Projects:

The main focus of the research group lies on the characterization of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB). These AOB play a dominant role in the global nitrogen cycle and are mainly represented by the genus Nitrospira, Nitrosococcus and Nitrosomonas. These microbes grow as chemolitho-autotrophs and they can be isolated from different environments. We are interested in the phylogenetic evolution and the ecophysiological role of these microbes in nature.

Selected references:

A. Pommerening-Röser and H.-P. Koops (2005). Environmental pH as an important factor for the distribution of urease positive ammonia-oxidizing bacteria. Microbiological Research 160 : 27 - 35.

H.-P. Koops and A. Pommerening-Röser (2005). The lithoautotrophic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria. pp. 141 - 147. In: G. M. Garrity, D. J. Brenner, N. R. Krieg, J. T. Staley, (eds.). Bergey`s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, 2nd edition, Vol. 2, Part A. Springer Verlag, New York.

H.-P. Koops and A. Pommerening-Röser (2005) Genus I. Nitrosomonas, Genus II. Nitrosolobus, Genus III. Nitrosospira, Genus IV. Nitrosospira. pp. 864 - 870. In: G. M. Garrity, D. J. Brenner, N. R. Krieg, J. T. Staley, (eds.). Bergey`s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, 2nd edition, Vol. 2, Part C. Springer Verlag, New York. H.-P. Koops and

A. Pommerening-Röser (2005).Genus VIII. Nitrosococcus. pp. 21 - 22. In: G. M. Garrity, D. J. Brenner, N. R. Krieg, J. T. Staley, (eds.). Bergey`s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, 2nd edition, Vol. 2, Part B, Springer Verlag, New York