Abstract: Microbiomes are essential for the health and performance of higher organisms (hosts) and metagenomics has helped to unravel the interactions between them. Here I will present new approaches to predict functionality of microbiomes using 16S rRNA gene amplicon data and improve the information content of metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs). I will also show how MAGs can be used to model metabolic interactions within microbiomes and gain new insight into the input and outputs of host-associated systems.

Bio: Professor Torsten Thomas obtained his PhD from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, where he also established his academic career and led research centers. His research has focused on understanding the central role that microbiomes have in influencing the performance and health of higher host organisms, in particular in the marine environment. For this he has generated and analyzed large data sets and has developed several innovative approaches, including -omic technologies, bioinformatics pipelines and ecological theories.