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
© A. Maresch
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
- Species interactions and their impact on nutrient recycling in ant-made fungal patches (FWF-Project P 31990-B) - finished
- 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
2025
Wang, M. Z., Belmonte-Lopes, R., Pan, T., Ahmed, S. A., Rodrigues Lustosa, B. P., Quan, Y., Al-Hatmi, A. M. S., Mayer, V., Voglmayr, H., Grisolia, M. E., de Souza Lima, B. B. J. F., Vicente, V. A., Zhou, S. Q., Cao, Y., Kang, Y. Q., & de Hoog, G. S. (2025). A new family of ant-associated fungi in Chaetothyriales. STUDIES IN MYCOLOGY, 110(1), 111-143. https://doi.org/10.3114/sim.2024.110.02
2024
Quan, Y., Deng, S., Prenafeta-Boldủ, F. X., Mayer, V. E., Muggia, L., Cometto, A., Vicente, V. A., da Silva, N. M., Grisolia, M. E., Song, Y., Ahmed, S. A., Niu, X., de Souza Lima, B. J. F., Feng, P., Vitale, R. G., Teixeira, M., Sudhadham, M., de Azevedo, C. P. E. S., Bocca, A., ... de Hoog, S. (2024). The origin of human pathogenicity and biological interactions in Chaetothyriales. Fungal Diversity, 125(1), 99-120. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13225-023-00518-3
Barrajon-Santos, V., Nepel, M., Hausmann, B., Voglmayr, H., Woebken, D., & Mayer, V. E. (2024). Dynamics and drivers of fungal communities in a multipartite ant-plant association. BMC Biology, 22(1), Article 112. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-024-01897-y
2023
Nepel, M., Mayer, V. E., Barrajon-Santos, V., & Woebken, D. (2023). Bacterial diversity in arboreal ant nesting spaces is linked to colony developmental stage. Communications Biology, 6(1), Article 1217. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05577-5
Gegenbauer, C., Bellaire, A., Schintlmeister, A., Schmid, M. C., Kubicek, M., Voglmayr, H., Zotz, G., Richter, A., & Mayer, V. (2023). Exo- and endophytic fungi enable rapid transfer of nutrients from ant waste to orchid tissue. New Phytologist, 238(5), 2210-2223. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.18761
Barrajon Santos, V., Nepel, M., Kirkegaard, R. H., Wöbken, D., & Mayer, V. (2023). Composting in an ant-plant nest? Metabolic potential of bacterial communities for degrading chitin- and cellulose-rich substrates from ant-made patches. In Bageco 2023 - 16th symposium on Bacterial Genetics and Ecology: Programme (pp. 58). Article O12. https://bageco2023.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/CAP-Partner_Bageco2023_programme_A5_abstract-korr10.pdf
Mayer, V., Voglmayr, H., Blatrix, R., Orivel, J., & Leroy, C. (2023). Fungi as mutualistic partners in ant-plant interactions. Frontiers in Fungal Biology, 2023(4), Article 1213997. https://doi.org/10.3389/ffunb.2023.1213997
2022
Nepel, M., Pfeifer, J., Oberhauser, F. B., Richter, A., Woebken, D., & Mayer, V. E. (2022). Nitrogen fixation by diverse diazotrophic communities can support population growth of arboreal ants. BMC Biology, 20(1), Article 135. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-022-01289-0
Quan, Y., da Silva, N. M., de Souza Lima, B. J. F., de Hoog, S., Vicente, V. A., Mayer, V., Kang, Y., & Shi, D. (2022). Black fungi and ants: a genomic comparison of species inhabiting carton nests versus domatia. IMA Fungus, 13, 1-13. Article 4. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43008-022-00091-5
2021
Mayer, V. E., de Hoog, S., Cristescu, S. M., Vera, L., & Prenafeta-Boldú, F. X. (2021). Volatile Organic Compounds in the Azteca/Cecropia Ant-Plant Symbiosis and the Role of Black Fungi. Journal of Fungi, 7(10), Article 836. https://doi.org/10.3390/jof7100836
Quan, Y., Ahmed, S. A., Menezes da Silva, N., Al-Hatmi, A. M. S., Mayer, V., Deng, S., Kang, Y., Sybren de Hoog, G., & Shi, D. (2021). Novel black yeast-like species in chaetothyriales with ant-associated life styles. Fungal Biology, 125(4), 276-284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.funbio.2020.11.006
Singh, A., Mayer, V., Zytynska, S. E., Hesse, B., & Weisser, W. W. (2021). The Efficiency of Plant Defense: Aphid Pest Pressure Does Not Alter Production of Food Rewards by Okra Plants in Ant Presence. Frontiers in Plant Science, 12, 1-13. Article 627570. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.627570
2020
Svoma, E., Mayer, V., Stuessy, T. F., & Urtubey, E. (2020). Staminal features in Barnadesioideae (Asteraceae): description, evolution and function. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 192(3), 474-497. https://doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/boz091
2019
Moreno, L. F., Mayer, V., Voglmayr, H., Blatrix, R., Stielow, J. B., Teixeira, M. M., Vicente, V. A., & de Hoog, S. (2019). Genomic analysis of ant domatia-associated melanized fungi (Chaetothyriales, Ascomycota). Mycological Progress, 18(4), 541-552. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-018-01467-x
Busch, J. S., & Mayer, V. (2019). Surface structures of Cecropia plants as landmarks for orientation of ant foundress queens? Acta ZooBot Austria , 156, 135-144.
2018
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), Article e0192207. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192207
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)
2017
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. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-017-0554-y
Vasse, M., Voglmayr, H., Mayer, V., Gueidan, C., Nepel, M., Moreno, L., de Hoog, S., Selosse, M.-A., Mckey, D., & Blatrix, R. (2017). A phylogenetic perspective on the association between ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and black yeasts (Ascomycota: Chaetothyriales). Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 284(1850), Article 20162519. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.2519