Microbial Communities and Habitats in Aquatic Environments Laboratory (MiCHAEL)

• New book in Greek: The Greek translation of the "Why gut microbes matter" book, by the Crete University Press, is out!

NEWS

• MSc program: Host-microbe interactions

• INTERVIEW: "STUDY IN GREECE interviewed Prof. Konstantinos Kormas, director of the cutting-edge international MSc HosMic “Host – microbe interactions” offered at the University of Thessaly, about the programme, its features and what it has to offer to international students."

• STUDENTS: Dimitra Hioteli & Elsa Kappa succesfully defended their undergraduate thesis entitled "Impact of growth medium concentration on the growth of Sparus aurata fecal bacteria". Congratulations, Dimitra and Elsa!!! [02 Nov. 2022]

• LATEST PUBLICATION: Kormas KA, Nikouli E, Kousteni V, Damalas D (2022) Midgut bacterial microbiota of 12 fish species from a marine protected area in the Aegean Sea (Greece). Microb. Ecol. IN PRESS

• MOST RECENT PAPER:

• Panteli N, Demertzioglou M, Feidantsis K, Karapanagiotis S, Gkagkavouzis K, Kormas KA, Mente E, Mylonas C, Antonopoulou E (2022) Advances in understanding the mitogenic, metabolic and cell death signaling in teleost development: the case of IGF in greater amberjack (Seriola dumerili, Risso 1810). Fish Physiol. Biochem. 48:1665-1684

• NEW BOOK CHAPTER: Meziti A, Kormas KA (2022) Microbial life in the Aegean Sea. In: The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol. IN PRESS, Springer, Berlin.

• Our latest researh poject: "Effets de la turbulence sur la prolifération et la toxicité des diatomées" (TURBU-DIATOX), funded by CNRS - L’Institut national des sciences de l’Univers (INSU). Check out a brief introduction!

• If you are interested in improving your skills on scientific writing, check out our mini-collection on "Readings on scientific writing, publishing and reviewing"

Research interests

The research interests of MiCHAEL are … small. We focus on aquatic ecology by investigating patterns and processes that underpin the distribution, abundance and diversity of microorganisms in diverse aquatic habitats. Some of our quests deal with the following:

• How do aquatic microbial communities assemble?

• Which members of the microbial trophic web are the key players in defining and maintaining community structure?

• How do these trophic links change over time?

• What is the role of spatial structure in regulating the community’s stability?

• How do abiotic parameters regulate ecosystem functioning of microbial processes?

• What types of association exist between prokaryotes and aquatic animals?

Taught courses at DIAE

* Microbiology (3rd semester)

* Microbial ecology of aquatic ecosystems (7th semester)

* Applications of aquatic microorganisms (7th semester; elective course)

* Microbial source tracking (10th semester; elective course)