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

Science Podcast from the University of Vienna - latest issue by Dagmar Woebken

16.02.2020 DOME

Dagmar Woebken recently participated in the Audimax, a science podcast series by the University of Vienna. She discusses the fascinating microbial…

Marie Curie Fellowship awarded to Anouk Willemsen

14.02.2020 DOME

Anouk Willemsen received a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellowship to work at DoME on her project “Host range and genome adaptation of giant…

New publication in Nature Communications: Single cell analyses reveal contrasting life strategies of the two main nitrifiers in the ocean

07.02.2020 JMF

Nitrogen cycling in shelf waters is crucial to reduce surplus nutrients, which rivers pour out into the ocean. Yet many of its aspects are poorly…

Prof. Josh Neufeld visiting professor at DOME

04.02.2020 DOME

Josh Neufeld, professor at the Department of Biology of the University of Waterloo, Canada, will spend the next 3 months at our division as a visiting…

New NanoSIMS project funded by the WWTF on multimodal molecular imaging

30.01.2020 DOME

Arno Schintlmeister received a 90 kEUR funding from the WWTF Life Sciences multimodal imaging initiative.

Portrait of Michael Wagner by the FWF

31.12.2019 DOME

The Austrian Science Fund (FWF) published a special feature about Michael Wagner entitled "Exploring the miracle of life". Michael was awarded in 2019…

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

Glasl B , Kitzinger K, Luter HM, Legin A, Schuster S, Salas E et al. Branched-chain amino acid assimilation enables mixotrophy of ammonia-oxidizing archaeal sponge symbionts. Science Advances. 2026 Sept 4;12(36):1-15. eaef9450. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aef9450

Ren XY, Lin XY, Tanabe TS , Loy A, Hu L, Zhu YG et al. Evolutionary trajectory of microbial sulfur oxidation pathways recapitulates Earth's oxygenation history. Nature Communications. 2026 Jul 20. Epub 2026 Jul 20. doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-75310-3

Meier DV, Greve A, de Beer D, Abed RMM, Woebken D. Sulfide-oxidizing potential and hypersalinity tolerance strategies in salt-crust covered coastal microbial mats. ISME Journal. 2026 Jun 26;20(1):1-17. wrag166. doi: 10.1093/ismejo/wrag166

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