The Sunagawa Lab - Microbiome Research
Prof. Shinichi Sunagawa

ETH Zürich
Institut für Mikrobiologie
HCI F 417
Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 4
8093 Zürich
How to find us [external page link]
email:
Microbial Communities in a Chaning World
We study microbial communities across a range of ecosystems, including the global ocean, coastal aerosols, and the human gut. Our research combines genome-resolved meta’omic data with environmental context to understand the ecological and evolutionary processes shaping microbial diversity and function. We develop taxon-centric bioinformatic tools and genomic reference resources, and apply both computational and experimental approaches to uncover the mechanisms behind microbial interactions. We aim to use these insights to support applications in ecosystem monitoring, conservation, and public engagement.
Selected publications

The mOTUs online database provides web-accessible genomic context to taxonomic profiling of microbial communities
Dmitrijeva M*, Ruscheweyh HJ*, Feer L, Li K, Miravet-Verde S, Sintsova A, Mende DR, Zeller G, Sunagawa S✉
external page Nucleic Acids Res: gkae1004, 2024

Cultivation-independent genomes greatly expand taxonomic-profiling capabilities of mOTUs across various environments
Ruscheweyh HJ*, Milanese A*, Paoli L, Karcher N, Clayssen Q, Keller MI, Wirbel J, Bork P, Mende DR, Zeller G✉, Sunagawa S✉
external page Microbiome: 10, 212, 2022

Biosynthetic potential of the global ocean microbiome
Paoli L, Ruscheweyh HJ*, Forneris CC*, Hubrich F*, Kautsar S, Bhushan A, Lotti A, Clayssen Q, Salazar G, Milanese A, Carlstrom CI, Papadopoulou C, Gehrig D, [...], Robinson SL✉, Piel J✉, Sunagawa S✉
external page Nature: 607(7917), 111-118, 2022

Exact genomic locations of inducible prophages and accurate phage-to-host ratios in gut microbial strains
Zünd M, Ruscheweyh HJ, Field CM, Meyer, N, Cuenca M, Hoces D, Hardt WD, Sunagawa S✉
external page Microbiome: 9, 77, 2021

Tara Oceans: towards global ocean ecosystems biology
Sunagawa S✉, Acinas SG, Bork P, Bowler C, Tara Oceans Coordinators, Eveillard D, Gorsky G, Guidi L, Iudicone D, Karsenti E, Lombard F, Ogata H, Pesant S, Sullivan MB, Wincker P, de Vargas C✉
external page Nat Rev Microbiol: 18(8), 428-445, 2020

Gene expression changes and community turnover differentially shape the global ocean metatranscriptome
Salazar G*, Paoli L*, Alberti A, Huerta-Cepas J, Ruscheweyh HJ, Cuenca M, Field CM, Coelho LP, [...] and Sunagawa S✉
external page Cell: 179(5), 1068-1083, 2019

Structure and function of the global ocean microbiome
Sunagawa S*✉, Coelho LP*, Chaffron S*, Kultima JR, Labadie K, Salazar G, [...], Wincker P, Karsenti E, Raes J✉, Acinas SG✉, Bork P✉
external page Science: 348(6237), 1261359, 2015