Marine microbiota exhibit a highly dynamic structural and functional diversity and are instrumental and often key players in global biogeochemical cycles. Applying state of the art approaches including omics and meta-omics, powerful and extremely sensitive chemical analyses and modelling enabled unprecedented insights into the functional diversity of these communities and into distinct interactions and chemical communication cues between key members.
Members of the Roseobacter group are important components of marine microbial communities in a variety of biogeographic regions and habitats, such as the pelagic zone, phytoplankton blooms and biofilms. They exhibit a highly variable and flexible genomic organization and physiology, reflecting adaptations to distinct ecological niches.
Roseobacters interact with various other bacteria, micro- and macroalgae, in particular with dinoflagellates, diatoms, flavobacteria and certain gammaproteobacterial lineages and have been the focus of a Collaborative Research Center since 2010.
This Marine Microbiota symposium aims at bringing together researchers who are studying roseobacters with those who study microbes and microbial communities with contrasting functional features. Topics will range from isolates, model systems, microbial consortia obtained in cultures and field studies to specific genes, proteins and metabolites. Studies including modelling approaches are highly welcome.  In such a way deeper insights into the functioning of the complex ocean microbiota and its possible implications for global ecology will be obtained.