We are colonized by a myriad of microorganisms including bacteria, fungi and viruses – the so-called “human microbiota”. Research efforts in the last decade revealed an important role of microbiota for our health, where dysbiosed, instable microbiota have been recognized to initiate and promote endemic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, liver diseases and cardiovascular disease, as well as neurological and psychiatric disorders. Furthermore, our microbiota serves as a placeholder that provides colonization resistance against pathogens preventing infectious diseases.

Working in close collaboration with clinicians we apply “Next- and Third-Generation (Oxford Nanopore)” Sequencing (“-omics”) techniques aiming to elucidate the role of human microbiota in health and disease. Bioinformatics and statistical analyses, included AI-based techniques, are in focus and coupled with ecological theory to reveal major, biological meaningful patterns. Experiments are complemented by diverse cultivation techniques (batch and continuous culture) and molecular methods in order to test hypotheses under defined conditions. Together with the Department of Gastroenterology we started the initiative "translational, gastrointestinal microbiome research". Furthermore, sequencing-based methods bear great potential for diagnostics enabling fast and comprehensive measures against infectious diseases.

Particular focus is given on specific functions of gut microbiota that affect host health. On the one hand, bacteria produce health sustaining metabolites such as vitamins and short chain fatty acids, on the other hand, certain microbe-derived products are harmful, for instance trimethylamine that is linked to the development of nephrological and cardiovascular disease. Our goal is to develop new treatment strategies, such as individualized dietary interventions, targeting those specific features of gut microbiota.

Our research is supported by the DFG, the DZIF, the Volkswagen Foundation, the BMBF and RESIST II.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Marius-Vital

Members of the Work Group Vital

Most important publications:

• Buttler L, Velázquez-Ramírez DA, Tiede A, Conradi AM, Woltemate S, Geffers R, Bremer B, Spielmann V, Kahlhöfer J, Kraft ARM, Schlüter D, Wedemeyer H, Cornberg M, Falk C, Vital M*, Maasoumy B*. 2025.  Distinct clusters of bacterial and fungal microbiota in end-stage liver cirrhosis correlate with antibiotic treatment, intestinal barrier impairment, and systemic inflammation. Gut Microbes. 17(1):2487209. * equal contribution
• Goldschmidt I, Kramer M, Junge N, Ouro-Djobo N, Poets A, Rathert M, Geffers R, Baumann U, Hartleben B, Schulze KD, Woltemate S, Vital M. 2025. Short-term and long-term development of gut microbiota in children after liver transplantation-A prospective observational trial. Liver Transpl. 2025 Jun 30. Epub ahead of print.
• Van-Wehle T, Vital M. 2024. Investigating the response of the butyrate production potential to major fibers in dietary intervention studies. NPJ Biofilms Microbiomes. 10(1):63.
• Happ E, Schulze K, Afrin Z, Woltemate S, Görner P, Ziesing S, Schlüter D, Geffers R, Winstel V, Vital M. 2024. Gut microbiota-derived butyrate selectively interferes with growth of carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli based on their resistance mechanism. Gut Microbes. 16(1):2397058.
• Kircher B, Woltemate S, Gutzki F, Schlüter D, Geffers R, Bähre H, Vital M. 2022. Predicting butyrate- and propionate-forming bacteria of gut microbiota from sequencing data. Gut Microbes. 14(1):2149019.
• Vital M, Ruth T, Rath S, Pieper DH, Schlüter D. 2019. Diversity of bacteria exhibiting bile acid-inducible 7α-dehydroxylation genes in the human gut. Comput Struct Biotechnol J. 17:1016-19.
• Rath S, Ruth T, Pieper DH, Vital M. 2018. Pathogenic functions of host microbiota. Microbiome 6:174.
• Vital M, Karch A, Pieper DH. 2017. Colonic butyrate-producing communities in humans: an overview using Omics data. mSystems. 00130-17.
• Rath S, Heidrich B, Pieper DH, Vital M. 2017.  Uncovering the trimethylamine-producing bacteria of the human gut microbiota. Microbiome. 5:54.
• Vital M, Howe AC, Tiedje JM. 2014. Revealing the butyrate synthesis pathways from (meta)genomic data. mBio. 5(2);e00889-14.