300178 VO Microbial communities (2015S)

Symbiotic associations represent the basis of life on earth. Microbes catalyzing central biogeochemical processes live in complex communities shaped by cooperation, competition and niche partitioning. Plant and animal cells originate from an ancient symbiosis between two prokaryotes; even today there is merely no organism, which does not live in symbiosis with another organism. This lecture series will provide an overview on our current knowledge about the significance of microbial communities and the wide distribution of symbiosis in nature, with emphasis on free-living microbes and symbiotic associations between bacteria and animals or plants. This lecture series will demonstrate how the application of modern molecular tools has revolutionized our perception of the biology of microbes and their symbiotic associations and will also highlight medical and environmental applications developed on the basis of this new knowledge.