Press Release & Public Service

Press Release & Public Service

Peer-reviewed journal articles

2020	#Otte, J.M. and Laufer-Meiser, K. The true superheroes: Microorganisms survive it all! Frontiers for Young Minds (in review)
	#Otte, J.M. Sharing electrons: An extraordinary friendship between bacteria. Front. Young Minds. 8:543259. doi: 10.3389/frym.2020.543259.
2019	Otte, J.M., Blackwell, N., Ruser, R., Kappler, A., Kleindienst, S., Schmidt, C. (2019) N₂O formation by nitrite-induced (chemo)denitrification in coastal marine sediment. Scientific Reports, 9:10691. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-47172-x
2018	Bryce, C., Blackwell, N., Schmidt, C., Otte, J.M., Huang, Y., Kleindienst, S., Tomaszewski, E., Schad, M., Warter, V., Peng, C., Byrne, J.M., Kappler, A. (2018) Microbial anaerobic Fe(II) oxidation – ecology, mechanisms and environmental implications. Environmental Microbiology. 20, 10: 3462-3483. doi:10.1111/1462-2920.14328
	Otte, J.M., Soos, V., Rughöft, S., Maisch, M., Kappler, K., Kleindienst., S, Schmidt, C. (2018) Sterilization impacts on marine sediment - Are we able to inactivate microorganisms in environmental samples? FEMS Microbial Ecology. 94(12):fiy189 doi:10.1093/femsec/fiy189
	Otte, J.M., Harter. J., Laufer, K., Blackwell, N., Kappler, A., Kleindienst, S. (2018) The distribution of active iron cycling bacteria in marine and freshwater sediments is decoupled from geochemical gradients. Environmental Microbiology. 20, 7: 2483–2499. doi:10.1111/1462-2920.14260
2015	Otte, J., Mall, A., Schubert, D.M., Könneke, M., Berg, I.A. (2015) Malonic semialdehyde reductase from the archaeon Nitrosopumilus maritimus, an enzyme involved in the autotrophic 3-hydroxypropionate/4-hydroxybutyrate cycle. Applied Environmental Microbiology. 81, 5: 1700-1707. doi:10.1128/AEM.03390-14

Press Release

Date	Title	Source
January 2021	In der ganzen Welt zu Hause - Mikrobiologin Julia Otte erforscht die Tiefsee - Steter Jobwechsel und berufliche Schiffreisen	Auswandererhaus, Bremerhaven, Nordsee-Zeitung
May 2020	Gehalt: Wie viel verdient eine Meeresbiologin?	Jetzt.de (Süddeutsche Zeitung)
June 2019	Das dunkle Paradies	Weinheimer Nachrichten
June 2019	Das dunkle Paradies	Odenwälder Zeitung
August 2019	Berufsbild "Marine Mikrobiologie"	Bengel.blog

Visitors Tour (2/20) for guests from Tokyo University and TUBergakademie Freiberg

Video (9/20): @ I’m a Geomicrobiologist working on the risks of deep-sea mining for “I’m a Scientist” Mini-Series for 4 Venir, Inc. a non-profit organization in Merced (University of California, US) @YouTube

Public Service

Frontiers for Young Minds - Otte, 2020

Sharing electrons – an extraordinary friendship of “iron bacteria” and “cable bacteria” in marine sediment

Did you know that iron is one of the most important elements on Earth? It is assumed that life evolved close to iron sources. This means, that the earliest life forms - and therefore oldest creatures - were able to eat iron. These tiny organisms called microorganisms. Iron microorganisms can be found widespread in our environment. Until now, it was known that iron microorganisms occur in coastal sediments, which is mainly muddy sand. But less was known about their vertical distribution in these sediments. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the vertical distribution and variety of different types of iron microorganisms. It was expected to find microorganisms spread related to their favorite food source, which we could show in our study. However, we discovered that iron microorganisms live independent from their favorite food: iron, oxygen, light! This independence might be explained by an unexpected extraordinary friendship with a “living cable”.

Frontiers for Young Minds - Otte, Laufer-Meiser 2021

The true superheroes: Microorganisms survive it all!
Microorganisms can live far up in the clouds and also deep in the Earth`s crust. This means these tiny organisms have adapted to all special habitats on Earth. When scientists want to study all special habitats they can focus on the microorganisms and their biological reactions or on the non-living components like minerals and geochemical reactions. Therefore, it is the main challenge for scientists to distinguish between biological and geochemical processes in environmental samples. A simple technique is to eliminate all microorganisms in these samples to study the geochemical processes. The “killed” sample is therefore a control setup in environmental studies. Until now, less was known about effective sterilization methods while ideally not changing the geochemical properties of the environmental samples. For this study, we used traditional sterilization techniques which are commonly used to clean and sterilize food and hospital equipment. We exposed marine sediment to i) heat and pressure, ii) gamma-radiation or iii) toxic chemicals and determined to which extent the genetic information, microbial productivity and community were affected. For laboratory studies with environmental samples it is still a challenge to gain complete sterile conditions because a few microorganisms survive high pressure, high temperature, radiation, and toxic chemicals!

The microbial world in the deep sea

27.5.2019; Cruise Blog

https://www.oceanblogs.org/eadsm/2019/05/27/the-microbial-world-in-the-deep-sea-die-mikrobielle-welt-in-der-tiefsee/

Hard Rock and Heavy Metal: join the microbial deep-sea party!

26.5.2019; Cruise Blog

https://www.oceanblogs.org/eadsm/2019/05/26/hard-rock-and-heavy-metal-join-the-microbial-deep-sea-party-hard-rock-und-heavy-metal-eine-mikrobielle-tiefseeparty/

Treasures of the Deep

29.4.2019; Cruise Blog

https://www.oceanblogs.org/eadsm/2019/04/29/schatze-der-tiefsee-treasures-of-the-deep/

Theses

2018	Otte, J.M. PhD thesis: Iron-cycling microorganisms in marine and freshwater sediments and implications for greenhouse gas emission. University of Tübingen, Germany
2014	Otte, J.M. MSc thesis: Malonic semialdehyde reductase from the ammonia oxidizing Archaeon Nitrosopumilus maritimus. University of Freiburg, Germany

Poster presentations and Invited talks

2020	Otte, J.M., Molari, M., Yapan, B. C., Bodur, Y., Volz, J. B., Janßen, F. & Wenzhöfer, F.Microbial and viral communities of the deep seafloor sediment and manganese nodules from the CCZ, Pacific. Ocean Science Meeting in San Diego (USA)
	University of California (Merced, USA), Dr. Michael Beman (Associate Professor) Talk about Biogeochemical Iron and Manganese Cycling in marine sediments
2019	Otte, J.M., Molari, M., Yapan, B. C., Bodur, Y., Volz, J. B., Janßen, F. & Wenzhöfer, F. Microbial and viral communities of the deep seafloor sediment and manganese nodules from the CCZ, Pacific. Symposium of Aquatic Microbial Ecology (SAME) 16 in Potsdam (Germany)
	China University of Geosciences (Wuhan, China), Dr. Jing He (Associate Professor) Lecture about the Deep Sea & Talk about Manganese nodules from the Deep Sea and Environmental implications of Deep Sea Mining – Expedition SO268
	China West Normal University (Nanchong, China), Prof. Xiao Xu (Dean) Lecture about the Deep Sea & Talk about Manganese nodules from the Deep Sea and Environmental implications of Deep Sea Mining – Expedition SO268
	Yangzhou University (Yangzhou, China), Dr. Miao Li (Associate Professor) Talk about Manganese nodules from the Deep Sea and Environmental implications of Deep Sea Mining – Expedition SO268
2018	Otte, J.M., Schmidt, C., Ruser, R., Blackwell, R., Kleindienst, S., Kappler, A. (2018) Cause and effects of N₂O formation by nitrite-induced (chemo)denitrification in coastal marine sediment. International Symposium on Microbial Ecology (ISME), Leipzig, Germany
	Otte, J.M., Harter, J., Laufer, K., Blackwell, N., Kappler, A., Kleindienst, S. (2018)The distribution of active iron-cycling bacteria in marine and freshwater sediments is decoupled from geochemical gradients. Jahrestagung für Allgemeine und Angewandte Mikrobiologie (VAAM), Wolfsburg, Germany
2017	Kappler, A., Otte, J.M.*, Ruser, R., Schmidt, C., Kleindienst, S., Harter, J. & Jorgensen, B.B. (2017) Nitrite as a key intermediate in N₂O formation in iron(II)-containing and carbon-rich marine sediments. Goldschmidt conference, Paris France
	Soos, V., Otte, J.M.*, Maisch, M., Kleindienst, S., Kappler, A., Schmidt, C. (2017) Can we kill microbial life with standard techniques? Quenstedt-Geosymposium, Tübingen, Germany
2016	Otte, J.M., Laufer, K., Harter, J., Kleindienst, S., Schmidt, C., Kappler, A. (2016) Formation of the greenhouse gas N₂O by biotic & abiotic reduction of nitrite with Fe(II) in marine sediments. PhD poster contest: 1st prize. Quenstedt-Geosymposium, Tübingen, Germany
2015	Otte, J.M., Lockwood, C.L.*, Laufer, K., Nordhoff, M., Schaedler, F., Kleindienst, S., Schmidt, C., Kappler, A. (2015) Competition and interrelation of iron(II)-oxidizing microorganisms in marine and freshwater sediments. Goldschmidt conference, Prague, Czech Republic