Dipl.-Biol. Dr. Veronika E. Mayer
Assistant Professor (half-time)
4. floor, room 411
t: +43 (0)1 4277-540 81
m: veronika.mayer@univie.ac.at
Research interests
At the core of my research lies the complex and dynamic connectivity of plants linking them to their environment. I am particularly fascinated by mutualisms between plants and insects and their structural adaptation and reciprocal interaction. Currently, I am working on plants living with mutualistic ants (myrmecophytes) and investigating (a) the intriguing role of fungi as third partner in ant-plant associations, and (b) the sophisticated forms of communication between host plants and their inhabiting ants. The model systems I am focusing on are the Cecropia spp.-Azteca spp. ant-plant mutualism and Piper spp.-Pheidole bicornis system.
Besides ants and plants, the functional aspects of accessory fruit structures are still fascinating to me. Specifically, I address the structural background and radiation processes in several Dipsacaceae groups.
Projects
- Phylogeny and evolution of ant-cultivated Chaetothyriales (Ascomycota)
- Microbial community analysis in the neotropical ant-plant association: Azteca spp. – Cecropia spp.
- Ecological processes in the fungal patches cultivated by arboreal ants
- Food sources in the Cecropia-Azteca ant-plant association
- Volatiles in myrmecophytic host-plants and their impact on ant-behaviour
Teaching
Cooperations
- Rumsais Blatrix, Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS, Montpellier, France
- Stefan Dötterl, Organismic Biology, Department of Ecology, Biodiversity and Evolution of Plants, University of Salzburg, Austria
- Lena Fragner, Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology, University of Vienna, Austria
- Sybren de Hoog, Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institut, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Christina Kaiser, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Adrián Pinto Tomas, Centro de Investigación en Estructuras Microscópicas (CIEMIC), Universidad de Costa Rica, Costa Rica
- Andreas Richter, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Hermann Voglmayr, Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Vienna, Austria
- Dagmar Woebken, Research network CMM, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, Austria
Curriculum Vitae
Current position
- 1997 - Assistant professor (half-time)
Education and scientific career
- 1999 - 2005 Associate Editor of the journal TAXON and Regnum Vegetabile (IAPT)
- 1993 - 1996 Research assistant in projects on systematics and morphology of Dipsacaceae, and the function of their fruit structures at the University of Vienna (Austria)
- 1988 - 1993 Dissertation at the University of Vienna (Austria)
- 1989 - 1991 Fellow of the "Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes"
- 1981 - 1987 Study of Biology at the LMU Munich and FU Berlin, Diploma from the FU Berlin (Germany)
- 1986/87 DAAD Fellow at the UC Berkeley (USA)
Publications
2018
Mayer, V., Nepel, M., Richter, A., Kaiser, C., & Voglmayr, H. (2018). Fungal patches in ant-plant associations: initiation and metabolic activity. In Workshop Black Fungi post-ISHAM: Abstract Book (pp. 24)
Nepel, M., Richter, A., Kaiser, C., Wöbken, D., & Mayer, V. (2018). Microorganisms putatively involved in nutrient recycling of ant-plant associations by degrading chitin and cellulose. In 17th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology: Abstract book (pp. 66)
Mayer, V., Nepel, M., Blatrix, R., Oberhauser, F. B., Fiedler, K., Schönenberger, J., & Voglmayr, H. (2018). Transmission of fungal partners to incipient Cecropia-tree ant colonies. PLoS ONE, 13(2), [e0192207]. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192207
2017
Vasse, M., Voglmayr, H., Mayer, V., Gueidan, C., Nepel, M., Moreno, L., ... Blatrix, R. (2017). A phylogenetic perspective on the association between ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and black yeasts (Ascomycota: Chaetothyriales). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 284(1850), [20162519]. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.2519
Mayer, V. E., Lauth, J., & Orivel, J. (2017). Convergent structure and function of mycelial galleries in two unrelated Neotropical plant-ants. Insectes Sociaux, 64(3), 365-371. DOI: 10.1007/s00040-017-0554-y
Mayer, V., Blatrix, R., & Voglmayr, H. (2017). Evolutionary and functional ecology of ant-plant-fungus symbioses. In 16th International Symposium on Insect-Plant Relationships: Abstractbook (pp. 105). [Poster 21]
2016
Nepel, M., Voglmayr, H., Blatrix, R., Longino, J. T., Fiedler, K., Schönenberger, J., & Mayer, V. (2016). Ant-cultivated Chaetothyriales in hollow stems of myrmecophytic Cecropia sp. trees – diversity and patterns. Fungal Ecology, 23, 131-140.
Mayer, V. (2016). Dipsacaceae (inclusive Triplostegia). In J. W. Kadereit, & V. Bittrich (Eds.), Flowering Plants. Eudicots: Aquifoliales, Boraginales, Bruniales, Dipsacales, Escalloniales, Garryales, Paracryphiales, Solanales (except Convolvulaceae), Icacinaceae, Metteniusaceae, Vahliaceae (Vol. 14, pp. 145-164). (The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants ; Vol. 14). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-28534-4_11
2014
Nepel, M., Voglmayr, H., Schönenberger, J., & Mayer, V. (2014). High diversity and low specificity of chaetothyrialean fungi in carton galleries in a Neotropical ant–plant association. PLoS ONE, 9(11), [e112756]. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0112756
2013
Nakamura, Y., Reichelt, M., Mayer, V., & Mithoefer, A. (2013). Jasmonates trigger prey-induced formation of 'outer stomach' in carnivorous sundew plants. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 280(1759), [20130228]. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.0228
Arranz, S. E., Avarre, J-C., Balasundaram, C., Bouza, C., Calcaterra, N. B., Cezilly, F., ... Molecular Ecology Resources Primer Development Consortium (2013). Permanent Genetic Resources added to Molecular Ecology Resources Database 1 December 2012 - 31 January 2013. Molecular Ecology Resources, 13(3), 546-549. DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.12095
Mayer, V., & Ehrendorfer, F. (2013). The phylogenetic position of Pterocephalidium and the new African genus Pterothamnus within an improved classification of Dipsacaceae. Taxon: international journal of plant taxonomy, phylogeny and evolution, 62(1), 112-126.
Mayer, V., & Ehrendorfer, F. (2013). An improved classification of Dipsacaceae based on morphological and molecular data. In Abstract book
Lauth, J., Malé, P-J. G., Voglmayr, H., Mayer, V., Dejean, A., & Orivel, J. (2013). Isolation and characterization of polymorphic microsatellite loci in the ant-associated fungus Trimmatostroma sp. (Ascomycota: Chaetothyriales) using pyrosequencing technology. Molecular Ecology Resources.
Nepel, M., Mayer, V., Voglmayr, H., & Schönenberger, J. (2013). Specifity of the fungi used in carton runway galleries in the Azteca brevis/Tetrathylacium macrophyllum association. In Abstract Book [116]
Nepel, M., Voglmayr, H., Schönenberger, J., & Mayer, V. (2013). Specifity of the fungi used in carton runway galleries in the Azteca brevis/Tetrathylacium macrophyllum association. ATBC 2013, San José, Costa Rica.
Gegenbauer, C., Mayer, V., Zotz, G., & Richter, A. (2013). Uptake of ant-derived nitrogen in the myrmecophytic orchid Caularthron bilamellatum. In Abstracts online: Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation
Mayer, V. (2013). Von Pflanzen, Ameisen und Ameisen-Pflanzen-Forschern im Regenwald der Österreicher. In R. Albert, W. Huber, S. Pamperl, W. Wanek, A. Weber, & A. Weissenhofer (Eds.), 20 Jahre Tropenstation La Gamba, Costa Rica (pp. 74-79). Wien: Verein zur Förderung der Tropenstation La Gamba, Costa Rica..
2012
Gegenbauer, C., Mayer, V., Zotz, G., & Richter, A. (2012). Uptake of ant-derived nitrogen in the myrmecophytic orchid Caularthron bilamellatum. Annals of Botany, 110(4), 757-765. DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcs140
2011
Weber, A., Wei, Y-G., Puglisi, C., Wen, F., Mayer, V., & Möller, M. (2011). A new definition of the genus Petrocodon (Gesneriaceae). Phytotaxa, 23.