Welcome to Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics

Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology

We belong to the Faculty of Life Sciences of the University of Vienna. On 1 January 2022 Archaea Biology, Molecular Systems Biology, Limnology and Bio-Oceanography and Marine Biology merged to the Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology.

Archaea arose together with Bacteria as the first organisms on this planet about 3.5 billion years ago. They form a separate domain of life beside bacteria and eukaryotes and inhabit virtually all environments on earth, including the most extreme environments that can sustain life.
Our unit studies the biology of archaea as well as bacterial symbioses with a focus on ecological, physiological and evolutionary aspects to shed light on the diversity and fundamental distinctions between these two prokaryotic groups.

In particular we are interested in:

- the ecological distribution of archaea from terrestrial, aquatic and hot environments

- the phylogeny of archaea

- the metabolism and genomes of ammonia oxidizing thaumarchaeota

- virus-defense (CRISPR-) systems of hyperthermophilic archaea

- archaea Biotechnology

- bacterium-nematode symbioses

We thus attempt to improve the understanding of the role of microorganisms, in particular of archaea, in global biogeochemical cycles and in early evolution.

08.11.2024
 

The VDSEE invites you to the upcoming FÖP on 8 November 2024.

07.10.2024
 

"Purification and characterization of carbon storage pathway proteins from Nitrososphaera viennensis"

01.10.2024
 

"Chromosome conformation and stability in a diploid animal symbiont"

26.09.2024
 

"Der Ursprung des komplexen Lebens mit Christa Schleper"

23.09.2024
 

"Navigating the archaeal frontier: insights and projections from bioinformatic pipelines"

16.09.2024
 

“Microbial insights into non-CO2 greenhouse gas production and terrestrial biogeochemical cycles under climate change”

Guest Lectures

15.10.2024
 

"Pirsonia-Coscinodiscus: an emerging marine model system for understanding host-parasite interactions"

12.10.2024
 

"Coral Reef Fish Escapes, Reproduction & Biodiversity: Theory & Observations"

07.10.2024
 

"Prospects for biohydrogen production in depleted oil and gas reservoirs"