PhD thesis: "Functional diversity of anaerobic methane oxidizers."
at Microbial Habitat Group and Department for Molecular Ecology,
Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen

Diploma thesis: "Microbial communities of marine methane seeps at Hikurangi Margin (New Zealand)."
at Microbial Habitat Group and Department for Molecular Ecology,
Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen

Studies of Technical Biology at University of Stuttgart

Bachelor thesis: "Metallization of Tobacco Mosaic Viruses to produce ferrofluids with enhanced magnetoviscosity".
at Department for Molecular Biology and Plant Virology, University of Stuttgart

Research Projects

Microbial communities of marine methane seeps at Hikurangi Margin (New Zealand)

We aim to characterize the microbial community structure of different methane seep sites from recently discovered cold seeps at the Hikurangi Margin, northeast of New Zealand. The sites vary by their seep-associated faunal communities (siboglinid tubeworms or polychaetes), presence of filamentous mat-forming sulfide-oxidizing bacteria on top of the sediments and spatial scale. Using fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH), automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA), and 16S rRNA clone libraries we investigate the influence of spatial scaling, methane flux, methane oxidation rates, and surface population on the microbial diversity at these sites.

Diversity of archaea at AOM (anaerobic oxidation of methane) hotspots

Our questions concerning biodiversity, community shifts and covariation of organisms at AOM hotspots are to be adressed by multivariate statistical analysis of a global 454 pyro-sequencing dataset.

Comparative genomics of anaerobic methane oxidizing archaea (ANME)

We are looking into the genetic potential of several ANME clades to elucidate differences and similarities. The knowledge of genes and pathways could then be used to answer questions about the lifestyle and biogeography of ANME.

Carbon metabolism of AOM consortia

This project aims at investigating the still mysterious carbon metabolism of AOM consortia. It is still unclear which intermediates are taken up and converted into biomass and what role each of the syntrophic partner plays.

Publications

Ruff, S. E.; Arnds, J.; Knittel, K.; Amann, R.; Wegener, G.; Ramette, A.; Boetius, A. (2011). "Microbial communities of marine methane seeps at Hikurangi Margin (New Zealand)." in preparation
Wu, Z.; Müller, A.; Degenhard, S.; Ruff, S. E.; Geiger, F.; Bittner, A. M.; Wege, C.; Krill, C. E. (2010). „Enhancing the magnetoviscosity of ferrofluids by the addition of biological nanotubes”. ACS Nano, 4, 4531-4538.
DOI: 10.1021/nn100645e
Wu, Z.; Zierold, R.; Müller, A.; Ruff, S. E.; Ma, C.: Khan, A. A.; Geiger, F.; Sommer, B. A.; Knez, M.; Nielsch, K.; Bittner, A. M.; Wege, C.; Krill, C. E. (2010). „ Preparation and magneto-viscosity of nanotube ferrofluids by viral scaffolding and ALD on porous templates”. Physica Status Solidi B, 247, 2412-2423.
DOI: 10.1002/pssb.201046208