DOME

Assist.-Prof. Dr. Anouk Willemsen

Assistant Professor of the Division of Microbial Ecology

 

☎ +43 1 4277 91242
✉ anouk.willemsen(at)univie.ac.at


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CeMESS\Thomas Suchanek

Viruses are major but often overlooked players in ecological interactions. They are ubiquitous in nature, infecting organisms across all domains of life. Viruses have evolved many different shapes, sizes and types of genome organisation, which allows them to thrive in different environments. Research in Anouk Willemsen’s group focuses on the evolutionary genetics and genomics of microbes, especially the ability of viruses to adapt (or not) to changes in their environments.

Anouk’s group employs a range of molecular and microbiology techniques, experimental evolution, sequencing, genomics, phylogenetics and bioinformatics. Anouk has received two Marie Skłodowska-Curie grants and an ERC Starting Grant (2021) to investigate the role of mobile genetic elements in the ecology and evolution of giant viruses. She is the co-lead of an FWF project focused on studying giant viruses in the wild.

Publications

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

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;584-596. doi: 10.1101/2024.10.07.616867, 10.1038/s41564-025-02234-x

Mayer L, Nikolov G, Kunert M, Horn M, Willemsen A. Mimivirus transcription and translation occur at well-defined locations within amoeba host cells. Journal of Virology. 2025 Jun 13;99(7):e00554-25. doi: 10.1128/jvi.00554-25

Willemsen A, Manzano-Marín A, Horn M. Novel high-quality amoeba genomes reveal widespread codon usage mismatch between giant viruses and their hosts. Genome Biology and Evolution. 2025 Jan 6;17(1):evae271. doi: 10.1101/2024.09.23.614596, 10.1093/gbe/evae271

Arthofer P, Panhölzl F, Delafont V, Hay A, Reipert S, Cyran N et al. A giant virus infecting the amoeboflagellate Naegleria. Nature Communications. 2024 Dec;15(1):3307. Epub 2024 Apr 24. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-47308-2

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