Max Planck Institutes and Experts

For the first time, it has been demonstrated that the ultimate resolution limit in fluorescence microscopy – the molecule’s size itself – can also practically be achieved. The MINFLUX concept begins a new chapter and opens up unprecedented opportunities in the optical analysis of molecular systems.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are commonly generated during virus infections, but their significance is only partially understood. We identified a cell death pathway, oxeiptosis, regulating cell death and cell survival after exposure to ROS. Manipulation of oxeiptosis impairs ROS - and virus - induced cell death in vitro and causes lung inflammation and tissue injury in influenza A infected mice. Since ROS are commonly generated during physiologic and pathologic situations, we anticipate that oxeiptosis plays a prominent role in attenuating a wide range of diseases.

The competition of plants and soil microorganisms for important nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus is a key determinant of the amount of carbon that can be stored in land ecosystems. Combining new laboratory experiments and improved numerical ecosystem models generates new insights into the intricate effects of this nutrient limitation for the future development of land carbon storage. This research contributes to a better understanding of the effects of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emission of climate.

Gut microbes impact host physiology, affecting health status, and imbalance of the gut microbial commensal communities is associated with disease. Re-establishment of a healthy gut microbial composition can resolve acute and life-threatening bacterial infections. Recent work using the short-lived African turquoise killifish (Nothobranchius furzeri) indicates that gut microbes from young individuals can modulate the general health status and life span in healthy ageing subjects.

How do wild species respond to the climate change we currently experience? Scientists from the institute have discovered that the ability to adapt to extreme climate events is not uniformly distributed even within a single wild plant species. Hence, predictions of the future distribution of species are only meaningful if differences both between and within species are taken into account.