Balance of the Microverse

I'll be presenting our research on ancient food fermentations at the upcoming Stanford Fermented Food Conference on September 4-5, 2025. Join us to learn more about our recent findings on Roman wine and ancient Himalayan beer!

There will be yeast and LAB genomes! med.stanford.edu/nutrition/ev...

In search of the microbial origin of life In biology, there are three known domains of cell-based life: eukaryotes – which include humans – bacteria and…

Is there a 4th domain of life? 🧬 Prof. Christian Jogler from our #ClusterOfExcellence at @uni-jena.de searching for microbial lifeforms bridging pro- & eukaryotes. 🚀 Backed by €1.4M from @volkswagenstiftung.de, the quest for the origin of life begins today: www.microverse-cluster.de/en/news/in-s...

New PhD position @uni-jena.de and at our #ClusterOfExcellence! Join @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social's group to study #ClimateChange & #FungalPathogens. Interdisciplinary training, vibrant research network & great working conditions. Apply by Aug 31: jobs.uni-jena.de/jobposting/a... @uni-jena.de

🔬 Microbiome, gut & health – science meets practice!
Join the DGMIM Annual Meeting 2025, Oct 17–18 in Freising.
🎓 Young researchers: Apply now for travel grants!
🎟️ Register here: www.dgmim.de/veranstaltun...

#Microbiome #GutHealth #DGMIM2025 #ScienceMeetsPractice

“What is feeding surface life?” 🌍 and “Are the microbes all alive?” 🦠 — Kirsten Küsel (@kuesellab.bsky.social & @uni-jena.de) sparked deep curiosity at the #MicrobialDiversity Symposium at @mblscience.bsky.social. A powerful talk on unseen life in groundwater & its global impact. #MBL2025

🎉 Roos Brouns (@bedutilh.bsky.social's #VEO-Group & @uni-jena.de) & Vikrant Minhas (mentee @kuesellab.bsky.social) won the ISME poster award at the AEM Gordon Conference! A great example of cross-institutional #excellence in microbial ecology. 👏 #Microbiology #ISME #AEMGordon #EarlyCareerResearchers

A comparison of two photos of Candida albicans shows that a denser biofilm is formed in the presence of human albumin (right) than in its absence (left). In the photos, the yeast cells were colored in a golden hue.

💡 New infection strategy in #Candida albicans discovered: human #albumin reprograms its metabolism, turning harmless strains pathogenic – without the need of hyphae or toxins. #LeibnizHKI
🗞️ lmy.de/mthFi
🧪 rdcu.be/exl7d

@markgresnigt.bsky.social @aps-hki.bsky.social
@dfg.de @microverse.bsky.social

🎓 Published a top paper in the past year? As a doctoral researcher or postdoc @uni-jena.de , you could be nominated for the €2,000 Siegfried Czapski Publication Prize!
🧬🌟 Celebrate excellence at the LIGHT–LIFE interface.
🗓 Apply by 31 July: apply2.uni-jena.de/acefa
#JenaAlliance #ResearchPrize

Read the full review:https://www.microverse-cluster.de/en/news/microverse-get-together-2025-celebrating-renewal-and-community.html

🌟 Celebrating community at the Microverse Get-Together! Big thanks to Kirsten Küsel (@kuesellab.bsky.social) & @mlakemeyer.bsky.social for inspiring us. Proud of our amazing team spirit! Looking forward to more great moments together 🚀 #MicroverseCommunity #ThankYou

YouTube video by Universität Jena THREE QUESTIONS FOR ... Dr Johannes Zimmermann

🎥 Meet Dr. Johannes Zimmermann, Junior Group Leader at our Cluster. His team explores microbial metabolic interactions and life history traits. Discover how innovative models help decode microbial functions in our latest video. #MicroverseVoices #MicrobiomeResearch

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LQv...

Yesterday, Judith Behnsen from the University of Illinois & Chicago visited our lab @leibniz-hki.de and gave an amazing talk in the @microverse.bsky.social seminar. She presented her group's work about Salmonella exploiting Candida albicans' presence in the gut.🦠🍄
👉Her paper: doi.org/10.1101/2024...

ancient teeth

#MDRWISSEN feature explores how our researchers at @leibniz-hki.de are reviving #AncientDNA 🧬of microbes from Neanderthal teeth to discover new compounds, possibly even new #antibiotics!

Read and listen the german article
👉 lmy.de/rMRxk

@microverse.bsky.social @uni-jena.de #WernerSiemensStiftung

Comprehensive mapping of the 5′ and 3′ untranslated regions of Aspergillus fumigatus reveals new insights into gene regulation In the twenty years since the first genome sequencing of Aspergillus fumigatus , the field has seen an explosion in both the number of sequenced genomes and our molecular understanding of this ubiquit...

We were frustrated with guessing RNA transcript boundaries, so we mapped the 5ʹ and 3ʹ ends of poly(A)-enriched RNAs in A. fumigatus mycelium. Hopefully our latest effort from Lukas Schrettenbrunner will serve as a tool for the community! 🧪 w/ @ewjwallace.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Der Vergleich zweier Kulturen von Acetivibrio thermocellus mit Filterpapier als Zellulosequelle zeigt den Einfluss des Pigments YAS auf den Zelluloseabbau durch das Bakterium. Foto: Jana Krabbe / Leibniz-HKI

The bacterium Acetivibrio thermocellus can break down cellulose and uses a yellow pigment to do so, the molecular structure of which has now been decoded within our Cluster of Excellence @microverse.bsky.social. It was also found that it has antibiotic effects.

➡️ www.uni-jena.de/326150/pigme...

🥳 🥳 Celebrating World Microbiome Day with this year’s theme: “Microbiome 101: What You Need to Know.”

A balanced microbiome is key to our overall health, but there’s still much to learn. Stay curious and keep your microbiome balanced!

#Microbes4Life #MicrobiomeDay

New publications from the Microverse! - Exciting results.

Funding cuts to U.S. archaeology could imperil field’s future A Science analysis of canceled and curtailed federal grants reveals hits to research, collections, and training

@christinawarinner.bsky.social, PI in our Cluster, speaks in Science on the abrupt cancellation of U.S. archaeology grants. Her Maya DNA project was among those cut. What’s at stake? The future of a field.
🔗 www.science.org/content/arti...

🎉 Congrats to Uwe Hoßfeld (@uni-jena.de), Associated Investigator in our #MicroverseCluster, on receiving the Caspar Friedrich Wolff Medal for his 600-page work on Gregor Mendel’s legacy—blending genetics, science history & education. 🧬📚 Awarded in Prague by the DGGTB. 👏

🔖http://bit.ly/4nfsuob

Important insights from our Microverse PI @christinawarinner.bsky.social on the implications of a proposed U.S. government move to ban Harvard from admitting international students. What would this mean for science and research in the US?
Listen to the interview on @deutschlandfunk.de.web.brid.gy.

‘Dragon Man’ skull belongs to mysterious human relative At long last, scientists have a nearly complete cranium from hominins known as Denisovans

Dental calculus is such a treasure trove!

www.science.org/content/arti...

The graphic shows how the bacterium Pandoraea sputorum absorbs iron (Fe³⁺) with the help of pandorabactins and thus competes with other lung bacteria for this resource.

Blue-colored scanning electron micrograph shows numerous oval bacterial cells of Pandoraea sputorum in dense distribution.

Pandorae bacteria produce #pandorabactins to steal #iron from other microbes, thus limiting competitors in the diseased lung of patients with cystic fibrosis or sepsis, as we show in @angewandtechemie.bsky.social Int Ed. #NewPaper #NaturalProducts #LeibnizHKI
🔎 PR: lmy.de/VoJXp
📖 Paper: lmy.de/mGWPV

Only two weeks left to apply for a Flash Talk at the 5th Virtual @chembiotalks.bsky.social!

If you are a PhD or postdoc and want a chance to present to a global #ChemBio audience, make sure to check out our abstract challenge: chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/...

The #NFDI4Microbiota Flex Funds Call 2026 opens June 16!
Support for infrastructure, workflows, training & more in microbiology.
Deadline: Aug 11. Details: nfdi4microbiota.de/n...
#OpenScience #FAIRdata

Join our NFDI4Microbiota Coffee Talk: Ivan Belyaev @microverse.bsky.social presents BEXIS2, a flexible platform for microbiology metadata. June 30 at 14:30 CEST.
More info here: tinyurl.com/mudhdnra

Huge thanks to Dr. Andreas Strecker (@dfg.de) for visiting @uni-jena.de. His talk & 1:1 sessions offered valuable guidance on career paths & funding for early career researchers. Supporting young scientists is close to our heart! 🌱🧬

I’m happy to share with you that I’m now Postdoctoral Researcher at the FSU Jena @uni-jena.de in the group of Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social

Diversity & Culture - Balance of the Microverse

Today on #DiversityDay: Explore how we support an inclusive, mindful research culture at Microverse – from mental health to intercultural tools & trusted contacts.
🌐 microverse-cluster.de/en/career/di...
#ScienceNeedsDiversity

Educational Material - Balance of the Microverse

We’re excited to share our new teaching guide “Mikrobiologie in der Schule”! 🎓 This guide equips educators with classroom experiments, lowering the barrier for teaching microbiology in class.
You can download it here 👉 www.microverse-cluster.de/en/transfer/...
#microbiology #stemeducation

What an evening! ✨ Yesterday’s announcement brought cheers, hugs & happy tears. Cluster members, Uni leadership & friends celebrated together – united by passion and purpose. Thank you for this unforgettable moment! 💙 #Microverse #ExcellenceStrategy #TeamScience