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.

27.01.2025
 

"Vom Leben der Natur: Archaeen"

24.01.2025
 

"A novel type of hemoglobin confers host-derived nitric oxide resistance to the opportunistic pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii"

06.01.2025
 

"What's in our bin? : Labs kick off and demand the transition towards a circular economy for lab plastics"

16.11.2024
 

"Characterization of DsrD and its interaction with the DsrAB dissimilatory sulfite reductase"

14.11.2024
 

"Towards holistic metabolic engineering of Methanothermobacter marburgensis using a combination of in silico methods"

08.11.2024
 

"Biofilm formation facilitates utilization of an alternative growth substrate in two ammonia oxidizing archaea from soil"

Guest Lectures

04.03.2025
 

"What is Normal? Shifting Baselines in Biology"

04.03.2025
 

04.03.2025 - 10.06.2025

Place: UBB HS1 (13:15-14:45), Djerassiplatz 1, 1030 Vienna

28.01.2025
 

"Decidualisation of human endometrium: from evolutionary insights to novel mechanisms of disease"