Our research works to understand how soil microbiomes (i.e., fungi, bacteria, archaea, viruses, other small eukaryotes) influence the flow of carbon and nutrients throughout ecosystems. With an estimated 1 x 10^9 bacterial and 6.2 x 10^6 fungal species, microbiomes are the most diverse life forms on Earth. Studying them provides fundamental insights into the ecological and evolutionary forces shaping communities and biogeochemical cycles. We can harness the ecology of microorganisms to address pressing societal needs in agriculture, forestry, and medicine. Our group is located at the University of Vienna and is part of the Center for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science.
The main interest of our group is fungi with a particular focus on plant-associated biotrophs including pathogens, endophytes, and mycorrhizal fungi. We study mycorrhizal fungi the most. They are a largely mutualistic and phylogenetically diverse fungal guild found across the fungal tree of life. Mycorrhizal fungi form symbioses with nearly all land plant species. A massive fraction of plant sugars and lipids flow through mycorrhizal fungal mycelium. This allocation of energy by plants to fungi is part of a complex system. Mycorrhizal fungi provide plants with otherwise inaccessible soil resources, like water, nitrogen, and phosphorus in exchange for plant carbon. This symbiosis is so critical that many plants and fungi have lost the ability to grow without each other, but there is still so much to learn about these fungi and their interactions with other soil organisms.
To study microscopic fungi and soil microbiomes, we employ a variety of techniques, including a range of omics', lipid profiling, culturing, and microscopy based techniques. By using a combination of observational, experimental, and statistical modeling approaches, we also simulate different future scenarios of global change and offer a unique look into the future in order to better prepare and adapt to global change.