This Transregio will provide a functional understanding of wetscapes and address the spatio-temporal implications of peatland rewetting at the landscape level and beyond. The Overarching Research Questions of WETSCAPES2.0 cover critical functions on all spatial scales of rewetted wetscapes, while the Project Areas depict spatial scales relevant for the key ecological processes and ecosystem functions studied in WETSCAPES2.0. Project Area A focuses on actors and processes at the operational level, Project Area B deals with connected processes within peatlands, and Project Area C studies the role of peatlands in the landscape and beyond.

Methanogenic archaea and methanotrophs are the most important determinants of the potential flux of CH₄ from wetlands to the atmosphere. To date, there is no census of methanogen identity, abundance and activity in rewetted fens, and their abiotic and biotic drivers, although the latter are thought to be different from those in natural wetlands. We in project A6 aims to provide such a census, by mapping the abundance and identity of methanogenic archaea in the Screening Sites. Furthermore we aims to assess their role for the greenhouse gas (GHG) budget in rewetted fens. We hypothesize that methylotrophic methanogens are more important for the methane balance of rewetted fens than previously assumed. Furthermore, we anticipate that antagonistic interactions with sulfur-cycling bacteria might reduce methanogen abundance and activity. A6 will investigate methanogens at all experimental levels of WETSCAPES2.0. Using cutting-edge proteomics, we will specifically look into the ecophysiology of novel, as yet poorly constrained methanogens, i.e. the methylotrophic Methanomassiliicoccales

Project speakers: Prof. Dr. Nicole Wrage-Mönnig und Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kreyling 

Project homepage:Link

Duration: 01.04.2025-31.12.2028

Insects often endure harsh environmental conditions, such as cold winters or prolonged food scarcity, by entering diapause, a hormonally regulated state of dormancy that temporarily halts development and reduces metabolic activity. Building on this natural survival strategy, our project, a collaboration between the Microbial Proteomics and the Animal Physiology departments, leverages advanced proteomic approaches to unravel the dynamic regulation of diapause in the common green-veined butterfly, Pieris napi. By focusing on both global protein expression and key post-translational modifications, such as phosphorylation and acetylation, this research bridges the gap between available transcriptomic insights and the actual physiological adaptations that facilitate developmental arrest and subsequent reactivation. Ultimately, the project seeks to establish a comprehensive molecular model of diapause, offering new perspectives on metabolic regulation, stress resilience, and developmental plasticity in seasonal environments.

This project is part of the German-Israeli Project Cooperation (DIP) and is funded by the DFG from January 2020 to December 2024. Our group is closely working together in a research venture with Prof. Itzik Mizrahi of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel.

Although the microbial degradation of plant fiber components (e.g. cellulose, hemicellulose) is a key factor of the global carbon cycle and essential for terrestrial food chains, its guiding principles are not disclosed in detail yet. A promising method for investigating potent fiber degraders in their natural habitats is a combined metaproteomics-metagenomics approach. Our group is working on the establishment, optimization and application of the MS-based metaproteome analysis.