Microbiology

Microbial Physiology

“Strict anaerobes are key to the natural geochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur. Exploiting the processes catalysed by these anaerobes, for example in the production of chemicals and fuels from waste streams, is our main research driver.”

The Microbial Physiology group studies the physiology of the anaerobic microorganisms and anaerobic microbial communities (natural or synthetic) that play an important role or have potential for application in sustainable circular economy approaches. This includes for example:

  1. isolation, characterisation and application of novel anaerobes with biotechnological application potential
  2. study of metabolic microbial interactions in natural systems (e.g. syntrophy in anaerobic digesters) and in constructed synthetic communities
  3. microbial conversions of one-carbon compounds (CO2, CO, formate, methanol, CH4) to added-value products
  4. anoxic respiration with sulfur compounds for metal recovery
  5. chemolithotrophic processes on solid surfaces.

In-depth insight into the metabolic pathways is obtained by combining cultivation approaches with proteome and transcriptome analyses.