Chemical Mediators of Microbiota Composition and Functionality in a Multipartite Defensive Symbiosis (C08*)

• Subject Area: Ecology and Biodiversity of Animals and Ecosystems, Organismic Interactions ; Biological and Biomimetic Chemistry ; Microbial Ecology and Applied Microbiology
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 239748522

Beneficial microbes are fundamental for plant and animal health, but the molecular factors shaping the composition of symbiotic microbiomes remain poorly understood. Using an experimentally tractable defensive symbiosis in beetles, this project will characterize the secondary metabolites produced by the bacterial community members and elucidate their impact on community structure and on the protective benefit for the host. Through a combination of in vitro assays and manipulative experiments in the host, the results will shed light on the dynamics of competition and facilitation among symbiont strains and thereby provide insights into the processes guiding the assembly of host-associated microbiomes.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1127: Chemical Mediators in Complex Biosystems (ChemBioSys)
• Applicant Institution: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
• Project Head: Professor Dr. Martin Kaltenpoth