worm-lab

Soil Biodiversity

Breatheeeee - the worm~lab learning to breathe and relax with Jörg, dem Ruhrpottschamanen.

The worm~lab

Here at the worm~lab at the University of Cologne we study the ecology, evolution, and biodiversity of nematodes — the roundworms that are among the most abundant animals on Earth.

Our research focuses on three connected questions: (i) how soil nematode communities are structured and how they respond to climate-driven environmental change; (ii) how some nematode lineages survive in the most extreme environments on Earth, including complete desiccation and permafrost; and how parasitic nematodes — in humans, plants, and livestock — can be better understood and fought. The molecular and genomic tools we have developed to study free-living nematodes connect all three.

We work in the field in the Namib Desert, the Atacama, the Australian Outback, Ghana, and the Alps, and in the lab with CRISPR, nanopore sequencing, and comparative genomics. We are always happy to talk science and open to collaborations — get in touch.

"In short, if all the matter in the universe except the nematodes were swept away, our world would still be dimly recognisable, and if, as disembodied spirits, we could then investigate it, we should find its mountains, hills, vales, rivers, lakes, and oceans represented by a film of nematodes. The location of towns would be decipherable, since for every massing of human beings there would be a corresponding massing of certain nematodes. Trees would still stand in ghostly rows representing our streets and highways. The location of the various plants and animals would still be decipherable, and, had we sufficient knowledge, in many cases even their species could be determined by an examination of their erstwhile nematode parasites."
Nematodes and Their Relationships,
Nathan Cobb, 1915

Our worms

As Nathan Cobb said in 1915, roundworms are everywhere on earth. They can be found in the deep seas, in deserts, in every compost heap, and, as parasites, in plants and animals (including humans). We develop new methods to study the diversity of soil organisms directly in the field using genomic methods. For this we work with colleagues in Chile, Namibia, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, Sweden, and other places.

Our science, a quick overview

Soil Biodiversity

How many nematodes are there and what is their ecological function?
Biodiversity Genomics of soil invertebrates.

BioC2

Ecology and Evolution

How do do soil organisms survive in extreme environments and how do some of them abandon sex?

BioCryptoSex

Fighting Parasites

Finding new drugs to eliminate roundworms causing suffering for more than a billion humans.

NTDs

EvoDevo

Legacy projects: why do all nematodes look the same despite their molecular and ecological divergence?

EvoDevo

Bluesky: @worm-lab.bsky.social
Instagram: @worm.lab

Biocenter Cologne
Zülpicher Str. 47b, 50674 Köln,
Deutschland

Pictures in the "Our Science" section are: by courtesy of Einhard Schierenberg / from Blaxter 2012 / from wikipedia.org (under CC BY 2.0, CC BY-SA 4.0 licences).