The first map of the microverse

Bacteria cultures in Petri dishes. Image: Jan-Peter Kasper (University of Jena) Bas E. Dutilh is an expert in modelling microbial balances. Whether in hot springs, in the human intestine or in the deep sea - microorganisms colonise almost every place on earth, sometimes under extreme conditions. Depending on how these organisms have adapted to the particular environmental conditions in such ecological niches, ecologists classify them as "generalists" or "specialists". While generalists can cope with a wide range of environmental conditions, specialists grow only under very specific circumstances. " A key question for the study of such different microbial strategies is how to define microbial ecological niches in the first place, " says Bas E. Dutilh. Until now, this has mainly been done based on subjective environmental parameters, which hardly allow unbiased quantification of the niche.