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Balance of the Microverse

Schaubild von verschiedenen miteinander verbundenen Mikrobiomen vor einer stilisierten grünen Landschaft mit Kindern, einen Fluss Bäumen und einer Skyline — (© Balance of the Microverse)

Clusters of Excellence

The health and well-being of humans, animals and plants, and a stable climate, are major concerns of our time. The functioning of all ecosystems on Earth depends critically on finely balanced interactions among microorganisms thriving in interconnected habitats like soil, water, and the human body. The balance of these microbiomes is constantly challenged by environmental and anthropogenic disturbances, leading to ecosystem degradation, severe crop losses, or disease. Current therapeutics often target symptoms rather than root causes, using disruptive agents like non-specific antibiotics that can worsen conditions. Although these issues are of utmost societal importance, there is a critical gap in our knowledge of the molecular factors that control microbiome dynamics.

In a highly multidisciplinary approach, the Microverse Cluster explores the intricate web of microbial interactions that sustain life on Earth, uniquely transferring ecological concepts to medicine with the goal of targeted interventions. In the first funding period, we identified chemical mediators and their modifications in complex microbial communities. To probe and visualize microbial interactions in space and time, we developed platform technologies including microfluidics, high-throughput automated robotics, and multimodal imaging facilities. By comparing ecologically and medically relevant systems, we have uncovered common principles driving microbial balance and resilience.

Our important findings that chemical mediators (signals) control microbiome structure and transitions between alternate states have shaped the research strategy for the second funding period. We now explore selected model systems at different levels of complexity and scales, from the molecular level to the global microverse, and from ancient to recent times.

The research program is divided into three closely interlinked research areas:

SIGNALS: investigates how microbes produce, decode and respond to context-dependent signals, and the resulting community dynamics.
STRUCTURES: studies the compositional and spatial structures of microbial communities and their influence on functions and stability.
TRANSITIONS: examines how microbial communities transition between states, affecting microbiome function and health.

By integrating the predictive power of data mining and high-end imaging techniques, we identify key microbiome parameters that influence balance (microbiome resilience and tipping points). Our program has high translational potential, inspiring the development of much-needed microbiome-targeted interventions.

Involved Institutions:

Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology Hans Knöll Institute (HKI)
Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT)
Leibniz Institute on Aging – Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI)
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI EVA)
Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology
Max Planck Institute of Biogeochemistry (MPI-BGC)