Dr. Jack van de Vossenberg
Postdoctoral researcher
Department: Ecosystem Studies
T. +31 (0) 113 577 472
F. +31 (0) 113 573 616

Visiting address:

Korringaweg 7

4401 NT Yerseke

The Netherlands

Postal address:

Postbus 140

4400 AC Yerseke

The Netherlands

2004-2007and 2010-2011

• physiology and ecology of electrogenic filamentous bacteria in marine sediment
• (meta)genomics and (meta)transcriptomics of electrogenic filamentous bacteria

ERC project: Natural microbial batteries

Recently, long filamentous bacteria have been found in marine sediment. These bacteria obtain their energy by generating electricity and transporting electrons over long distances (centimeter-scale = tens of thousands of bacteria). The bacteria have a whole new form of respiration and this completely changes our idea of how micro-organisms cooperate.
My research is part of an ERC project to find out how the process works and how it influences the natural processes of the seabed ecosystem.
In collaboration with other institutes we are currently elucidating the genetic code of these exciting new organisms. This will probably tell us how the bacteria do transport electrons, and will reveal much about their lifestyle, their role in the environment, their need for other bacteria (symbionts), etc.
We also aim to enrich these bacteria, or even to get them into pure culture. This would make research on these organisms much easier.

Relevant:

• Vossenberg, J. van de, Woebken, D., Maalcke, W.J., Wessels, H.J.C.T., Dutilh, B.E., Kartal, B., et al. (2012) The metagenome of the marine anammox bacterium “Candidatus Scalindua profunda” illustrates the versatility of this globally important nitrogen cycle bacterium. Environmental Microbiology doi:10.1111/j.1462-2920.2012.02774.x (Open Access)
• Vossenberg, J. van de, Rattray, J.E., Geerts, W., Kartal, B., Niftrik, L. van, Donselaar, E.G. van, et al. (2008) Enrichment and characterization of marine anammox bacteria associated with global nitrogen gas production. Environmental Microbiology 10: 3120–3129
• Høgslund, S., Revsbech, N.P., Kuenen, J.G., Jørgensen, B.B., Gallardo, V.A., Vossenberg, J. van de, et al. (2009) Physiology and behaviour of marine Thioploca. The ISME journal 3: 647–657
• Lam, P., Lavik, G., Jensen, M.M., Vossenberg, J. van de, Schmid, M., Woebken, D., et al. (2009) Revising the nitrogen cycle in the Peruvian oxygen minimum zone. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106: 4752–4757
• Schmid, M.C., Risgaard-Petersen, N., Vossenberg, J. van de, Kuypers, M.M.M., Lavik, G., Petersen, J., et al. (2007) Anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria in marine environments: widespread occurrence but low diversity Environmental Microbiology 9: 1476–1484