Emmy Noether Research Group for Organosulfur Cycling

Eileen Kröber's research focuses on organic sulfur compounds which are produced in our oceans and play an important role in climate regulation. These compounds are produced in large quantities in seagrass beds, mangroves and coral reefs – habitats where numerous worms and mussels obtain their nutrition with the help of symbiotic bacteria. This is where Kröber's research comes in: To date, it is not known to what extent such symbioses use the climate-cooling sulfur compounds as a source of energy and sulfur and thus reduce their release into the environment.

Specifically, in the Emmy Noether junior research group that will now be established, Kröber wants to investigate how organic sulfur compounds contribute to the nutrition of symbioses. “Although the importance of these compounds for marine biology and ecology is becoming increasingly clear, it is surprisingly not known whether they can be used by symbioses between bacteria and marine animals,” Kröber explains. “My initial results show that organic sulfur compounds are important for the nutrition of symbiotic partners. To gain a deeper understanding of their importance, I will use a variety of different state-of-the-art methods, such as metatranscriptomics, -proteomics and -bolomics, coupled with experiments in the lab.”

May 2024 - 5th Euro C1 & BVOC Meeting at NIOO-KNAW

We had a fantastic time at the 5th Euro C1 & BVOC Meeting at NIOO-KNAW in the Netherlands! It was great to see so many passionate researchers and scientists come together to share their latest discoveries.

A big shoutout to our PhD student, Kristina, who presented her poster titled "Beneath the Waves: Exploring Organosulfur Cycling in Mediterranean Chemosynthetic Symbioses." Her work caught a lot of attention and sparked some really interesting conversations.

Congrats to Kristina and everyone who made this event so amazing!

We are also happy to announce that the next meeting will take place at the MPI in Bremen. So stay tuned.

February 2024 - Kristina joins the team

Kristina joined the Organosulfur Cycling Group as new PhD candidate working on the biochemical pathways of organosulfur compound metabolism and cycling in gutless oligocheates and lucinid clams.