Chasing uncultivated Archaea – from genomics to cultivation

Background

To date, the majority or microorganisms still belongs to yet uncultivated lineages. Within the working group of Microbial Evolution, we are especially interested in studying novel groups of Archaea, that have played a major role within the evolution of eukaryotic life on Earth. Using samples from around the world we are trying to enrich and isolate those Archaea. At the same time, we use sequencing-based information to guide our cultivation strategies. In this context we are offering different BSc and MSc projects.

Student Projects

- Exploring the metabolic potential of diverse Bathyarchaeota from marine- and freshwater sediments

- Linking their metabolic potential to the physiology of Bathyarchaeota using BONCAT-FISH

- Tailoring cultivation approaches for yet uncultivated archaeal lineages from lake sediments

- Phylo- and comparative genomics of a potentially novel lineage of Thermoplasmatales

Techniques

• (Anaerobic) cultivation
• Cell sorting
• Flow cytometry
• Nanopore & Illumina sequencing
• Bioinformatics
• Microscopy

BSc/MSc theses

Thesis projects are available for BSc or MSc students with an interest in cultivation, microbial ecology and evolution as well as bioinformatics. If you would like to join a project where field, lab and computer work can be combined please contact me via the contact form!