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: Chlamydiae give up extracellular stage to thrive in social amoebae

08.07.2025 DOME

Many intracellular bacteria rely on an extracellular stage to move between hosts – but what happens when that’s no longer needed? A new study, now…

Congratulations Dr. Bauchinger!

07.07.2025 DOME

Franziska Bauchinger successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled "Insights into community composition, function and structure of the human gut…

Congratulations Manuela Felsberger, MSc!

07.07.2025 DOME

Manuela Felsberger successfully defended her MSc thesis entitled "The role of phytoplankton in oxic methane production in two Austrian freshwater…

Congratulations Dr. Kop!

04.07.2025 DOME

Linnea Kop successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled "From (Meta)Genomes to Ecosystems: Unraveling the Ecophysiology and Phylogenetic Diversity of…

Congratulations to Megan Sørensen on receiving an FWF-ASTRA Award!

01.07.2025 DOME

We’re thrilled to announce that Megan Sørensen has been awarded a prestigious FWF-ASTRA grant to investigate at CeMESS how microbial partnerships have…

New Study: Salinization at Lake Vrana

30.06.2025 DOME

Beneath the scenic surface of Croatia's Lake Vrana, researchers have uncovered evidence of climate change's impact. A new study co-led by CeMESS…

Events

DOME Lecture: Considering Alternative Routes to Cooperation: The Role of Early Development and Individual Variation"

10.03.2022 DOME Lecture Series

Jessica Cusick

DOME Lecture: Ecological and evolutionary studies of exploitative bacterial interactions

25.01.2022 DOME Lecture Series

Shaul Pollak

DOME Lecture: Microbial iron cycling in biogeochemical cycles past and present

20.01.2022 DOME Lecture Series

Casey Bryce

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