Welcome to the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology
 

Life without microorganisms is simply impossible. Microbes were the first life forms on early Earth. They evolved the ability to capture carbon dioxide and nitrogen, providing life with energy and nutrients. Microbes also invented photosynthesis, brought oxygen to the atmosphere and gave birth to multicellularity and the evolution of higher life. Microbes are more numerous and diverse than all other living organisms and there is no ecological niche that is not covered by them. They live in constant interactions with their environment, affecting health, agricultural productivity, and the climate on a global scale.

Our mission is to understand the function, communication, and interaction of microorganisms with their environment, to describe them with mathematical models, and to modify them with synthetic biological approaches.
We specifically focus on the microbial metabolism of greenhouse gases, the synthesis and function of bioactive natural compounds, cellular communication and regulation networks, as well as their spatial and temporal organization. Our research scale ranges from the atomic level up to global ecosystems.

Together with our two affiliated centers, SYNMIKRO and the Microcosm Earth Center, MPI-TM is one of Europe’s leading Institutes in the fields of Molecular and Synthetic Microbiology, currently hosting more than 300 scientists and students from more than 35 countries.
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David Rodríguez Méndez

Jul 3, 2025 at 02:00 PM (Local Time Germany)

NAD-RNA decapping in Escherichia coli: Discovering the mechanism and function of NudC

Graduate Students Mini-Symposium IV 2025

Jul 7, 2025 at 01:15 PM (Local Time Germany)

Prof. Anjan Chakravartty

Jul 9, 2025 at 01:15 PM (Local Time Germany)

Understanding Science in a Time of Science Denial

original
QR code shows zoom link to hybrid Microbiology Seminar Series.
Seminars & Events
Visit our lectures and seminars at the Max-Planck-Institute

upcoming Seminars & Events

David Rodríguez Méndez

NAD-RNA decapping in Escherichia coli: Discovering the mechanism and function of NudC
Jul 3, 2025 02:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
MPI for Terrestrial Microbiology, Room: Lecture hall

Graduate Students Mini-Symposium IV 2025

Jul 7, 2025 01:15 PM (Local Time Germany)
MPI for Terrestrial Microbiology, Room: Lecture Hall / Hybrid

Prof. Anjan Chakravartty

Understanding Science in a Time of Science Denial
Jul 9, 2025 01:15 PM (Local Time Germany)
MPI for Terrestrial Microbiology, Room: Lecture Hall / Hybrid

Max Planck Children´s University

Aug 28, 2025
MPI für terrestrische Mikrobiologie, Room: Großer Hörsaal, Seminarräume und Foyer

Dr. Milan Gerovac

How do jumbo phages occupy niches in the environment?
Sep 8, 2025 01:15 PM (Local Time Germany)
MPI for Terrestrial Microbiology, Room: Lecture Hall / Hybrid
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