A new book chapter by Felix Elling and Yosuke Hoshino reviews current knowledge on hopanoids and steroids produced by bacteria. This work synthesizes six decades of research on the diversity, biosynthesis, function, and role as geological biomarkers of these molecules. More information can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43676-0_66-1
A new paper by PhD student Chris Rosendahl published in Organic Geochemistry describes improved procedures for preparing archaeal lipids for hydrogen isotope analysis. This represents an important step towards application of hydrogen isotopes of archaeal lipids for reconstructing past hydrological change. More information can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2026.105139
We have been awarded funding for a collaborative research project with the Université Grenoble-Alpes, France through a collaboration between the DFG and the French Research Agency (ANR). We will characterize new biosynthetic pathways of quinones and will study how quinone biosynthetic pathways evolved across the tree of life. More information can be found here: https://kiel-geobiology.de/tolquin/
Unyime Umoh joins the group as a postdoctoral fellow, funded by the Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation. He will work on the export mechanisms of planktonic archaeal biomass.
Felix was awarded the Geoff Eglinton Award by the European Association of Organic Geochemists at #IMOG2025. https://imogconference.org/the-geoff-eglinton-presentation/
Felix was interviewed on RBB radioeins on the evolution of aerobic respiration. Check out a recording of the interview here (German language only): https://www.radioeins.de/programm/sendungen/die_profis/archivierte_sendungen/beitraege/sauerstoff-atmung-hat-sich-frueher-entwickelt-als-gedacht.html
Just published in PNAS: Our discovery of a novel type of quinone in Nitrospirota. We describe its biosynthetic pathway and show that the quinones used in aerobic respiration likely evolved before the great oxygenation event. Check out this article by the Harvard Gazette: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/02/hinting-at-answer-to-a-chicken-or-egg-question-on-evolution/
We describe the discovery of a novel type of respiratory quinone in bacteria of the phylum Nitrospirota and its implications for the evolution of aerobic metabolisms: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.07.27.605408v1
Wenyong Yao joins the group as our third PhD student. He will work on characterizing the archaeal lipidome.
We have started our new project on the impact of climate change during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum on the marine nitrogen cycle, which was recently funded through the DFG IODP priority program. More details can be found in the projects section.
Molecular Geobiology 