Dr. Petra Pjevac

 

 

 

 

 

Senior Scientist at the Joint Microbiome Facility
Group Leader

☎ +43 1 4277 91233

petra.pjevac@univie.ac.at

Sequencing-based methods are currently the most widely applied techniques in microbiome research, both in clinical and environmental studies. As a staff scientist in the Joint Microbiome Facility, Petra supports researchers in all steps of sequencing-based microbiome analysis, from study design and data generation to analysis and interpretation of results. In her own research, she investigates factors that shape microbial communities and drive niche differentiation between microorganisms. Besides sequencing-based approaches, she uses physiological experiments and biogeochemical data to address these questions. Petra is particularly interested in chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms in complex environments like soils and sediments – mainly those involved in nitrogen, sulfur and metal cycling.

Current Projects

Nitrogen (N) is essential for all life on Earth and the most abundant element in the atmosphere, where it mainly occurs as dinitrogen gas (N2)....

Nitrification is a key process of the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle and wastewater treatment. Our current knowledge on the involved organisms –...

 Publications

Berg, J. S., Pjevac, P., Sommer, T., Buckner, C. R. T., Philippi, M., Hach, P. F., Liebeke, M., Holtappels, M., Danza, F., Tonolla, M., Sengupta, A., Schubert, C. J., Milucka, J., & Kuypers, M. (2019). Dark aerobic sulfide oxidation by anoxygenic phototrophs in anoxic waters. Environmental Microbiology, 21(5), 1611-1626. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.14543

Kits, K., Jung, M.-Y., Vierheilig, J., Pjevac, P., Sedlacek, C. J., Liu, S., Herbold, C., Stein, L. Y., Richter, A., Wissel, H., Brueggemann, N., Wagner, M., & Daims, H. (2019). Low yield and abiotic origin of N2O formed by the complete nitrifier Nitrospira inopinata. Nature Communications, 10(1), Article 1836. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09790-x

Pjevac, P., Meier, D. V., Markert, S., Hentschker, C., Schweder, T., Becher, D., Gruber-Vodicka, H. R., Richter, M., Bach, W., Amann, R., & Meyerdierks, A. (2018). Metaproteogenomic Profiling of Microbial Communities Colonizing Actively Venting Hydrothermal Chimneys. Frontiers in Microbiology, 9, Article 680. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.00680