Gerhard Herndl received the highly endowed European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant to work on the "Microbial Ecology of the Deep Atlantic Pelagic Realm (MEDEA)". This will allow the Microbial Oceanography working group to focus on one of the major enigmas in microbial ecology, i.e., the metabolic activity of prokaryotic communities in the deep sea under in situ pressure conditions.

Analysis of the global data set of prokaryotic abundance indicates that about 40% of prokaryotes reside at depth below 1000m with a phylogenetic composition different from that in surface waters. Using a recently fabricated high-pressure sampling and incubation system in combination with advanced tools to assess the phylogenetic diversity, gene expression and single-cell activity, MEDEA aims at resolving this enigma on a prokaryotic community level as well as on a phylotype level. This detailed knowledge on the distribution of the auto- and heterotrophic activity of deep-sea prokaryotes under in situ pressure conditions is essential to refine our view on the oceanic biogeochemical cycles, and to obtain a mechanistic understanding of the functioning of deep-sea microbial food webs.

ERC Advanced Grants are targeting researchers who have already established themselves as exceptional research leaders and allow to pursue frontier research of their choice. Gerhard J. Herndl is among seven scientists of the University of Vienna who received an ERC Advanced Grant since this program was established in 2007.

| 16.11.2010 | About ERC Advanced Grant | Bericht in Universität Online |

The ChEss Collection is a result of the Census of Marine Life ChEss Program and presents advances in biogeography and taxonomy within deep-sea chemosynthetic environments. Three papers by Sabine Gollner and Monika Bright from the Hot Vents - Cold Seeps research group in Vienna are included in this collection. Gollner et al. (2010a) show the findings that vent meiofauna is not restricted to vents and that diversity is low and inversely correlated to hydrothermal stress. Two other manuscripts give reviews on dirivultid copepods (Gollner et al. 2010b) and nematodes (Vanreusel et al. 2010) from deep-sea chemosynthetic environments.

| 08.11.2010 | Plos One Chess Collection | Bericht in Universität Online |

The Microbial Oceanography Group is currently on an expedition in the North Atlantic. Click 'read more' to learn about the expedition and get news from board.

| 08.10.2010 | read more |

Several highly interesting synthesis and original research papers with contributions from the microbial oceanography group vienna, that deal with the interactions of biology and biogeochemistry in the dark ocean.

This special volume is the result of an Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Research (IMBER) meeting held in 2008 in Miami, USA, that brought together specialists from several disciplines in oceanography.

| 02.07.2010 | read more |

Bright M. and Lallier F.H. 2010.
The biology of vestimentiferan tubeworms.
Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review 48, 213-266.

Vestimentiferan tubeworms belong to the deep-sea polychaete family Siboglinidae. Instead of a digestive system, they live in symbiosis with endosymbiotic, chemoautotrophic bacteria. Their widespread and abundant occurrence at hydrothermal vents and hydrocarbon seeps has fostered more than 500 studies of their evolution and biogeography, ecology and physiology. The present review summarises recent work on the host biology in a broad sense and on host–symbiont relationships.

| 16.05.2010 |

Alexander B. Bochdansky, Hendrik M. van Aken, and Gerhard J. Herndl. Ahead of print April 2010.
Role of macroscopic particles in deep-sea oxygen consumption.
PNAS doi:10.1073/pnas.0913744107

| 21.04.2010 | read more |

Die Tiefenwasser der Ozeane sind uns als Lebensraum von spektakulär geformten, seltsam anmutenden Tieren bekannt. Neben diesen bizarren, vielfach noch unbekannten Lebewesen, gibt es zahllose Mikroorganismen, die mengenmäßig ein Vielfaches an Biomasse der Tiere ausmachen. Gerhard Herndl, Leiter des Departments für Meeresbiologie der Universität Wien, erforscht die Nahrungsquellen dieser Tiefsee-Mikroorganismen und publiziert dazu zusammen mit Wissenschaftern aus den USA und Holland in der renommierten Fachzeitschrift PNAS.

| 20.04.2010 | read more |

Winter, C., T. Bouvier, M. G. Weinbauer, T. F. Thingstad. 2010. Trade-offs between competition and defense specialists among unicellular planktonic organisms: the "Killing the Winner" hypothesis revisited. Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews 74:42-57.

A trade-off between strategies maximizing growth and minimizing losses appears to be a fundamental property of evolving biological entities existing in environments with limited resources. In the special case of unicellular planktonic organisms, the theoretical framework describing the trade-offs between competition and defense specialists is known as the "Killing the Winner" hypothesis. In this first review since the introduction of the concept, the authors evaluate which aspects of present experimental and observational evidence are in agreement or disagreement with the "Killing the Winner" hypothesis.

| 3.03.2010 | read more |

Bright M. and Bulgheresi S. 2010. A complex journey: transmission of microbial symbionts. Nature Reviews Microbiology 8, 218-230.

Transmission of symbionts from one host generation to the next can occur horizontally from the environment or vertically through the host germ line. In this Review, Bright and Bulgheresi detail the molecular mechanisms governing the transmission of a range of symbionts and discuss how transmission mode can shape the evolution of the symbiotic partners.

| 17.02.2010 | read more |

Sigrid Katz defended her thesis on "Osedax symbiosis – trophosome organization and aspects of fertilization."
The committee was composed of Horst Felbeck (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, USA), Waltraud Klepal and the supervisor of the work, Monika Bright (both from the University of Vienna).

| 8.02.2010 |

An article on the past and current work of the Benthic Ecology group has been posted in the online news of the University Vienna.

| 13.10.2009 | read more |

With the new chair of the department the introductory lecture on marine sciences (Meereskunde) will shine in new light plus a new lecture on biological oceanography will be held in the winter semester 2009.

| 18.08.2009 | read more |

Arístegui, J., Gasol, J.M., Duarte, C.M., Herndl, G.J., 2009. Microbial oceanography of the dark ocean's pelagic realm. Limnology and Oceanography: 54 (5), 1501–1529.

The paper presents an up to date review on deep sea microbial activity and biodiversity.

| 1.08.2009 | get the paper |

The 'Haus des Meeres' in Vienna invites new applicants for the Rupert Riedl and the Ferry-Starmühlner award which were endowed with a total of 5000 € this year.

| 1.04.2009 | read more |

The laureates of the Rupert Riedl and Ferry-Starmühlner award 2009 are posted on the homepage of the Haus des Meeres.

| 1.04.2009 | read more |

Radio interview - Biofuel made of algae
Dimensionen Ö1, Thursday, 5.3.2009, 19:05

| 18.02.2009 |

This is the new portal website of the Department of Marine Biology Vienna. Although it still needs some tuning the basics are there. You can expect heavy updating the coming month.

| 05.02.2009 |

Two Junior Professors, a secretary and a technical assistant have been appointed in January 2008. The two Junior Professors, Thomas Reinthaler and Christian Winter form, together with the new Chair, the core of the new subdivision of Microbial Oceanography within the Department. All the other members of the Microbial Oceanography group are still at the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and will move to Vienna as soon as the labs are remodeled.

| 05.02.2009 |

In October 2008 Gerhard J. Herndl has been appointed as the new Chair of the Department of Marine Biology following Jörg A. Ott who officially retired but continues to maintain an active research group within the Department. The working group around Gerhard J. Herndl will continue to focus mainly on microbial oceanography and biogeochemistry of the open ocean, specifically on dark ocean.

| 05.02.2009 |