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
2019
Moreno, L. F., Mayer, V., Voglmayr, H., Blatrix, R., Stielow, J. B., Teixeira, M. M., ... de Hoog, S. (2019). Genomic analysis of ant domatia-associated melanized fungi (Chaetothyriales, Ascomycota). Mycological Progress, 18(4), 541-552. DOI: 10.1007/s11557-018-01467-x
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