Microbiology includes the study of bacteria, archaea, fungi, microalgae and viruses.

Microorganisms constitute the majority of the biomass on earth and less than 1% of the microbial species in nature have so far been cultivated and studied in the laboratory.

Microorganisms play a large number of key ecological roles and their many unique properties are exploited in industry, biotechnology, agriculture and medicin.

Microorganisms are important models for elucidation of basic biological principles and early evolution of life on earth.

The main goal of our group is to contribute to enhanced knowledge of the enormous phylogenetic and functional microbial diversity and molecular evolutionary adaptations of microorganisms as well as exploring novel areas for exploiting microbial resources (bioprospecting).