Research topics

My research interests focus on the role of microbiomes, specifically viruses in the ecology and evolution of host cells and ecosystems, and I am particularly interested in exploring the following topics and questions:

The German Research Foundation (DFG)-funded Balance of MicroVerse 

I am leading projects investigating virus communities in groundwater and ancient viruses preserved in stalagmite rocks, and I co-lead a project on groundwater plasmids. In addition, I have contributed to studies on groundwater microbiomes, advancing our understanding of microbial and viral dynamics in subsurface ecosystems 

Outputs: 18 (some on-going projects)

NSF-funded EMERGE, and the US Department of Energy (DOE)-funded VirSoil

I led a virus study on thawing permafrost ecosystems to assess their role in the positive feedback loop to climate change.

Outputs: 11, 12, 16, 17

Tara Ocean expedition

I contributed to projects on the diversity and ecological footprint of global ocean RNA viruses, as well as the discovery of cryptic and abundant marine viruses linked to the evolutionary origins of Earth’s RNA virome

Outputs: 13, 14

Fungal-interactive bacterial viruses

I led research on the mycosphere, focusing on dissecting genomes of Paraburkholderia to identify prophages, advancing concepts of soil virus ecology, and clarifying the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of Paraburkholderia phages.

Outputs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Global rumen virome

I contributed to building the first global Rumen Virome Database (RVD), uncovering hundreds of thousands of viral genomes. This work revealed virus–host linkages, auxiliary metabolic genes, and potential impacts of the rumen virome on core ecosystem functions.

Output: 15