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
- Species interactions and their impact on nutrient recycling in ant-made fungal patches (FWF-Project P 31990-B)
- 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
2016
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). Springer International Publishing. The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants https://doi.org/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]. https://doi.org/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 of London B: Biological Sciences, 280(1759), [20130228]. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.0228
Arranz, S. E., Avarre, J-C., Balasundaram, C., Bouza, C., Calcaterra, N. B., Cezilly, F., Chen, S-L., Cipriani, G., Cruz, V. P., D'Esposito, D., Daniel, C., Dejean, A., Dharaneedharan, S., Diaz, J., Du, M., Durand, J-D., Dziadek, J., Foresti, F., Fu Peng-Cheng, N. V., ... 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. https://doi.org/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
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. https://atbc.confex.com/atbc/2013/webprogram/Paper2103.html
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 https://atbc.confex.com/atbc/2013/webprogram/Paper1982.html
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). 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. https://doi.org/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.
Mayer, V., Gegenbauer, C., Voglmayr, H., Städler, Y., Zotz, G., & Richter, A. (2011). Fungi as third partner in the association of an epiphytic orchid and its inhabiting ants. In Botanikertagung 2011. 18.-21. September 2011, Berlin, Deutschland Unknown publisher.
Mayer, V., Voglmayr, H., & Blatrix, R. (2011). Fungi in ant-plant interactions: Insights into an overlooked world of symbiotic associations. In 14th Symposium on Insect-Plant Interactions. 13.-18. August 2011, Wageningen, Niederlande Unknown publisher.
Voglmayr, H., Mayer, V., Maschwitz, U., Moog, J., Djieto-Lordon, C., & Blatrix, R. (2011). The diversity of ant-associated black yeasts: insights into a newly discovered world of symbiotic interactions. Fungal Biology, 115(10), 1077-1091. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.funbio.2010.11.006
2010
Voglmayr, H., Mayer, V., & Blatrix, R. (2010). Biodiversity of Chaetothyriales in recently discovered symbiotic tropical ant-fungus association. In ISHAM workshop "Emerging Potential of Black Yeasts", 14.-16.05.2010, Ljubljana, Slovenia Unknown publisher. http://blackyeast2010.bf.uni-lj.si/fileadmin/userfiles/BlackYeast2010Abstracts.pdf
Blatrix, R., & Mayer, V. (2010). Communication in ant-plant symbioses. In Plant communication from an ecological perspective - Signaling and communication in plants (pp. 127-158). Unknown publisher.
2009
Möller, M., Pfosser, M., Jang, C-G., Mayer, V., Clark, A., Hollingsworth, M. L., Barfuss, M. H. J., Wang, Y-Z., Kiehn, M., & Weber, A. (2009). A preliminary phylogeny of the 'Didymocarpoid Gesneriaceae' based on three molecular data sets: incongruence with available tribal classifications. American Journal of Botany: the journal for all plant biologists, 96(5), 989-1010. https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.0800291
Mayer, V., & Voglmayr, H. (2009). Mycelial carton galleries of Azteca brevis (Formicidae) as a multi-species network. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 276(1671), 3265-3273. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.0768
Carlson, S. E., Mayer, V., & Donoghue, M. J. (2009). Phylogenetic relationships, taxonomy, and morphological evolution in Dipsacaceae (Dipsacales) inferred by DNA sequence data. Taxon: international journal of plant taxonomy, phylogeny and evolution, 58, 1092-1108.