zmb - LIB

Reading out genetic information

DNA and RNA contain a wealth of information about how changes in nature affect organisms and the extent to which all species and strains of life are related to each other. By reading out genetic information, natural reservoirs of potential pathogens can also be decoded. At the Centre for Molecular Biodiversity Research (zmb) , our scientists use a comprehensive technical infrastructure.

Methods and techniques

Using various methods and techniques, some of which they have developed themselves, they generate molecular reference data and analyse samples from recent monitoring programmes as well as historical specimens from scientific collections. The information obtained provides them with the basis for analysing molecular and morphological changes in species or for differentiating between species.

Biobank

The enormous amounts of data generated during sequencing are analysed on our own high-performance computers, linked together and processed for further investigations. The biobank at the zmb stores tens of thousands of valuable tissue, DNA and RNA samples as well as thousands of cell cultures in ultra-low temperatures as a collection for future generations of researchers.

What is the biobank?

Sections | of 11

Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research (zmb)
Molecular biodiversity
Bonn
Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research (zmb)
Comparative Genomics (Vertebrates) Bonn
Bonn
Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research (zmb)
Comparative genomics (Insects) Bonn
Bonn
Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research (zmb)
Bioinformatics, HPC
Bonn
Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research (zmb)
Statistical Phylogenomics and Machine Learning
Bonn
Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research (zmb)
Evolutionary Genomics - Bonn
Bonn
Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research (zmb)
Leibniz Junior Research Group - Minnows
Hamburg
Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research (zmb)
Phylogenetics and Phylogenomics
Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research (zmb)
Central units
Biobank
Hamburg
Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research (zmb)
Central units
Invertebrate Genomics, Molecular Laboratory Hamburg
Bonn
Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research (zmb)
Central units
Molecular Evolution, Molecular Laboratory Bonn

Prof. Dr. Alexander Suh

Head of Centre for Molecular Biodiversity Research (zmb)
Head of Section Molecular Biodiversity

Phone: +49 228 9122 289
E-Mail: a.suh@leibniz-lib.de

Marijke Essink-Argentato

Centre assistance

Phone: +49 40 238317 700
E-Mail: m.essink-argentato@leibniz-lib.de

M.A. Franziska Neff

Centre assistance

Phone: +49 40 228 9122 187
E-Mail: f.neff@leibniz-lib.de

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2026

2026/06
De Keyzer, E.L.R., Herder, F., Böhne, A., Jiménez, F.C., Burskaia, V., Kukowka, S., Tracey, A., Denton, A.L., Oatley, G., Mokodongan, D.F., Wowor, D., Svardal, H.
Show more...
Ancient and Recent Riverine Gene Flow Contributed to the Adaptive Radiation of Sailfin Silversides in Wallace's Dreampond
Molecular Ecology, 11, 35
2026/06
Tünde Nyíri, V., Sramkó, G., Cserkész, T., Szatmári, L., Böhne, A., Monteiro, R., Marcussen, T., Oomen, R.A., Struck, T.H., Melo-Ferreira, J., Pimenta, J., Gut, M., Aguilera, L., Câmara Ferreira, F., Cruz, F., Gómez-Garrido, J., Alioto, T.S., Martin, F., Sinha, S., Haggerty, L., Bortoluzzi, C.
Show more...
ERGA-BGE reference genome of the European hamster (Cricetuscricetus), an IUCN critically endangered species of the Eurasian steppe
Open Research Europe, 6
2026/06
Manousaki, T., Dendrinos, P., Vasileiadou, K., Sarropoulou, X., Tsigenopoulos, C.S., Dailianis, T., Tounta, E., Vogiatzis, N., Komnenou, A., Böhne, A., Monteiro, R., Fernández, R., Escudero, N., Bunikis, I., Tellgren-Roth, C., Mosbech, M., Dias, G.B., Vinnere Pettersson, O., Bortoluzzi, C.
Show more...
ERGA-BGE reference genome of the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachusmonachus), an IUCN Vulnerable species
Open Research Europe, 6
2026/05
Bolanakis, G., Karakasi, D., Bitzilekis, E., Stratakis, M., Trichas, A., Lymberakis, P., Poulakakis, N., Böhne, A., Monteiro, R., Fernández, R., Escudero, N., Genoscope Sequencing Team, ., Moussy, A., Cruaud, C., Labadie, K., Demirdjian, L., Téodori, E., Wincker, P., H. Oliveira, P., Aury, J., Bortoluzzi, C.
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ERGA-BGE genome of Dailognathaquadricollis, an East Mediterranean darkling beetle
Open Research Europe, 5
2026/05
Pieplow, J., Colgan, T.J., de Souza Araujo, N., Stolle, E.
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The role of the sex determination cascade in the development of caste polyphenisms
Current Opinion in Insect Science
2026/05
Struck, T.H., Marcussen, T., Böhne, A., Fernández, R., Melo-Ferreira, J., Florent, I., Gissi, C., de Guttry, C., Leonard, J.A., McTaggart, S., Mazzoni, C.J., Monteiro, R., Vinnere Pettersson, O., Pimenta, J., Pohjoismäki, J., Reichel, K., Tarieiev, A., Oomen, R.A.
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An automated decision-making procedure for ranking and selecting species in biodiversity projects
npj Biodiversity
2026/05
Uliano-Silva, M., da Conceição, H.B., Mercuri, R.L.V., Winkler, S., Guardia, G.D.A., Myers, E., McCarthy, S., Tracey, A., Suh, A., Blaxter, M., Galante, P.A.F., Mazzoni, C.J.
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Elevated retrocopy burden and sloth-specific expansions illuminate mammalian genome evolution
BMC Biology
2026/05
Valencia-Cárdenas, V.M., Kulikov, N., Contreras-Martín, R., Ruiz-Ruano, F.J., Ben Hamadou, A., Greve, C., Estekani, S., Vaz, D.F.B., Ord, T.J., Irisarri, I.
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The nuclear and mitochondrial genomes of the lined rockskipper, Istiblennius lineatus (Teleostei: Blenniidae)
Genome Biology and Evolution
2026/05
De Keyzer, E.L.R., Herder, F., Böhne, A., Campuzano Jiménez, F., Burskaia, V., Kukowka, S., Tracey, A., Denton, A., Oatley, G., Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life, p., Wellcome Sanger Institute Scientific Operations, D.P.c., Tree of Life, C.I.c., Mokodongan, D.F., Wowor, D., Svardal, H.
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Ancient and recent riverine gene flow contributed to the adaptive radiation of sailfin silversides in Wallace's Dreampond
Molecular Ecology
2026/05
Taboada, S., Gracia-Sancha, C., Galià-Camps, C., Böhne, A., Monteiro, R., Marcussen, T., Oomen, R.A., Struck, T.H., Gut, M., Aguilera, L., Câmara Ferreira, F., Cruz, F., Gómez-Garrido, J., Alioto, T.S., Martin, F., Lazar, A., Haggerty, L., Bortoluzzi, C.
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ERGA-BGE reference genome of Xylophaga dorsalis - a common deep-sea wood-boring bivalve with Atlantic-Mediterranean distribution
Open Research Europe, 6
2026/05
Nuriddinov, M., Malinovskaya, L., Bobrovskikh, A., Gridina, M., Serdyukova, N.A., Suh, A., Ruiz-Ruano, F.J., Torgasheva, A.
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Chromosome-level genome assembly of the sand martin (Riparia riparia)
Scientific data
2026/04
Kück, P., Suh, A.
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Persistent conflict in palaeognath phylogeny revealed by quartet-based and ML analyses
Frontiers in Zoology
2026/04
Maurstad, M.F., Kusy, D., Undheim, E.A.B., Jakobsen, K.S., Böhne, A., Monteiro, R., Marcussen, T., Struck, T.H., Oomen, R.A., Bunikis, I., Tellgren-Roth, C., Heintz, J., Häggqvist, S., Jonsäll, L., Lager, N., Larva, T., Mosbech, M., Pippel, M., Vinnere Pettersson, O., Bortoluzzi, C.
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ERGA-BGE reference genome of Osmylusfulvicephalus, the giant stream lacewing, Europe's representative of the family Osmylidae
Open Research Europe, 6
2026/04
Muñoz-Sánchez, Á., Kulikov, N., Irisarri, I.
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Stitch or Cluster? A Comparison of Alternative Phylogenomic Dataset Assembly Strategies for Blenny fish.
Bulletin of the Society of Systematic Biologists, 1, 5
2026/04
VENCES, M., PATMANIDIS, S., KULIKOV, N., IRISARRI, I., SCHULZ, A., ROTHE, L., PETZOLD, A., SCHERZ, M.D., MIRALLES, A.
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BlasTax—a user-friendly stand-alone tool to leverage the BLAST+ program for molecular taxonomy
Megataxa, 2, 19
2026/04
Georgakakis, P., Karakasi, D., Lymberakis, P., Papadimitrakis, M., Stratakis, M., Bitzilekis, E., Poulakakis, N., Böhne, A., Monteiro, R., Fernández, R., Escudero, N., Genoscope Sequencing Team, ., Moussy, A., Cruaud, C., Labadie, K., Demirdjian, L., Mangenot, S., Belser, C., Wincker, P., Oliveira, P.H., Aury, J., Haggerty, L., Sinha, S., Martin, F., Bortoluzzi, C.
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ERGA-BGE reference genome of the forest-restricted Cretan subspecies of Hanak's bat (Pipistrellus hanaki creticus), an IUCN Vulnerable species
Open Research Europe, 5
2026/03
Schlebusch, S.A., Trifonov, V., Halenková, Z., Klianitskaya, M., Dedukh, D., Ruiz-Herrera, A., Álvarez-González, L., Pujol, G., Hřibová, E., Andjel, L., Bartoš, O., Pajer, P., Tichopád, T., Kulik, D., Kotusz, J., Kaštánková Doležálková, M., Böhne, A., Marta, A., Horna, P., Reifová, R., Guiguen, Y., Kuhl, H., Pačes, J., Janko, K.
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Sex chromosome turnover and structural genome divergence shapes meiotic outcomes in hybridising Cobitis
Gigascience
2026/03
Chen, A., Ruiz-Ruano, F.J., Contreras-López, O., Fouché, S., Suh, A., Pei, Y.
Show more...
Paralog-aware assembly and filtering strategies reveal minimal nucleotide variation on the macro germline-restricted chromosome of the zebra finch
Heredity
2026/03
Kozel, P., Bončina, A., Bužan, E., Böhne, A., Monteiro, R., Fernández, R., Escudero, N., Gut, M., Aguilera, L., Câmara Ferreira, F., Cruz, F., Gómez-Garrido, J., Alioto, T.S., Martin, F., Paola Barrera Enriquez, V., Haggerty, L., Bortoluzzi, C.
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ERGA-BGE genome of Leiobunumsubalpinum - a montane-subalpine harvestman species endemic to the eastern Alps
Open Research Europe, 6
2026/03
Salces-Ortiz, J., Eleftheriadi, K., Fernandez-Álvarez, F.Á., Fernández, R., Böhne, A., Monteiro, R., Marcussen, T., H. Struck, T., A. Oomen, R., Gut, M., Aguilera, L., Câmara Ferreira, F., Cruz, F., Gómez-Garrido, J., S. Alioto, T., Martin, F., Lazar, A., Haggerty, L., Bortoluzzi, C.
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ERGA-BGE reference genome of Phorcus turbinatus - a water quality biomarker and species distributed along the Mediterranean coast
Open Research Europe, 6
2026/03
Heil, K., Alioto, T., Böhne, A., Brown, T., Chadwick, E., Chua, P., de Guttry, C., De Panis, D., Goble, C., Gut, I., Gut, M., Juty, N., McTaggart, S., Najera-Cortazar, L., Paupério, J., Rewicz, T., Shaw, F., Soiland-Reyes, S., Waterhouse, R., Woollard, P., Vos, R.
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Integrating the biodiversity genomics continuum: harmonising data from barcodes to reference genomes
Research Ideas and Outcomes, 12
2026/03
Lopes, R.J., Böhne, A., Marcussen, T., Oomen, R.A., Struck, T.H., Aguilera, L., Gut, M., Câmara Ferreira, F., Cruz, F., Gómez-Garrido, J., Alioto, T.S., Monteiro, R.
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ERGA-BGE reference genome of the Azores Bullfinch - Pyrrhula murina Godman, 1866: an IUCN vulnerable species endemic to a single island in the Azores Archipelago (Portugal)
Open Research Europe, 5
2026/03
Vasileiadou, K., Manousaki, T., Böhne, A., Fernández, R., Escudero, N., Genoscope Sequencing Team, ., Moussy, A., Cruaud, C., Labadie, K., Demirdjian, L., Istace, B., Couloux, A., Wincker, P., H. Oliveira, P., Aury, J., Monteiro, R.
Show more...
ERGA-BGE reference genome of Diadema setosum: the Black Longspine Urchin invading the Mediterranean sea
Open Research Europe, 6
2026/02
Meng, G., Carvalho, L.S., Podsiadlowski, L., Huber, B.A.
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Low coverage whole genome sequencing reveals a new subfamily of daddy long-legs spiders from Brazilian Caatinga (Araneae: Pholcidae)
Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny, 84
2026/02
Kück, P., Wilkinson, M.
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Clarifying Xenacoelomorpha phylogeny: A polarized quartet-based analysis with SeaLion
Gene

Reading out genetic information

Methods and techniques

Biobank

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