Former Research Groups

High-resolution studies of chemical microenvironments and metabolic processes by microsensors
-Development of 1 and 2D microsensing systems (electrochemical and fiber-optical microsensors and planar optodes.
The microsensor group headed by Dr. Dirk de Beer develops microsensors and applies these tools to answer scientific questions. The sensors are used in various research themes: studies of O, S and C cycling in microbial mats; the relation between complexity and stability of microbial ecosystems (mats); anoxygenic photosynthesis in modelsystems; calcification and respiration in deep-sea sediments; the N-cycle in freshwater sediments; the N and S cycle in biofilms.

The Mi­cro­bi­al Me­ta­bo­lism Group, headed by Tristan Wagner, aims to un­der­stand, at the mole­cu­lar le­vel, how me­tha­no­gens are sur­vi­ving and gro­wing in ex­tre­me en­vi­ron­ments. How do they ge­ne­ra­te me­tha­ne from dif­fe­rent sour­ces of car­bon so ef­fi­ci­ent­ly? How do they con­vert mi­ne­rals into the ele­men­ta­ry bricks of life? And how do they pro­tect them­sel­ves against stres­ses from their na­tu­ral en­vi­ron­ment?

The Archaeal Virology Group, headed by Susanne Erdmann, investigates membrane vesicle formation in Archaea and the formation of plasmid vesicles and studies the interactions between membrane vesicles and viruses.

The Max Planck Research Group Eco-Evo­lu­tio­na­ry In­ter­ac­tions led by Dr. Laetitia Wilkins is stu­dy­ing how lu­ci­nid clams and their mi­cro­bi­al part­ners ad­ap­ted to di­ver­ging en­vi­ron­men­tal con­di­ti­ons du­ring a mas­si­ve al­lo­pa­tric spe­cia­ti­on event cau­sed by the rise of the Isth­mus of Pa­namá. Our mo­ti­va­ti­on for do­ing re­se­arch is to move from cor­re­la­ti­on to cau­sa­ti­on in stu­dies of host-mi­cro­be evo­lu­ti­on. As oce­ans un­der­go ma­jor chan­ges due to hu­man ac­tivi­ties (for ex­amp­le oce­an war­ming and aci­di­fi­ca­ti­on), un­der­stan­ding how ani­mals and plants ad­apt to a chan­ging en­vi­ron­ment is now more than ever one of the big­gest ques­ti­ons in ma­ri­ne bio­lo­gy. To pre­dict fu­ture re­s­pon­ses, we can ex­plo­re the past and use geo­lo­gi­cal events, which pro­vi­de va­luable in­sights into ad­ap­ti­ve me­cha­nisms.

The MARUM MPG Bridge Group Marine Glycobiology, headed by Dr. Jan-Hendrik Hehemann, focuses on certain algal sugars, so called polysaccharides. These polysaccharides are very important in the marine carbon cycle. The massively influence how much carbon is stored in the ocean. Despite their relevance the structures of algal polysaccharides and their recycling by marine microbes remain a mystery. To shed light on this black box of the marine carbon cycle Hehemann and his group study the functional evolution of the bacterial enzymatic machines and how they process algal polysaccharides in the ocean.

The Max Planck Research Group Marine Isotope Geochemistry, headed by Dr. Katharina Pahnke-May, is focused on the understanding of past and present processes and changes in the ocean and the climate system. Particular interest of this collaboration between MPIMM and the Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM, University of Oldenburg) lies in trace elements and their isotopes in the ocean, as well as their role as tracers of present and past element input and fluxes, geochemical processes, internal cycling, and past ocean circulation changes.