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
Deputy Head of the Research Unit & Head of the working group “Environmental Microbiomes”, COMI
Head of the working group "Human Microbiomes", COMI
Video: How our microbiome helps to protect us from allergies
Publications
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. ; Martínez-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.Eggestein, A. ; Rauer, D. ; Herrmann, S.M. ; Kolek, F. ; Leier-Wirtz, V. ; Urban, S. ; Fösel, B. ; Schloter, M. ; Bhattacharyya, M. ; Pyrri, I. ; Reiger, M. ; Schwierzeck, V. ; Hülpüsch, C. ; Traidl-Hoffmann, C. ; Damialis, A. ; Gilles, S.
A walk in the park: Influence of natural co-exposure to grass pollen and fungal spores on nasal mycobiome and cytokine responses.Bissinger, N. ; Anzenberger, H. ; von Tucher, S. ; Reichel, R. ; Brüggemann, N. ; Schloter, M. ; Schulz, S.
Application of high carbon amendments stabilizes soil microbial community composition and improves microbial recovery after a late spring drought during winter wheat cultivation.Terry, T.J. ; Wilfahrt, P. ; Andrade Linares, D.R. ; Abdalla, K. ; Berauer, B.J. ; Dannenmann, M. ; Garcia-Franco, N. ; Han, J. ; von Hessberg, A. ; Ramm, E. ; Kiese, R. ; Kögel-Knabner, I. ; Niu, Y. ; Schloter, M. ; Schulz, S. ; Wiesmeier, M. ; Jentsch, A.
Plant-soil relationships diminish under major versus moderate climate change in subalpine Grasslands.Schloter, M. ; Schulz, S.
Microbiomes at the heart of sustainable agri-food systems and global health.Martinez-Cuesta, R. ; Hoess, R. ; Floßmann, S. ; Geist, J. ; Dannenmann, M. ; Schloter, M. ; Schulz, S.
Agricultural land use shapes short and long‑term bacterial diversity, community structure, and assembly in biofilms of adjacent streams.Hug, L.A. ; Hatzenpichler, R. ; Moraru, C. ; Soares, A.R. ; Meyer, F. ; Heyder, A. ; The Data Reuse Consortium (Schloter, M.) ; Probst, A.J.
Author Correction: A roadmap for equitable reuse of public microbiome data (Nature Microbiology, (2025), 10, 10, (2384-2395), 10.1038/s41564-025-02116-2).Hug, L.A. ; Hatzenpichler, R. ; Moraru, C. ; Soares, A.R. ; Meyer, F. ; Heyder, A. ; The Data Reuse Consortium (Schloter, M.)
A roadmap for equitable reuse of public microbiome data.
Contact
