Posts

Microbiome-Enhanced Silicate Weathering

Cluster of Excellence Work Package:  WP 6.2 Duration of contract:  4 years  Planned starting date:  ASAP Place of work:  University of Vienna Main supervisor:  Petra Pjevac Supervision team:  Andreas Richter, Stephan Krämer, Peter Hinterdorfer, Thomas Böttcher Project description: The PhD Student will investigate the effect of soil microorganisms and mineral/rock preparations (type of rock powder, grain size, aggregation state) on enhanced silicate weathering rates and weathering product. Mineral bag experiments will be performed in situ on the field to investigation microbe-mineral interactions on the micro-scale, including weathering, secondary mineral formation, and depleted layer formation in relationship to microbial colonization, and to beneficial identify microbial consortia that enhance weathering. Experimental setups will include microbial cultures and agricultural soil microcosm, where effects of microbial colonization, inoculations and microbiome transfer on enhanc
Post a Comment
Read more

The effect of seasonal oxygen fluctuations on aquatic microbiomes

Cluster of Excellence Work Package:  WP 7.3 Duration of contract:  4 years  Planned starting date:  Summer 2024  Place of work:  University of Vienna Main supervisor:  Barbara Bayer Supervision team:  Christina Kaiser, David Berry Project description: Extensive human activities (e.g., agriculture, industrial production, and sewage discharge) have led to increased eutrophication of lakes and marine coastal zones. As a result, aquatic ecosystems are more frequently affected by hypoxia or anoxia, and coastal bottom waters often display strong seasonal fluctuations in oxygen concentrations. Oxygen availability can have a major impact on microbial metabolism and thus likely affects microbial community composition and microbiome functioning. The PhD candidate will investigate changes in microbiome functioning in response to oxygen depletion by combining metagenomic and -transcriptomic sequencing with activity measurements using stable- and radioisotope approaches. Our goal is to fu
Post a Comment
Read more

Survival and resuscitation mechanisms of desert soil bacteria

Cluster of Excellence Work Package:  WP 7.3 Duration of contract:  up to 4 years  Planned starting date:  Summer 2024  Place of work:  University of Vienna Main supervisor:  Dagmar Wöbken Supervision team:  Christina Kaiser, Holger Daims, David Berry Project description: Microorganisms in drylands have to endure long periods of drought, interrupted by unpredictable and very short periods of rain. Dormancy – an inactive state or a state of reduced metabolic activity – has long been regarded as a prerequisite for desert soil microorganisms to survive such drought periods. However, as dormancy cannot be sustained indefinitely, phases of resuscitation must also play an important role for long-term survival of desert soil microorganisms and thus for maintaining microbial diversity in one of the harshest environments on the planet. In this project, we are investigating the mechanisms of desert soil microorganisms that allow desiccation survival and resuscitation. This will be ach
Post a Comment
Read more

Emerging pollutant transformation and reactive oxygen species formation by oxygenase enzymes in different microbiomes

Cluster of Excellence Work Package:  WP 3.2 Duration of contract:  4 years  Planned starting date:  ASAP  Place of work:  University of Vienna Main supervisor:  Sarah Pati Supervision team:  Thilo Hofmann, Christine Moissl-Eichinger, Andreas Richter Project description: This subproject aims to investigate the transformation of emerging pollutants, such as tire additives, pharmaceuticals, and consumer products, by oxygenase enzymes in various microbiomes. Oxygenase enzymes play a crucial role in degrading pollutants in the environment by transforming a wide range of compounds into more polar and bioavailable products. However, under certain conditions, these enzymes exhibit poor efficiency in oxygen utilization, leading to the unintended production of reactive oxygen species (ROS).  The PhD candidate in this project will perform exposure experiments with emerging pollutants and microbial communities from soil, freshwater, wastewater, and the human lung. In addition, methods wi
Post a Comment
Read more

Impacts of bacterial associated ectomycorrhizal fungi on forest fungal and tree growth

Cluster of Excellence Work Package:  WP 2.1 Duration of contract:  4 years  Planned starting date:  ASAP  Place of work:  University of Vienna Main supervisor:  Mark Anthony Supervision team:  Christina Kaiser, Carlos Gustavo Arellano Caicedo, Christine Moissl-Eichinger, Dagmar Woebken, Andreas Richter Project description: This project aims to understand the ecology of ectomycorrhizal fungal associations with bacteria in the environment and its influence on tree growth and development. A rich community of bacteria with unique ecological strategies inhabit the exterior and interior mycelium of ectomycorrhizal fungi, but we are only beginning to understand the functional ramifications of these tripartite interactions (bacteria-fungi-plant). This project uses microfluidics, mesocosms, and field experiments to cross scales and produce a harmonious framework of the impacts of co-occurring bacteria on ectomycorrhizal fungal and forest tree growth and development. Ideally, you wil
Post a Comment
Read more

The Influence of Invasive Species on Host-Associated Microbiomes

Cluster of Excellence Work Package:  WP 1.2 Duration of contract:  4 years  Planned starting date:  ASAP  Place of work:  University of Vienna/AIT Main supervisor:  Jillian Petersen  and  Angela Sessitsch Supervision team:  Matthias Horn Project description: A number of plants are part of a “blacklist” of invasive species in Europe. The plants of the “blacklist” are considered to have the capacity to change natural environments, influence native vegetations and displace native plant species. In central Europe the most aggressive invasive plants include the knotweed species Fallopia (Reynoutria) japonica (Japanese knotweed) and F. sachalinensis (Sakhalin knotweed) (EPPO Lists of Invasive Alien Plants, 2023). The reason for the success and invasiveness of Fallopia spp. is associated with its clonal propagation and by its capacity to produce a number of secondary phenolic compounds with potential allelopathic activities (Martin et al., 2020, NeoBiota 56: 89-110; Stefanowicz et a
Post a Comment
Read more

Biodegradable Polymer Degradation in Compost Environments

Duration of contract:  4 years  Planned starting date:  ASAP  Place of work:  University of Vienna/AIT Main supervisor:  Sarah Pati Project description: Plastic waste and the global occurrence of plastic/polymer micro- and nanoparticles in the environment has been identified as a major concern regarding environmental health and safety. Most polymer types used in products nowadays are persistent and undergo only very slow degradation, if at all. Environmentally friendly alternatives do exist in bio-degradable polymers, especially PLA and PBAT. It could be shown that these polymers undergo fragmentation and biodegradation/-mineralization within relatively short timeframes. Being proposed as suitable materials for collecting household bio-waste, there is a scientific discussion about how and how fast the fragmentation and complete biodegradation occurs in composting facilities and how the degradation proceeds below the fragment particle sizes which still can be quantified by e.g. Ra
Post a Comment
Read more

Physiology and ecology of the neonatal gut microbiota

Duration of contract:  4 years  Planned starting date:  ASAP  Place of work:  University of Vienna/AIT Main supervisor:   David Berry Project description: Extremely premature infants, which are born before the 28th week of gestation and weighing <1,000 grams, are a highly vulnerable patient group. They frequently experience early-life brain injury that can lead to life-long neurological impairments. Recent research suggests that the gut microbiome can affect the immune system and brain development. As the neonatal gut microbiota-immune-brain axis is important in both short- and long-term neurological diseases, it is a promising target for early-life therapeutic intervention. In order to achieve this, a deeper understanding of the interplay between the microbiome, the immune system, and the brain in early life is urgently needed. This project aims to determine how dysfunction in the gut microbiota-immune-brain axis in extremely premature infants contributes to brain damage and
Post a Comment
Read more

Editor (Structural biology, experimental and/or computational biophysics)

Job title: Associate or Senior Editor (Structural biology, experimental and/or computational biophysics), Nature Communications Locations: London or New York - hybrid working model.  Closing date: 5th June.   Candidates will be considered as they apply.   Nature Porfolio is the world's leader in publishing high-quality research from across the natural sciences. Its journals include Nature, the Nature Research journals, the Nature Reviews journals and Nature Communications.   About the role Do you love science but feel that a career at the bench isn't enough to sate your desire to learn more about the natural world? Do you enjoy reading papers outside your chosen area of research? If the answer is 'yes' to any or all of these questions, you could be the person we're looking for to join the editorial team of Nature Communications. Nature Communications is the leading multidisciplinary Open Access journal, publishing high-quality scientific research. To help us to buil
Post a Comment
Read more

PhD Fellowship in functional proteomics and tissue plasticity

The DNRF Center of Excellence,   Center for Functional Genomics and Tissue Plasticity (ATLAS) , at the University of Southern Denmark, invites applications for a PhD scholarship from outstanding candidates with a keen interest in applying mass spectrometry-based functional proteomics to understand the molecular and cellular basis underlying tissue plasticity. The position is available from 1 September 2024. The Center for Functional Genomics and Tissue Plasticity, ATLAS (Center Director Prof. Susanne Mandrup) aims to obtain system-level, mechanistic and cell type-resolved understanding of adipose and hepatic tissue plasticity in response to diet induced obesity and regression in mouse models; and to translate this for in-depth understanding of the functional changes in these human tissues in response to severe obesity and reversal. The center applies a combination of next generation sequencing-based approaches, mouse models, proteomics,  in vivo  targeting, computational biology and cl
Post a Comment
Read more