Current projects/themes:
Micropollutant-degrading bacteria in marine systems -- identifying, characterising and examining distributions & activity
Micropollutants are emerging environmental hazards that are released into environments at low but persistent levels. Coastal marine ecosystems receive micropollutants from wastewater discharges. Nevertheless, essentially nothing is known about if/which/how micropollutants are degraded by bacteria in marine systems. We therefore aim to reveal the identities and capacities of marine microbes that biodegrade micropollutants, and to use these microbes and their functional genes as biomarkers for environmental monitoring of micropollutant biodegradation potential.
Metagenomics of hydrothermal vent Yeti (Hof) crabs
Kiwa tyleri crabs inhabit deep-sea hydrothermal vents and farm dense biofilms of chemosynthetic epibiont bacteria on hair-like setae, which they consume for nutrition. Previous 16S rRNA gene-based studies of the epibionts showed sulfur-oxidizing Sulfurovum dominate. Nevertheless, the genomic properties of the epibionts are not known. In this project, we use genome-resolved metagenomics to reconstruct the genomes of key epibionts of K. tyleri from hydrothermal vents from Antarctica.
Wastewater treatment microbial ecology and genomics
Nutrient removal processes of wastewater treatment plants are driven by complex microbial communites, and mostly by uncultivated microbes. We use genome-resolved metagenomics to gain insights into the functions of microbes involved in organic matter removal, and also use this information to drive experimental approaches to support genomic inferences.
Singleton C, Petriglieri F, Wasmund K, Nierychlo M, Kondrotaite Z, Petersen J.F., Peces M, Dueholm M, Wagner M, Halkjær-Nielsen P. (2022). The novel genus Ca. Phosphoribacter, previously identified as Tetrasphaera, is the dominant polyphosphate accumulating lineage in wastewater treatment plants worldwide. The ISME Journal. doi: 10.1038/s41396-022-01212-z
Wasmund K, Singleton C, Dueholm M, Wagner M, Nielsen P.H. (2024). The predicted secreted proteome of activated sludge microorganisms indicates distinct nutrient niches. mSystems. doi: 10.1128/msystems.00301-24
Identities and activity of nucleic acid-degrading bacteria in the environment
Nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA are abundant macromolecules in most environments, and act as highly sought-after microbial nutrient sources, e.g., for C, N and P. However, little knowledge exists on linking the identities of microbes that turn-over and recycle these key molecules in situ, and therefore we aim to fill these knowledge gaps.
Wasmund K, Pelikan C, Schintlmeister A, Wagner M, Watzka M, Richter A, Bhatnagar S, Noel A, Hubert C, Ratei T, Hoffman T, Herbold C, Hausmann B, Loy A. (2021). Genomic insights into diverse bacterial taxa that degrade extracellular DNA in marine sediments. Nature Microbiology. doi: 10.1038/s41564-021-00917-9
Ecology and genomics of marine sulfur-cycling bacteria
Marine sediments are hotspots for biogeochemical cycling of sulfur compounds, where microbes drive complex redox transformations of various sulfur compounds. We therefore aim to unravel the identity and ecology of microbes that transform sulfur compounds in the seafloor.
Flieder M, Buongiorno J, Herbold C.W., Hausmann B, Rattei T, Lloyd K.G., Loy A, Wasmund K. Novel taxa of Acidobacteriota implicated in seafloor sulfur cycling. (2021). The ISME Journal. doi: 10.1038/s41396-021-00992-0
Wasmund K, Mußmann M, Loy A. (2017). The life sulfuric: Microbial ecology of sulfur cycling in marine sediments. Environmental Microbiology Reports. doi: 10.1111/1758-2229.12538
Wasmund K, Cooper M, Schreiber L, Lloyd KG, Baker B, Petersen DG, Jørgensen BB, Stepanauskas R, Reinhardt R, Schramm A, Loy A, Adrian L. (2016). Single-cell genome and group-specific dsrAB sequencing implicate marine members of the class Dehalococcoidia (phylum Chloroflexi) in sulfur cycling. mBio. 7(3):e00266-16. doi: 10.1128/mBio.00266-16
Comparative genomics and ecology of marine subsurface Chloroflexi
Marine subsurface sediments are one of Earths largest microbial ecosystems, and uncultivated members of the Chloroflexi are often one of the most abundant lineages, especially in deep sediments. We use data from metagenomics and single-cell genomics to decipher their functions and evolution. These bacteria are also interesting for understanding the evolutionary history of reductive dehalogenases, which are key enzymes for organohalide respiration/degradation of many toxic pollutants.
Wasmund K, Cooper M, Schreiber L, Lloyd KG, Baker B, Petersen DG, Jørgensen BB, Stepanauskas R, Reinhardt R, Schramm A, Loy A, Adrian L. (2016). Single-cell genome and group-specific dsrAB sequencing implicate marine members of the class Dehalococcoidia (phylum Chloroflexi) in sulfur cycling. mBio. 7(3):e00266-16. doi: 10.1128/mBio.00266-16
Wasmund K, Algora C, Müller J, Krüger M, Lloyd KG, Reinhardt R, Adrian L (2015). Development and application of primers for the class Dehalococcoidia (phylum Chloroflexi) enables deep insights into diversity and stratification of sub-groups in the marine subsurface. Environmental Microbiology. 17(10):3540-3556. doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.12510
Wasmund K, Schreiber L, Lloyd KG, Petersen D, Schramm A, Stepanauskas R, Jørgensen BB, Adrian L (2014). Genome sequencing of a single cell of the widely distributed marine subsurface Dehalococcoidia, phylum Chloroflexi. The ISME Journal. 8(2):383-397. doi: 10.1038/ismej.2013.143
Genomics and proteomics of organohalide-respiring bacteria
Mainly through collaborations with Prof. Lorenz Adrian (UFZ, Germany) and Assoc. Prof. Ernest Marco-Urrea (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain), we work to integrate our combined expertise on genomics, proteomics and biochemistry to understand the enzymes and protein complexes used by organohalide-respiring bacteria to reduce halogenated organics.
Trueba-Santiso A, Wasmund K, Martín-González L, Vicent T, Adrian L, Marco-Urea E. (2020). Genome sequence of Dehalogenimonas alkenigignens strain BRE-15M and identification of its ethylene dibromide-to-ethene reductive dehalogenase complex by proteomic analyses. Journal of Proteome Research. doi: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.0c00569
Method development -- novel FISH approaches
If I get time, I also like to dabble a little in the development of new approaches to visualise and sort and sequence microbial cells from complex environmental samples.