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.
Research for sustainable solutions: Focus on the biodegradation of water-soluble polymers
Hamid Rasoulimehrabani successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled "Evaluating the effect of candidate prebiotics in the human gut microbiota by…
CeMESS is proud to announce that eight of its researchers across all its four divisions have been named on the 2025 Clarivate list of the world's most…
Calin Rares Lucaciu successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled "Computational Challenges in the Assembly and Analysis of Non-Model Plant Genomes…
Ticks are home to a diverse mix of microbial communities – some harmless or even beneficial, others pathogenic. A striking microscopy image by Adnan…
We are delighted to welcome Hanna Koch as a new Senior Scientist at the Division of Microbial Ecology (DOME), CeMESS.
Zhang R, Mayer L, Hikida H, Shichino Y, Mito M, Willemsen A et al. A giant virus forms a specialized subcellular environment within its amoeba host for efficient translation. Nature Microbiology. 2026 Jan 9. Epub 2026 Jan 9. doi: 10.1101/2024.10.07.616867, 10.1038/s41564-025-02234-x
Bauchinger F, Berry D. Metatranscriptomic-driven insights into mucosal glycan degradation by the human gut microbiota. FEMS microbiology ecology. 2025 Dec 4. doi: 10.1093/femsec/fiaf118
The Microflora Danica Consortium, Singleton CM, Jensen TBN, Delogu F, Knudsen KS, Sørensen EA et al. The Microflora Danica atlas of Danish environmental microbiomes. Nature. 2025 Dec 3. doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-09794-2
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
Stuehrenberg J, Kitzinger K, von Arx JN, Graf JS, Lavik G, Littmann S et al. Urea use drives niche separation between dominant marine ammonia oxidizing archaea. Nature Communications. 2025 Dec;16(1):10946. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-67048-1
University of Vienna
