Project background: Microorganisms in drylands have to endure long periods of drought, interrupted by unpredictable and very short periods of rain. Dormancy - an inactive state or a state of reduced metabolic activity - has long been regarded as a prerequisite for desert soil microorganisms to survive such drought periods. However, as dormancy cannot be sustained indefinitely, phases of resuscitation must also play an important role for long-term survival of desert soil microorganisms and thus for maintaining microbial diversity in one of the harshest environments on the planet.

Project goal: We are investigating the desiccation survival mechanisms of soil microorganisms and the molecular mechanisms of resuscitation. This will be achieved by applying genome-resolved metatranscriptomics of desert soil microbial communities, building upon knowledge gained by our recent metagenomic investigation of biological soil crusts from the Negev Desert, Israel. In situ community transcription patterns will be combined with single-cell activity assays, employing a recently developed heavy water-NanoSIMS assay to detect anabolically active cells, and process measurements.

We are offering a 4-year postdoctoral researcher position or two 4-year PhD student positions in an interdisciplinary, international and dynamic team of environmental microbiologists and microbial ecologists to work in a multidisciplinary project involving various cutting-edge methods.

Detailed information (required qualifications, mode of application) on the postdoctoral position can be found here and on the PhD student positions can be found here.

For further information, please contact Dagmar Woebken (dagmar.woebken@univie.ac.at)