Environmental Health Center
Comparative Microbiome Analysis
We are living in a microbial world … It is our aim to use the enormous functional power of microbiomes to improve planetary health.
We are living in a microbial world … It is our aim to use the enormous functional power of microbiomes to improve planetary health.
About our Research
The human microbiome is a key component for our health. It is strongly influenced by environmental microbiota, which interact with the microbiome of barrier organs like skin or respiratory system. As a consequence, the reduced microbial diversity in the environment, resulting from climate- and global change, strongly impacts human – environment interactions, resulting in an increase in environmental diseases and infections. According to the planetary health concept the prevention of such diseases requires strategies which increase biodiversity in the environment.
We identify key microbiota from the environment, which trigger our health, develop strategies to promote the abundance of those microbiota in urban and indoor environments and analyze consequences for our health.
Scientists at COMI
Head of the Research Unit Comparative Microbiome Analysis, COMI
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Deputy Head of the Research Unit & Head of the working group “Environmental Microbiomes”, COMI
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Video: How our microbiome helps to protect us from allergies
Publications
Pagani, G. ; Loss, G. ; Pechlivanis, S. ; Depner, M. ; Müller, C. ; Ru, J. ; Strunz-Lehner, C. ; Humphrey, G. ; Ackermann, G. ; Amir, A. ; Melnik, A. ; Garg, N. ; Knight, R. ; Dorrestein, P.C. ; Schmitt-Kopplin, P. ; Deng, L. ; Schloter, M. ; Divaret-Chauveau, A. ; Roduit, C. ; Karvonen, A.M. ; Genuneit, J. ; von Mutius, E. ; Ege, M.J.
Gram-positive bacteria and the inverse association between farm exposure and childhood asthma.Kepp, J. ; Kiese, R. ; Klaus, V.H. ; Kleinebecker, T. ; Pacay-Barrientos, N.L. ; Schäufele, R. ; Schloter, M. ; Schöning, I. ; Schrumpf, M. ; Schulz, S. ; Schwärzler, T. ; Schweizer, S.A. ; Dannenmann, M.
Management rather than climate and biodiversity shapes long-term δ15N dynamics in grassland soils.Sommer, A. ; Bagheri, S. ; Dey, S. ; Knappe, C. ; Wenig, M. ; Heuschmann, C. ; Kublik, S. ; Stempfl, T. ; Schloter, M. ; Vlot, A.C.
Pseudomonas simiae-induced resistance in barley is subject to pathogen-dependent gene expression regulation and not associated with major changes in the phyllosphere microbiome.Zhu, Y.C. ; Wan, L. ; Xia, L. ; Butterbach‐Bahl, K. ; Dannenmann, M. ; Scheer, C. ; Ruehr, N.K. ; Wolf, B. ; Yan, X. ; Wei, Z. ; Reich, P.B. ; Luo, Y. ; Smith, P. ; Peñuelas, J. ; Schloter, M. ; Schulz, S. ; Kiese, R.
Elevated CO2 and warming intensify plant reliance on soil nitrogen reserves despite intensive fertilization.Koch, H. ; Clavel, T. ; Mayr, C. ; Coltman, B.L. ; Schloter, M. ; Vorholt, J.A. ; Sanz, Y. ; Cernava, T. ; Beattie, G.A. ; Lange, L. ; Chaillou, S. ; Kovács, A.T. ; Smidt, H. ; Pieterse, C.M.J. ; Kostic, T. ; Finkel, O.M. ; Lawson, C.E. ; Cocolin, L. ; Mercado-Blanco, J. ; Finn, R.D. ; Papadopoulou, K.K. ; Ryan, M. ; Candela, M. ; Cotter, P.D. ; Berg, G. ; O'Sullivan, O. ; Delgado-Baquerizo, M. ; Trivedi, P. ; Charles, T.C. ; Singh, B.K. ; Brader, G. ; Marian, M. ; Sessitsch, A.
From "synthetic" to defined microbial communities for clearer terminology.Martinez-Cuesta, R. ; Hoess, R. ; Geist, J. ; Schloter, M. ; Schulz, S.
The larval gut as a mirror: Bacterial community composition and functional potential of mayfly larvae reflect site and seasonality differences.Steegmüller, T. ; Walch, S. ; Gschwendtner, S. ; Klingl, A. ; French, L.E. ; Flaig, M. ; Clanner-Engelshofen, B.M.
Third generation genome sequencing of the endobacterium Corynebacterium kroppenstedtii subsp. demodicis reveals details of its microbe-host-Interaction with the most complex human commensal, Demodex folliculorum.Bibinger, S. ; Nosenko, T. ; Sivaprakasam Padmanaban, P.B. ; Schulz, S. ; Schroeder, H. ; Kersten, B. ; Zimmer, I. ; Buegger, F. ; Schloter, M. ; Schnitzler, J.-P.
Provenance legacies override species effects in shaping oak rhizosphere microbiomes and metabolomes.Siani, R. ; Gutjahr, C. ; Schloter, M.
Adaptation to a host-associated lifestyle is associated with convergent loss of flagella-related genes in Pseudomonadota.Mikutta, R. ; Mikutta, C. ; Boy, J. ; Degenhardt, D. ; Dormann, G. ; Guggenberger, G. ; Joergensen, R.G. ; Craighero, A. ; Schulz, S. ; Spohn, M. ; Vazquez, E. ; Andrino, A.
Soil phosphorus scarcity promotes in-situ abiotic and microbial mobilization of iron oxide-bound phosphorus.Geydirici, I. ; Martinez-Cuesta, R. ; Bibinger, S. ; Espíndola-Hernández, P. ; Gschwendtner, S. ; Rodríguez-Berbel, N. ; Schulz, S. ; Schloter, M.
Digging deeper into soil metagenomics: Opportunities and limitations for studying the genomic potential of soil bacteria and archaea.Andrade Linares, D.R. ; Schloter, M. ; Schulz, S.
Correction to “Plant–Soil Relationships Diminish UnderMajor Versus Moderate Climate Change in SubalpineGrasslands”.Gschwendtner, S. ; Kovacevic, D. ; Gaede, K.I. ; Herzmann, C. ; Overmann, J. ; Schloter, M. ; Krauss-Etschmann, S.
Longitudinal dynamics and site-specific recovery of the human respiratory microbiome following smoking cessation.Streb, L.-M. ; Kligman, M. ; Geist, J. ; Pereira de Souza, G.F. ; Rath, S. ; Walch, S. ; Schloter, M.
Corrigendum to "You shall not pass! (unless you're stress resistant): Selection-driven restructuring and transient invasion in freshwater mussel microbiomes under antimicrobial exposure" [Environ. Int. 208 (2026) 110138].Faggionato, D. ; Muñoz-García, M. ; Kostić, T. ; Ferrari, M.L. ; Vonaesch, P. ; Poyet, M. ; Dutrieux, C. ; Ryan, M.J. ; Djeddour, D. ; Stumptner, C. ; Varese, G.C. ; Zuzuarregui, A. ; Groussin, M. ; Schloter, M. ; Finn, R.D. ; Haas, A. ; Probert, I. ; Verkley, G. ; Overmann, J. ; Scholz, A.H.
Policy in practice: How to “do” the Nagoya Protocol: Common misconceptions, challenges and best practices for access and benefit-sharing compliance.Streb, L.-M. ; Kligman, M. ; Geist, J. ; Pereira de Souza, G.F. ; Rath, S. ; Walch, S. ; Schloter, M.
You shall not pass! (unless you're stress resistant): Selection-driven restructuring and transient invasion in freshwater mussel microbiomes under antimicrobial exposure.Espíndola-Hernández, P. ; Banerjee, S. ; Abdulmalik, A.O. ; Andrade Linares, D.R. ; Baldi, G. ; Berg, G. ; Brearley, F.Q. ; Flocco, C.G. ; Galgani, L. ; Gegeckienė, L. ; Gschwendtner, S. ; Hensen, T. ; Kostić, T. ; Ledesma-Amaro, R. ; Maier, L. ; Marciniak, A. ; Ohan, J. ; Overmann, J. ; Rito, T. ; Ryan, M.J. ; Schulz, S. ; Vieira, S. ; Schloter, M.
A trait-based framework to identify microbial keystone taxa for microbiome engineering.Han, J. ; Gasché, R. ; Wolf, B. ; Schweizer, S.A. ; García-Franco, N. ; Wiesmeier, M. ; Kiese, R. ; Ostler, U. ; Andrade Linares, D.R. ; Schloter, M. ; Schlingmann, M. ; Rennenberg, H. ; Dannenmann, M.
Increasing grassland productivity and reducing environmental N losses – Multiple benefits of advanced cattle slurry separation.Faggionato, D. ; Muñoz-García, M. ; Kostić, T. ; Ferrari, M.L. ; Vonaesch, P. ; Poyet, M. ; Dutrieux, C. ; Ryan, M.J. ; Djeddour, D. ; Stumptner, C. ; Varese, G.C. ; Zuzuarregui, A. ; Groussin, M. ; Schloter, M. ; Finn, R.D. ; Haas, A. ; Probert, I. ; Verkley, G. ; Overmann, J. ; Scholz, A.H.
Policy Briefing: From access to use - Untangling the international legal frameworks that govern microbial resources.Siani, R. ; Si, Y. ; Thaqi, S.K. ; Stabl, G. ; Gutjahr, C. ; Schloter, M.
Loss of the flagellar regulator FlhC changes the transcriptional response of plant-associated Acidovorax delafieldii strains to metabolites from Rhizophagus irregularis -colonized Lotus japonicus roots.
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