the Centre with his focus on…

A new study including DOME members Martin Polz, Xiaoqian A. Yu, and Anna J. Mueller for the first time identifies dominant as well as active microbial…

Annelieke Overbeeke successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled "Bacterial degradation of polysaccharides in the gut mucosal eco-system" on December…

Chlamydiae is known for the infamous human pathogen Chlamydia, but this group of bacteria evolved over a billion years ago. Despite being ancient and…

Andreas Bergthaler

William Orsi

Daniel H. Buckley
Krasenbrink J, Hanson BT, Weiss AS, Borusak S, Tanabe TS, Lang M et al. Sulfoquinovose is exclusively metabolized by the gut microbiota and degraded differently in mice and humans. Microbiome. 2025 Dec;13(1):184. doi: 10.1186/s40168-025-02175-x
Ye H, Šlipogor V, Hanson BT, Séneca J, Hausmann B, Herbold CW et al. Associations between gut microbiota and personality traits: insights from a captive common marmoset (
Callithrix jacchus) colony. Microbiology Spectrum. 2025 Nov 18;e0044325. Epub 2025 Nov 18. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.00443-25
Hodgskiss LH, Kerou M, Luo ZH, Bayer B, Maier A, Weckwerth W et al. Metabolic response of a chemolithoautotrophic archaeon to carbon limitation. mSystems. 2025 Oct 22;10(10):1-20. e0073225. doi: 10.1128/msystems.00732-25
Data Reuse Consortium, Wagner M, Rattei T, Osvatic J, Speth D. A roadmap for equitable reuse of public microbiome data. Nature Microbiology. 2025 Sept 26;10(10):2384-2395. Epub 2025 Sept 26. doi: 10.1038/s41564-025-02116-2
Crudo F, Petri P, Pacchione M, Dall'Asta C, Birse N, Berry D et al. Alternaria mycotoxins and gut microbiota: antimicrobial properties and bacteria-dependent modulation of mycotoxin immunotoxicity. Toxicology Letters. 2025 Sept;411(Supplement: S). doi: 10.1016/j.toxlet.2025.07.160
University of Vienna
