Chemical Ecology

Chemical Ecology deals with chemical interactions among organisms, with particular reference to communication and defense by pheromones and allomones, respectively. Chemical Ecology also includes the search for novel natural products such as antibiotics or pharmacologically active substances from biological sources.

The “Chemical Ecology-Group” in Graz focuses on exocrine glands of soil-dwelling arthropods such as oil glands in oribatid mites, scent glands in harvestmen, and repugnatorial glands in millipedes. The secretions of these glands exhibit an enormous richness in natural products in taxon-specific patterns: To explain how this stunning chemical diversity in soil organisms evolved (“chemosystematics”), is a major topic of our research. Our methodical repertoire includes