High UV radiation, heavy metals, extreme temperature fluctuations, low oxygen levels: some microbes thrive in places it’s hard to even imagine. Geomicrobiologist Dr. Judith Klatt, who has been working at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg since 2022 and serves as a research group leader at the Mikrokosmos Erde Future Center, took her audience at the Steinmühle on research journeys to explore these microbial survival experts.
Interdisciplinary Work
The scientific lecture “Bacteria at the Limit” was also a journey back to the very first microbes and the origins of life: “It’s about understanding microbial life and, at the same time, the limits of life,” said Dr. Judith Klatt. This understanding emerges at the intersection of several disciplines: physics, biology, and chemistry.
A broad temporal scope
One of Dr. Klatt’s research sites, for example, is Hawaii: “Our work opens a window into Earth’s history spanning a timeline of 4.5 billion years,” the researcher reported, thereby giving her audience an idea of the temporal scale under consideration. Environmental science topics are also frequently incorporated into her research stays, helping to better understand the fluctuations in maximum temperature and in the oxygen and CO2 levels of the atmosphere throughout Earth’s history. According to Dr. Klatt, both are very closely linked to the “global microbiome.”
Fundamentals of Molecular Biology
Extreme habitats continually open up new horizons for research and research teams. For example, the fundamentals of molecular biology were isolated from microbes in extremely hot or cold habitats: these include the enzymes used in polymerase chain reactions (PCR), which form the basis for paternity tests and DNA fingerprinting in forensic science. Microorganisms such as cyanobacteria—commonly known as blue-green algae—have also been responsible for oxygen production and played a key role in the oxygenation of our atmosphere during the Precambrian era. Cyanobacteria are single-celled organisms that live in both fresh and saltwater and obtain their energy through photosynthesis, much like our green plants. This process produces oxygen, which escapes from the “microbial mats” and can be measured by Dr. Klatt’s team, for example, using microsensors.
Research Under the Most Challenging Conditions
“It can be difficult to work in the field,” the speaker recalled, citing, for example, a research trip to the high Andes at an altitude of 3,000 meters. A 24-hour trek to the nearest supermarket presented the research team not only with the challenge of answering their research question using complex methods but also with the difficult task of self-sufficiency. No stable life for microorganisms has been detected there so far. Oxygen alone, therefore, is not a reliable indicator of life.
Impressive photos
At the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg, the extreme conditions that the research team encounters in the field are also simulated in the laboratory. “While we can never quite replicate the conditions from field research exactly as they occur in nature, this approach still allows us to study the enormous dynamics within an extreme habitat very realistically, even over longer periods of time,” explains Dr. Judith Klatt, who illustrated her presentation with impressive photos and sparked great enthusiasm among the students with her talk.
Outstanding Researcher
Through her work, Dr. Judith Klatt helps make Marburg a center of excellence in cutting-edge research. In 2024, for example, she was awarded an ERC Starting Grant by the European Research Council.
The presentation was part of the “Microbes for Future” lecture series organized by the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg in cooperation with the Central Hesse Student Research Center (SFZ).
The scientific presentations will continue.
(Angela Heinemann / Dr. Sven-A. Freibert)
