Publications

K. Tischer, S. Kleinsteuber, K. M. Schleinitz, I. Fetzer, O. Spott, F. Stange, U. Lohse, J. Franz, F. Neumann, S. Gerling, C. Schmidt, E. Hasselwander, H. Harms, A. Wendeberg. 2013. Microbial communities along biogeochemical gradients in a hydrocarbon-contaminated aquifer, Environmental Microbiology 15:2603-2615, doi:10.1111/emi.2013.15.issue-9

Micro-organisms are known to degrade a wide range of toxic substances. How the environment shapes microbial communities in polluted ecosystems and thus influences degradation capabilities is not yet fully understood. In this study, we investigated microbial communities in a highly complex environment: the capillary fringe and subjacent sediments in a hydrocarbon-contaminated aquifer. Sixty sediment sections were analysed usi...

Saleem, M., I. Fetzer, H. Harms, A. Chatzinotas. 2013. Diversity of protists and bacteria determines predation performance and stability, The ISME Journal 7:1912-1921, doi:10.1038/ismej.2013.95

Predation influences prey diversity and productivity while it effectuates the flux and reallocation of organic nutrients into biomass at higher trophic levels. However, it is unknown how bacterivorous protists are influenced by the diversity of their bacterial prey. Using 456 microcosms, in which different bacterial mixtures with equal initial cell numbers were exposed to single or multiple predators ( Tetrahymena  sp.,  Po...

Koch, C., I. Fetzer, H. Harms, S. Müller. 2013. CHIC-an automated approach for the detection of dynamic variations in complex microbial communities, Cytometry Part A 83A:561-567, doi:10.1002/cyto.a.v83a.6

Altering environmental conditions change structures of microbial communities. These effects have an impact on the single-cell level and can be sensitively detected using community flow cytometry. However, although highly accurate, microbial monitoring campaigns are still rarely performed applying this technique. One reason is the limited access to pattern analysis approaches for the evaluation of microbial cytometric data. I...

Gharasoo, M ; Centler, F ; Fetzer, I ; Thullner, M (2012) The relation between pore-scale heterogeneity, bioavailability and bacterial mobility: a numerical modelling approach, in: MODELS - REPOSITORIES OF KNOWLEDGE (Oswald, SE; Kolditz, O; Attinger, S (Eds.)), IAHS Publication, pp. 175-180

Desirable reactive subsurface processes, e.g. nutrient cycling or degradation of organic contaminants, are driven by microorganisms populating the soil matrix. These environments are characterized by heterogeneities at various scales which influence the transport of chemical species and the spatial distribution of microorganisms. As a result, the biodegradation rate of contaminants at large scales does not only depend on the d...

Schulz, S., J. Giebler, A. Chatzinotas, L. Y. Wick, I. Fetzer, G. Welzl, H. Harms, M. Schloter. 2012. Plant litter and soil type drive abundance, activity and community structure of alkB harbouring microbes in different soil compartments, The ISME Journal 6:1763-1774, doi:10.1038/ismej.2012.17

Alkanes are major constituents of plant-derived waxy materials. In this study, we investigated the abundance, community structure and activity of bacteria harbouring the alkane monooxygenase gene alkB, which catalyses a major step in the pathway of aerobic alkane degradation in the litter layer, the litter-soil interface and in bulk soil at three time points during the degradation of maize and pea plant litter (2, 8 and 30 wee...

Fester, T., I. Fetzer, C. Härtig. 2012. A core set of metabolite sink/source ratios indicative for plant organ productivity in Lotus japonicus, Planta 237:145-160, doi:10.1007/s00425-012-1759-y

Plant growth is an important process in physiological as well as ecological respect and a number of metabolic parameters (elemental ratios as well as steady-state levels of individual metabolites) have been demonstrated to reflect this process on the whole plant level. Since plant growth is highly localized and is the result of a complex interplay of metabolic activities in sink and source organs, we propose that ratios in met...

Patil, S. A., F. Harnisch, C. Koch, T. Hübschmann, I. Fetzer, A. A. Carmona-Martínez, S. Müller, U. Schröder. 2011. Electroactive mixed culture derived biofilms in microbial bioelectrochemical systems: The role of pH on biofilm formation, performance and composition, Bioresource Technology 102:9683-9690, doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2011.07.087

The pH-value played a crucial role for the development and current production of anodic microbial electroactive biofilms. It was demonstrated that only a narrow pH-window, ranging from pH 6 to 9, was suitable for growth and operation of biofilms derived from pH-neutral wastewater. Any stronger deviation from pH neutral conditions led to a substantial decrease in the biofilm performance. Thus, average current densities of 151, ...