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Dr. Felix Elling

Archived Page

This web page has not been updated since the former colleague left MARUM.

--> Link to my new Homepage @ Harvard University

I am a postdoctoral researcher working on the interface of geology, biology and chemistry. I study the lipid "fingerprints" of marine planktonic archaea to facilitate their application in tracing the occurence of archaea in the modern ocean and the geologic past.

By manipulating the growth conditions in pure cultures of planktonic archaea, I study how these microorganisms adapt to environmental changes (e.g. in temperature, salinity, nutrients) by altering the lipid composition of their cellular membrane. Understanding how environmental parameters shape the complex chemistry of archaeal lipid membranes will enable geologists to reconstruct ancient environments through fossil lipids (e.g. through the TEX86 paleotemperature proxy).

Research interests

  • Organic (bio)geochemistry & geomicrobiology
  • Lipid biomarkers
  • Marine archaea
  • Paleoceanography

Publications

  • Zhu, C., Wakeham, S.G., Elling, F.J., Basse, A., Mollenhauer, G., Versteegh, G.J.M., Könneke, M., Hinrichs, K.-U. (in press). Stratification of archaeal membrane lipids in the ocean and implications for adaptation and chemotaxonomy of planktonic archaea. Environmental Microbiology. doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.13289
  • Hurley, S.J.*, Elling, F.J.*, Könneke, M., Buchwald, C., Wankel, S.D., Santoro, A.E., Lipp, J.S., Hinrichs, K.-U. and Pearson, A. (2016). Influence of ammonia oxidation rate on thaumarchaeal lipid composition and the TEX86 temperature proxy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 113, 7762-7767. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1518534113
  • Becker, K.W., Elling, F.J., Yoshinaga, M.Y., Söllinger, A., Urich, T., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2016). Unusual butane- and pentanetriol-based tetraether lipids in Methanomassiliicoccus luminyensis, a representative of the seventh order of methanogens. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 82, 4505-4516. doi: 10.1128/AEM.00772-16
  • Elling, F.J., Spiegel, C., Estrada, S., Davis, D.W., Reinhardt, L., Henjes-Kunst, F., Allroggen, N., Dohrmann, R., Piepjohn, K., Lisker, F. (2016). Origin of bentonites and detrital zircons of the Paleocene Basilika Formation, Svalbard. Frontiers in Earth Science 4, 73. doi: 10.3389/feart.2016.00073
  • Zhuang, G.-C.*, Elling, F.J.*, Nigro, L.M., Samarkin, V., Joye, S.B., Teske, A., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2016). Multiple evidence for methylotrophic methanogenesis as the dominant methanogenic pathway in deep-sea hypersaline sediments. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 187, 1-20. doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2016.05.005 (*equal contribution)
  • Liu, X.-L., Birgel, D., Elling, F.J., Sutton, P.A., Lipp, J.S., Zhu, R., Zhang, C., Könneke, M., Peckmann, J., Rowland, S.J., Summons, R.E., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2016). From ether to acid: a plausible degradation pathway of glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 183, 138-152. doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2016.04.016
  • Widderich, N., Czech, L., Elling, F.J., Könneke, M., Stöveken, N., Pittelkow, M., Riclea, R., Dickschat, J.S., Heider, J., Bremer, E. (2016). Strangers in the archaeal world: osmostress-responsive biosynthesis of ectoine and hydroxyectoine by the marine thaumarchaeon Nitrosopumilus maritimus. Environmental Microbiology 18, 1227-1248. doi:10.1111/1462-2920.13156
  • Elling, F.J., Becker, K.W., Könneke, M., Schröder, J.M., Becker, K.W., Kellermann, M.Y., Thomm, M., Hinrichs, K.-U. (in press). Respiratory quinones in Archaea: phylogenetic distribution and application as biomarkers in the marine environment. Environmental Microbiology 18, 692-707. doi:10.1111/1462-2920.13086
  • Yao, M., Elling, F.J., Jones, C., Sulung, N., Long, C., Crowe, S., Antoniewicz, M., Hinrichs, K.-U., Maresca, J. (in press). Heterotrophic bacteria from an extremely phosphate-poor lake have conditionally reduced phosphorus demand and utilize diverse sources of phosphorus. Environmental Microbiology 18, 656-667. doi:10.1111/1462-2920.13063
  • Elling, F.J., Könneke, M., Greve, A., Mußmann, M., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2015). Influence of temperature, pH, and salinity on membrane lipid composition and TEX86 of marine planktonic thaumarchaeal isolates. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 171, 238-255. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2015.09.004
  • Lü, X., Liu, X.-L., Elling, F.J., Yang, H., Xie, S., Song, J., Li, X., Yuan, H., Li, N., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2015). Hydroxylated isoprenoid GDGTs in Chinese coastal seas and their potential as a paleotemperature proxy for mid-to-low latitude marginal seas. Organic Geochemistry 89-90, 31-43. doi:10.1016/j.orggeochem.2015.10.004
  • Coban, H., Miltner, A., Elling, F.J., Hinrichs, K.-U., Kästner, M. (2015). The contribution of biogas residues to soil organic matter formation and CO2 emissions in an arable soil. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 86, 108-115. doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2015.03.023
  • Elling, F.J., Könneke, M., Lipp, J.S., Becker, K.W., Gagen, E.J., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2014). Effects of growth phase on the membrane lipid composition of the thaumarchaeon Nitrosopumilus maritimus and their implications for archaeal lipid distributions in the marine environment. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 141, 579-597. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2014.07.005
  • Meador, T.B., Zhu, C., Elling, F.J., Könneke, M., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2014). Identification of isoprenoid glycosidic glycerol dibiphytanol diethers and indications for their biosynthetic origin. Organic Geochemistry 69, 70-75. doi:10.1016/j.orggeochem.2014.02.005

Oral presentations

  • Hurley, S.J., Pearson, A., Elling, F., Könneke, M., Hinrichs, K.-U., Zhang, Y.G., Shah Walter, S.R. (2015). Environmental and physiological influences on the TEX86 proxy: Results from continuous culture studies and stable carbon isotope analyses. American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA, December 2015.
  • Elling, F.J., Könneke, M., Hurley, S., Lipp, J.S., Mußmann, M., Pearson, A., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2015). The influence of temperature and other factors on membrane lipid composition and TEX86 in thaumarchaeal pure cultures. 27th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry (IMOG), Prague, Czech Republic, September 2015.
  • Becker, K.W., Elling, F.J., Schröder, J.S., Könneke, M., Kellermann, M.Y., Thomm, M., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2015). Respiratory quinones in archaeal cultures and the environment: evolutionary implications, biomarker potential and geochemical significance. 27th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry (IMOG), Prague, Czech Republic, September 2015.
  • Liu, X., Lipp, J.S., Elling, F., Birgel, D., Summons, R.E., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2015). The predominant parallel glycerol arrangement of archaeal tetraethers in marine sediments: structural features revealed by their diagenetic products. 27th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry (IMOG), Prague, Czech Republic, September 2015.
  • Elling, F.J., Becker, K.W., Könneke, M., Schröder, J.M., Hurley, S.J., Mußmann, M., Pearson, A., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2105). Physiological and ecological constraints on TEX86 and GDGT provenance revealed by pure culture experiments and quinone biomarkers. Goldschmidt Conference 2015, Prague, Czech Republic, August 2015.
  • Warren, C.E., Elling, F.J., Goldenstein, N.I., Hinrichs, K.-U., Pagani, M. (2015). Archaeal Lipids in Transition: Characterization of Lipids and Sequences in the Orca Basin, Gulf of Mexico. Goldschmidt Conference 2015, Prague, Czech Republic, August 2015.
  • Hurley, S.J., Elling, F.J., Könneke, M., Lipp, J.S., Jahn, O., Dutkiewicz, S., Follows, M.J., Hinrichs, K.-U., Pearson, A. (2015). Environmental and physiological influences on the TEX86 proxy. Goldschmidt Conference 2015, Prague, Czech Republic, August 2015.
  • Elling, F.J., Könneke, M., Lipp, J.S., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2014). Influence of growth phase, temperature and salinity on the membrane lipid composition in the marine ammonia-oxidizing archaeon Nitrosopumilus maritimus. GDGT 2014, Texel, April 2014.
  • Hinrichs, K.-U., Becker, K.W., Elling, F.J., Lipp, J.S., Liu, X., Meador, T.B., Schröder, J., Yoshinaga, M., Zhu, C. (2014). Distribution patterns of recently identified GDGTs and their polar derivatives in the environment. GDGT 2014, Texel, April 2014.

Poster presentations

  • Hurley, S.J., Elling, F.J., Könneke, M., Buchwald, C., Wankel, S.D., Santoro, A.E., Lipp, J.S., Hinrichs, K.-U., Pearson, A. (2015). Nitrification controls GDGT production and export in water column profiles from the western Atlantic Ocean. 27th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry (IMOG), Prague, Czech Republic, September 2015.
  • Elling, F.J., Könneke, M., Lipp, J.S., Mußmann, M., Hinrichs, K.U. (2014). Effect of environmental and physiological parameters on the membrane lipid composition of marine ammonia-oxidizing archaea. Gordon Research Conference on Organic Geochemistry, Holderness, NH, USA, August 2014.
  • Liu, X.-L., Elling, F., Birgel, D., Lipp, J.S., Summons, R.E., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2014). From ether to acid: a biodegradation pathway of archaeal lipids in natural environments and cells. Gordon Research Conference on Organic Geochemistry, Holderness, NH, USA, August 2014.
  • Elling, F.J., Könneke, M., Lipp, J.S., Gagen, E., Thomm, M., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2013). Response of membrane lipid composition to growth conditions in the marine ammonia-oxidizing archaeon Nitrosopumilus maritimus. 26th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry (IMOG), Costa Adeje, Tenerife, Spain, September 2013.
  • Elling, F., Könneke, M., Lipp, J.S., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2013). Growth phase-dependent membrane lipid composition of the marine ammonia-oxidizing archaeon Nitrosopumilus maritimus. Annual Conference of the Association for General and Applied Microbiology (VAAM), Bremen, Germany, March 2013.

Curriculum Vitae

since 01/2016Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvrd University
08/2015-12/2015Postdoctoral researcher, MARUM & Department of Geosciences, University of Bremen
05/2012-08/2015PhD student, MARUM & Department of Geosciences, University of Bremen
01/2012Master thesis in Organic Geochemistry: Microbial carbon cycling in the hypersaline anoxic Orca Basin, northern Gulf of Mexico
10/2009-03/2012M. Sc. Marine Geosciences, Department of Geosciences, University of Bremen
09/2009Bachelor thesis: Changes in the stress field of the Western Alps - Structural & Geological Mapping at the Upper Rhone
10-2006-09/2009B. Sc. Geosciences, Department of Geosciences, University of Bremen

Expeditions

November - December 2010R/V Atlantis & DSV AlvinAT 18-2 Gulf of Mexico brine pools & Deepwater Horizon oil spill (Cruise Blog | Video)
July - September 2010SvalbardSpitsbergen Central Tertiary Basin
May 2009Aiguilles Rouges Massif, Western Alps, SwitzerlandStructural and geological mapping