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 paper in Nature Microbiology: Genome expansion in bacterial endosymbionts

10.01.2023 DOME

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

Michael Wagner elected as member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts

17.12.2022 DOME

Michael has been elected as member of the class Technical and Environmental Sciences of the Academia Scientiarium et Artium Europaea.

Open PhD position for ERC funded project “CHIMERA”

26.11.2022 DOME

An opportunity to delve into research on giant viruses: Anouk Willemsen, virologist at CMESS, is seeking a PhD student to work within her project…

Dr. Maximilian Nepel

19.11.2022 DOME

Maximilian Nepel successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled “N2-fixing microbial communities in two distinctive terrestrial ecosystems - grassland…

Michael Wagner is Highly Cited Researcher 2022

15.11.2022 DOME

DOME member Michael Wagner is among the most cited researchers in the world. Alongside his CMESS colleagues Thomas Rattei (CUBE), Andreas Richter…

CMESS celebrates four Highly Cited Researchers 2022

15.11.2022 CeMESS

Our Centre once again features four scientists listed as most cited researchers worldwide. Thomas Rattei (CUBE), Andreas Richter (TER), Michael Wagner…

Events

Three amazing ideas about microbial biogeography that will blow your mind

16.05.2019 DOME Lecture Series

Daniel H. Buckley

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