Celebrating over a dozen FWF Grants

Kerim Anlas - Department of Neuroscience and Developmental Biology 
Deciphering an Alternative Developmental Morphospace (ESPRIT, mentor: Ulrich Technau)

Kerim Anlas investigates how animal body plans can self-organize through alternative developmental modes in his upcoming ESPRIT project. Gastrulation transforms a simple group of cells into a structured, multilayered embryo, guided by conserved gene networks, maternal pre-patterning and external cues. However, recent data from the sea anemone Nematostella show that dissociated embryonic cells, upon re-aggregation, still develop into a functional animal while displaying different morphogenesis than the natural embryo. This reveals an unexplored alternative morphospace of body plan formation.

In order to uncover potentially conserved principles behind this self-organization, the project will compare embryonic aggregates from two distantly related cnidarians: Nematostella, which gastrulates by invagination, and the hydrozoan Clytia, which exhibits unipolar ingression. Via manipulations of cell adhesion and contractility, 4D light-sheet microscopy, single-cell transcriptomics and biophysical modelling, Anlas will functionally elucidate aggregate development as well as the underlying morphospace.

Read more about Kerim Anlas here

Ingeborg Lang - Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology
Out of the water: Algae and Mosses Adapt to Living on Land (Research Group)

The transition from water to land was a key evolutionary step in early plant history, yet the adaptations that enabled it remain poorly understood. To address this gap, a consortium of four research groups from the University of Innsbruck, BOKU University, University of Vienna and University of Salzburg will investigate three groups of early land settlers: streptophyte green algae, liverworts, and mosses. These organisms differ in terms of their tolerance to desiccation and their life cycles and range from simple filaments to complex multicellular bodies, making them ideal models for studying how plants adapted to dry environments.

The consortium will examine the structural and physiological traits that protect cells from water loss, with a focus on outer surfaces, cell walls, and the interactions between the cytoplasm and the cell wall. They will also explore how life cycle stages, such as vegetative tissues or durable spores, contribute to survival in dry conditions and how multicellularity influences tolerance. Using innovative, multidisciplinary methods, the consortium aims to uncover the biochemical and biophysical strategies that enabled plants to thrive on land.

Read more aboutIngeborg Lang here
 

Jérémy Lemaire - Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology
A Multibiomarker Approach to Mercury Effects on Crocodylians

Jérémy Lemaire’s FWF-funded project examines the effects of chronic mercury contamination on the reproductive physiology and health of tropical caimans. Mercury (Hg) is a global pollutant and a potent endocrine disruptor. Crocodylians are ideal models for studying the effects of Hg contamination: as top predators with slow metabolic rates and high tissue conversion rates, they accumulate high Hg concentrations over time. However, the impacts of Hg on their endocrine systems and their potential transfer to offspring remain largely unknown.

This project will investigate how Hg exposure influences reproductive hormones, oxidative stress, DNA damage, and melatonin regulation in a wild caiman population, while assessing possible transgenerational effects. Using a multibiomarker approach, the project will provide the first comprehensive evaluation of the endocrine and cellular impacts of mercury in crocodylians, shedding light on the risks these top predators face.

Read more aboutJérémy Lemaire here

Maria Santacà - Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology: 
Perceived Beauty: Attractiveness & Reproductive Fitness

Maria Santacà investigates how visual illusions influence female mate choice and reproductive success in her recent FWF funded project. Although physical attractiveness strongly affects mating outcomes, it is not a fixed trait: perception can change depending on social context or ambiguous visual information, and naturally occurring illusions may alter how individuals evaluate potential mates. Yet, their role in sexual selection has been largely overlooked.

Using guppies (Poecilia reticulata), a species known to perceive visual illusions, Santacà will test whether altered visual contexts change female preferences. Female guppies will view videos of courting males presented in different illusory scenarios, allowing her team to measure changes in female choice and fitness consequences. This approach offers new insight into how perception shapes the evolution of sexual signals.

Read more aboutMaria Santacà here

Ulrich Technau - Department of Neuroscience and Developmental Biology
Characterization of stem cells in a sea anemone

Ulrich Technau examines whether the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis possesses true multipotent stem cells and how they contribute to regeneration, homeostasis, and germ line formation with his recent FWF-funded project. While only a few animals maintain adult pluripotent stem cells, Nematostella hosts a candidate stem cell population. Determining whether these cells self-renew and differentiate into multiple lineages will address a long-standing question in cnidarian biology.

Using novel transgenic tools, the project will trace cell fate and directly test stem cell function in vivo. A combination of genetic labelling, targeted cell ablation, and single-cell transplantation will reveal their differentiation potential, while gene knockdown and knockout will identify key molecular regulators. As Nematostella is extremely long-lived and shows no signs of ageing or cancer, investigating its stem cell mechanisms could provide valuable insights into stem cell evolution.

Read more aboutUlrich Technau here

Zihao Zhao - Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology
Biogeography and Functional Traits of Fungi in the Ocean

Zihao Zhao’s FWF funded project investigates the diversity, global distribution, and ecological roles of pelagic fungi in marine carbon cycling. While bacteria are traditionally viewed as the main drivers of organic matter remineralization, new evidence shows that fungi are widespread in the ocean and actively degrade organic material. The project addresses our limited understanding of how marine fungi differ from bacteria in terms of ecological roles, biogeography, and functional traits.

The team will investigate the environmental factors that shape fungal biogeography, how fungal communities genetically and functionally respond to changing conditions, and how fungal proteins and enzymes are expressed across particle size classes and depth layers. By integrating amplicon sequencing, metagenomics, metatranscriptomics and metaproteomics, this project will provide the first comprehensive global assessment of pelagic fungal diversity and functions, advancing our understanding of their role in ocean carbon sequestration.

Read more about Zihao Zhao here

Gang Dong
Flagellar pocket membrane-Cytoskeleton dynamics in T. brucei

The goal of Dong’s ‘CytoPocket’ project is to uncover how Trypanosoma brucei – the parasite responsible for the African sleeping sickness – uses its unique flagellar pocket to evade the immune system, focusing on the poorly understood interface between the cytoskeleton and the membrane. Central to this effort is characterizing the filament-forming properties of a key structural protein, BILBO1, and identifying additional membrane proteins that regulate the formation and function of this essential cellular gateway.

Javier Martinez
tRNA ligase complex as a target of a new degradation pathway

Martinez’s project explores an emerging connection between oxidative protein degradation and the tRNA ligase complex (tRNA-LC), a key enzymatic machinery responsible for re-ligating tRNA halves after intron removal. Building on a recent breakthrough describing a novel oxidation-based pathway for protein turnover, the Martinez lab aims to uncover how this mechanism targets and dismantles the tRNA-LC – an unexpected link that implies an entirely new layer of regulation in RNA biology

Read more about their projects here

Moritz Gaidt 
Cell-intrinsic roles of MORC3 in immune cell development

Moritz Gaidt’s project explores the role of a little-understood chromatin regulator called MORC3, a protein that helps control which genes are switched on and off in immune cells. Although MORC3 is found in many cell types, Gaidt’s team made the surprising discovery that only certain immune cells critically depend on it to survive. Why these specific cells need MORC3, while others do not, is one of the key questions the project will address.

Joris Van der Veeken
Cell type-specific functions of the nuclear receptor RORgt

Joris van der Veeken will study how the protein RORγt controls the behaviour of different types of immune cells. RORγt plays a central role in many vital processes: it helps immune cells develop in the thymus, supports the formation of lymphoid tissues, protects the body against bacteria and fungi, and contributes to immune tolerance toward harmless microbes in the gut. At the same time, RORγt is also involved in chronic inflammatory diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease and arthritis. Because it is active in so many different cells, drugs that block RORγt often cause serious side effects.

Read more about their projects here