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

© Veronika Mayer

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


 Teaching

Current Courses

 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


Showing entries 1 - 20 out of 80

2023


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. (2023). The origin of human pathogenicity and biological interactions in Chaetothyriales. Fungal Diversity. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13225-023-00518-3

2022


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. [4]. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43008-022-00091-5

2021


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

2020


2019


2018


2017


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


Showing entries 1 - 20 out of 80