Prof. Dr. Cornelia Welte Professor in Microbial Physiology Department of Microbiology Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Cornelia’s curiosity driven research is focused on the physiology, biochemistry and ecology of anaerobic bacteria and archaea with a keen eye on their application. She is currently focusing on methanogenic and methanotrophic archaea from various environments (2008-today) and toxin-degrading microorganisms associated to pest insects and water treatment plants (2013-today).

Unlocking metabolic secrets of anaerobic methanotrophic archaea
Abstract. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that is produced by microorganisms living in the absence of oxygen, the methanogenic archaea. The amount of emitted methane is controlled by a powerful biological filter where aerobic and anaerobic methane oxidizing microorganisms thrive. While aerobic methanotrophic bacteria are already relatively well understood, the physiology of anaerobic methanotrophic (ANME) archaea is still enigmatic.
In this project, we investigated alternative substrates of ANME archaea to elucidate novel physiological functions. We show that ANME archaea are rapid carbon monoxide degraders with numerous genomic adaptations to facilitate carbon monoxide oxidation. ANME archaea apparently prefer carbon monoxide over methane as substrate, questioning their role as obligate methanotrophs. Our results have broad implications for the interpretation of molecular ecological data of the methanotrophic biofilter.

Location: 1540-K20 seminar room
Time: January 22, 9:00 – 10:15 h
Speaker meets the students satellite event:
1540-K20, 10:30 – 11:15 h
Event is intended for PhD and MSc students. Show your interest by accepting the follow-up invitation.