Metamenu

  • Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science

  • CUBE - Computational Systems Biology

  • DOME - Microbial Ecology

  • EDGE - Environmental Geosciences

  • TER - Terrestrial Ecosystem Research

News

  • CONGRATULATIONS Dr. Erika Salas Hernández

    15.03.24
    People

    Congratulations to Dr. Erika Kristel Salas Hernández, who successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled "Identification and quantification of soil necromass biomarkers" on March 13th, 2024. The board of examiners comprised Rainer Georg Jörgensen (Univ. Kassel, Germany)  Matthias Kästner (UFZ Leipzig-Halle, ...

  • Thilo Hofmann featured in Austrian newspaper "Der Standard"

    13.03.24
    News

    EDGE's Thilo Hofmann is featured in the Austrian newspaper "Der Standard" in an article about the Kick-Off event of the new Environment and Climate Research Hub (ECH). The Environment and Climate Research Hub, led by Thilo Hofmann and Sabine Pahl, ...

  • Dr. Lucia Fuchslueger receives Environment and Climate Research Award

    12.03.24
    News

    On International Women's Day, March 8, 2024, Dr. Lucia Fuchslueger from the Division of Terrestrial Ecosystem Research (TER) at CeMESS, University of Vienna, received the Environment and Climate Research Award from the Environment and Climate Research Hub (ECH). This recognition ...

  • Univie Teaching Award 2024: CeMESS

    08.03.24
    News

    The Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science (CeMESS) at the University of Vienna is proud to announce the establishment of the Teaching Award. At CeMESS, we are committed to fostering an excellent learning environment. With this new award, we want ...

Latest publications

Metabolic and phylogenetic diversity in the phylum Nitrospinota revealed by comparative genome analyses

The most abundant known nitrite-oxidizing bacteria in the marine water column belong to the phylum Nitrospinota. Despite their importance in marine nitrogen cycling and primary production, there are only few cultured representatives that all belong to the class Nitrospinia. Moreover, although Nitrospinota were traditionally thought to be restricted to marine environments, metagenome-assembled genomes have also been recovered from groundwater. Over the recent years, metagenomic sequencing has led to the discovery of several novel classes of Nitrospinota (UBA9942, UBA7883, 2-12-FULL-45-22, JACRGO01, JADGAW01), which remain uncultivated and have not been analyzed in detail. Here, we analyzed a nonredundant set of 98 Nitrospinota genomes with focus on these understudied Nitrospinota classes and compared their metabolic profiles to get insights into their potential role in biogeochemical element cycling. Based on phylogenomic analysis and average amino acid identities, the highly diverse phylum Nitrospinota could be divided into at least 33 different genera, partly with quite distinct metabolic capacities. Our analysis shows that not all Nitrospinota are nitrite oxidizers and that members of this phylum have the genomic potential to use sulfide and hydrogen for energy conservation. This study expands our knowledge of the phylogeny and potential ecophysiology of the phylum Nitrospinota and offers new avenues for the isolation and cultivation of these elusive bacteria.

Kop LFM, Koch H, Jetten MSM, Daims H, Lücker S
2024 - ISME Commun., 4: ycad017

Impact of Heavy Metals (Cu, Fe, Pb, Zn) on Carbon and Nitrogen Uptake of the Diatom-Bearing Benthic Foraminifera Heterostegina Depressa

Foraminifera are protists primarily living in benthic marine and estuarine environments. We studied uptake of inorganic carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) of the photosymbiont-bearing benthic coral reef foraminifera Heterostegina depressa in the presence of heavy metals.
Incubation experiments were accomplished with artificial seawater enriched with copper, iron, lead and zinc at two different concentration levels (10 and 100 fold enriched in contrast to the usual culture medium). Additionally, isotopically labelled 13C-sodium bicarbonate and 15N-ammonium chloride were added to trace their assimilation over time (1 d, 3 d, 5 d, 7 d). Pulse-amplified modulated fluorescence measurements were performed to measure the potential impacts of heavy metals on chlorophyll fluorescence of the photosymbiont. Increased levels of copper (430.5 μg Cu/l) exhibited the greatest toxicity, while for low levels no effect on the overall metabolism of the foraminifera and the fluorescence activity of the photosymbiont could be detected. Iron (III) increased the symbiont activity, independent of concentration applied (44.5 and 513.3 μg Fe/l), which indicates Fe-limitation of the algal symbiont. Lead enrichment showed no detectable effect even at high concentration. Low concentrations of zinc (35.1 μg Zn/l) promoted the metabolism of the foraminifera, while high concentrations (598.4 μg Zn/l) were toxic. At low levels, two metals (Fe and Zn) promoted symbiont activity, at high levels, iron still boosted photosynthesis, but Zn and Cu had a negative impact on the obligatory photosynthetic symbionts.
Mario Bubl, Petra Heinz, Wolfgang Wanek, Michael Schagerl, Thilo Hofmann, Michael Lintner
2024 - Heliyon, 10: in press

Viral potential to modulate microbial methane metabolism varies by habitat

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas contributing to global warming. Microorganisms largely drive the biogeochemical cycling of methane, yet little is known about viral contributions to methane metabolism (MM). We analyzed 982 publicly available metagenomes from host-associated and environmental habitats containing microbial MM genes, expanding the known MM auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs) from three to 24, including seven genes exclusive to MM pathways. These AMGs are recovered on 911 viral contigs predicted to infect 14 prokaryotic phyla including Halobacteriota, Methanobacteriota, and Thermoproteota. Of those 24, most were encoded by viruses from rumen (16/24), with substantially fewer by viruses from environmental habitats (0–7/24). To search for additional MM AMGs from an environmental habitat, we generate metagenomes from methane-rich sediments in Vrana Lake, Croatia. Therein, we find diverse viral communities, with most viruses predicted to infect methanogens and methanotrophs and some encoding 13 AMGs that can modulate host metabolisms. However, none of these AMGs directly participate in MM pathways. Together these findings suggest that the extent to which viruses use AMGs to modulate host metabolic processes (e.g., MM) varies depending on the ecological properties of the habitat in which they dwell and is not always predictable by habitat biogeochemical properties.

Zhong ZP, Du J, Köstlbacher S, Pjevac P, Orlić S, Sullivan MB
2024 - Nature communications, in press