Dr. S. (Susanne) Wilken
Associate Professor of Aquatic Microbial Ecology
Faculty of Science
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics
Visiting address
- Science Park 904
- Room number: C4.224
Postal address
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Postbus 94240
1090 GE Amsterdam
Contact details
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Profile
Microbes rule...
Aquatic microbes shaped the conditions for life on earth as we know it! With oceans and lakes changing due to anthropogenic activities, understanding the complex microbial interaction networks that drive biogeochemical cycles is a prerequisite for predicting what the future might bring. My work focusses on eukaryotic microbes, their interactions, and strategies of resource acquisition.
Half 'plant' - half 'animal'
I am particularly fascinated by organisms that combine a ‘plant-like’ with an ‘animal-like’ lifestyle. By both photosynthesizing and feeding on other microbes these mixotrophs assume the roles of both primary producers and consumers, raising many questions about their physiology as well as consequences for carbon and nutrient cycling.
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CV
Education
2013 - PhD, University of Utrecht, Mixotrophs in aquatic ecosystems: linking physiology to food web dynamics
2007 - MSc, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Impact of iron limitation on the mechanical stability and silica metabolism of diatoms
Professional Experience
2023 – present Associate Professor, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics
2018 – 2023 Assistant Professor, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics
2015 – 2018 Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, USA, and Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC), Barcelona, ES
2013 – 2015 Postdoctoral Researcher, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, USA
2013 Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Aquatic Ecology, Lund University, Lund, SE
2008 – 2013 PhD Student, Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Wageningen, NL
2009 – 2010 Guest Researcher, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, NL
2007 Junior Researcher; Leibniz-Institute of Marine Research (GEOMAR), Kiel, DE
2005 – 2006 Student Research Assistant, Leibniz-Institute of Marine Research (GEOMAR), Kiel, DE and
Alfred Wegener-Institute of Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, DE
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Publications
- refereed (36)
- academic (1)
- conference contributions (1)
- supervised theses (1)
- doctoral thesis (1)
- datasets (2)
2025
- Duijser, C. M., van Oostveen, R. S., Girard, E. B., Renema, W., & Wilken, S. (2025). Light and temperature niches of the large benthic foraminifer Heterostegina depressa. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 313, 109075. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2024.109075
- Slomka, S., Verspagen, J. M. H., Huisman, J., & Wilken, S. (2025). Variable responses to ocean acidification among mixotrophic protists with different lifestyles. ISME Communications, 5(1), ycaf064. https://doi.org/10.1093/ismeco/ycaf064
Wilken, S., & McManus, G. (2025). Introduction to the themed section “Mixotrophs and mixoplankton: conceptual integration into aquatic research”. Journal of plankton research, 47(1), Article fbae056. https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbae056 [details]
2024
- Barilo, A., Engelen, A., Wilken, S., Bouwmeester, H., & Muyzer, G. (2024). Shifts in sulphur-cycling bacteria in the rhizobiome support the adaptation of Caulerpa prolifera to elevated sulphide levels. Frontiers in Marine Science, 11, Article 1445441. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1445441 [details]
- Koppelle, S., Ivanković, M., Bengtsson, M. M., Preiler, C., Huisman, J., Brussaard, C. P. D., Engelmann, J. C., Ptáčník, R., & Wilken, S. (2024). Contrasting responses of different mixotrophic protists to light and nutrient availability. Limnology and Oceanography, 69(5), 1233-1246. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.12565 [details]
- Millette, N. C., Leles, S. G., Johnson, M. D., Maloney, A. E., Brownlee, E. F., Cohen, N. R., Duhamel, S., Poulton, N. J., Princiotta, S. D., Stamieszkin, K., Wilken, S., & Moeller, H. V. (2024). Recommendations for advancing mixoplankton research through empirical-model integration. Frontiers in Marine Science, 11, Article 1392673. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1392673
2023
- Eckmann, C., Eberle, J., Wittmers, F., Wilken, S., Bergauer, K., Poirier, C., Blum, M., Makareviciute-Fichtner, K., Jimenez, V., Bachy, C., Vermeij, M. J. A., & Worden, A. Z. (2023). Eukaryotic algal community composition in tropical environments from solar salterns to the open sea. Frontiers in Marine Science, 10, Article 1131351. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1131351
- Hehenberger, E., Guo, J., Wilken, S., Hoadley, K., Sudek, L., Poirier, C., Dannebaum, R., Susko, E., & Worden, A. Z. (2023). Phosphate limitation responses in marine green algae are linked to reprogramming of the tRNA epitranscriptome and codon usage bias. Molecular Biology and evolution, 40(12), Article msad251. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msad251
- Millette, N., Gast, R., Luo, J., Moeller, H., Stamieszkin, K., Andersen, K., Brownlee, E., Cohen, N., Duhamel, S., Dutkiewicz, S., Glibert, P., Johnson, M., Leles, S., Maloney, A., McManus, G., Poulton, N., Princiotta, S., Sanders, R., & Wilken, S. (2023). Mixoplankton and mixotrophy: future research priorities. Journal of plankton research, 45(4), 576-596. https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbad020
- Wilken, S., Yung, C. C. M., Poirier, C., Massana, R., Jimenez, V., & Worden, A. Z. (2023). Choanoflagellates alongside diverse uncultured predatory protists consume the abundant open-ocean cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120(27), Article e2302388120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2302388120 [details]
2022
- Koppelle, S., López-Escardó, D., Brussaard, C. P. D., Huisman, J., Philippart, C. J. M., Massana, R., & Wilken, S. (2022). Mixotrophy in the bloom-forming genus Phaeocystis and other haptophytes. Harmful Algae, 117, Article 102292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hal.2022.102292 [details]
- Needham, D. M., Poirier, C., Bachy, C., George, E. E., Wilken, S., Yung, C. C. M., Limardo, A. J., Morando, M., Sudek, L., Malmstrom, R. R., Keeling, P. J., Santoro, A. E., & Worden, A. Z. (2022). The microbiome of a bacterivorous marine choanoflagellate contains a resource-demanding obligate bacterial associate. Nature Microbiology, 7(9), 1466-1479. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-022-01174-0
2021
- Schon, M. E., Zlatogursky, V. V., Singh, R. P., Poirier, C., Wilken, S., Mathur, V., Strassert, J. F. H., Pinhassi, J., Worden, A. Z., Keeling, P. J., Ettema, T. J. G., Wideman, J. G., & Burki, F. (2021). Single cell genomics reveals plastid-lacking Picozoa are close relatives of red algae. Nature Communications, 12, Article 6651. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26918-0 [details]
2020
- Choi, C. J., Jimenez, V., Needham, D. M., Poirier, C., Bachy, C., Alexander, H., Wilken, S., Chavez, F. P., Sudek, S., Giovannoni, S. J., & Worden, A. Z. (2020). Seasonal and Geographical Transitions in Eukaryotic Phytoplankton Community Structure in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Frontiers in Microbiology, 11, Article 542372. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.542372 [details]
- Labarre, A., Obiol, A., Wilken, S., Forn, I., & Massana, R. (2020). Expression of genes involved in phagocytosis in uncultured heterotrophic flagellates. Limnology and Oceanography, 65(S1), S149-S160. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11379 [details]
- Wilken, S., Choi, C. J., & Worden, A. Z. (2020). Contrasting nutritional strategies in two closely related marine mixotrophic chrysophytes. Journal of phycology, 56(1), 52-67. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpy.12920 [details]
2019
- Needham, D. M., Yoshizawa, S., Hosaka, T., Poirier, C., Choi, C. J., Hehenberger, E., Irwin, N. A. T., Wilken, S., Yung, C.-M., Bachy, C., Kurihara, R., Nakajima, Y., Kojima, K., Kimura-Someya, T., Leonard, G., Malmstrom, R. R., Mende, D. R., Olson, D. K., Sudo, Y., ... Worden, A. Z. (2019). A distinct lineage of giant viruses brings a rhodopsin photosystem to unicellular marine predators. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116(41), 20574-20583. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1907517116 [details]
- Wilken, S., Yung, C. C. M., Hamilton, M., Hoadley, K., Nzongo, J., Eckmann, C., Corrochano-Luque, M., Poirier, C., & Worden, A. Z. (2019). The need to account for cell biology in characterizing predatory mixotrophs in aquatic environments. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B - Biological Sciences, 374(1786), Article 20190090. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0090 [details]
2018
- Guo, J., Wilken, S., Jimenez, V., Choi, C. J., Ansong, C., Dannebaum, R., Sudek, L., Milner, D. S., Bachy, C., Reistetter, E. N., Elrod, V. A., Klimov, D., Purvine, S. O., Wei, C-L., Kunde-Ramamoorthy, G., Richards, T. A., Goodenough, U., Smith, R. D., Callister, S. J., & Worden, A. Z. (2018). Specialized proteomic responses and an ancient photoprotection mechanism sustain marine green algal growth during phosphate limitation. Nature Microbiology, 3(7), 781-790. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-018-0178-7 [details]
- Orsi, W. D., Wilken, S., Del Campo, J., Heger, T., James, E., Richards, T. A., Keeling, P. J., Worden, A. Z., & Santoro, A. E. (2018). Identifying protist consumers of photosynthetic picoeukaryotes in the surface ocean using stable isotope probing. Environmental Microbiology, 20(2), 815-827. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.14018
- Wilken, S., Soares, M., Urrutia-Cordero, P., Ratcovich, J., Ekvall, M. K., Van Donk, E., & Hansson, L. A. (2018). Primary producers or consumers? Increasing phytoplankton bacterivory along a gradient of lake warming and browning. Limnology and Oceanography, 63(S1), S142-S155. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.10728
2017
- Urrutia-Cordero, P., Ekvall, M. K., Ratcovich, J., Soares, M., Wilken, S., Zhang, H., & Hansson, L-A. (2017). Phytoplankton diversity loss along a gradient of future warming and brownification in freshwater mesocosms. Freshwater Biology, 62(11), 1869-1878. https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.13027
2016
- Mitra, A., Flynn, K. J., Tillmann, U., Raven, J. A., Caron, D., Stoecker, D. K., Not, F., Hansen, P. J., Hallegraeff, G., Sanders, R., Wilken, S., McManus, G., Johnson, M., Pitta, P., Vage, S., Berge, T., Calbet, A., Thingstad, F., Jeong, H. J., ... Lundgren, V. (2016). Defining Planktonic Protist Functional Groups on Mechanisms for Energy and Nutrient Acquisition: Incorporation of Diverse Mixotrophic Strategies. PROTIST, 167(2), 106-120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.protis.2016.01.003
- Orsi, W. D., Smith, J. M., Liu, S., Liu, Z., Sakamoto, C. M., Wilken, S., Poirier, C., Richards, T. A., Keeling, P. J., Worden, A. Z., & Santoro, A. E. (2016). Diverse, uncultivated bacteria and archaea underlying the cycling of dissolved protein in the ocean. ISME Journal, 10(9), 2158-2173. https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2016.20
- Worden, A. Z., & Wilken, S. (2016). A plankton bloom shifts as the ocean warms. Science, 354(6310), 287-288. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaj1751
2015
- Sassenhagen, I., Wilken, S., Godhe, A., & Rengefors, K. (2015). Phenotypic plasticity and differentiation in an invasive freshwater microalga. Harmful Algae, 41, 38-45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hal.2014.11.001
- Worden, A. Z., Follows, M. J., Giovannoni, S. J., Wilken, S., Zimmerman, A. E., & Keeling, P. J. (2015). Rethinking the marine carbon cycle: Factoring in the multifarious lifestyles of microbes. Science, 347(6223). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1257594
2014
- McRose, D., Guo, J., Monier, A., Sudek, S., Wilken, S., Yan, S., Mock, T., Archibald, J. M., Begley, T. P., Reyes-Prieto, A., & Worden, A. Z. (2014). Alternatives to vitamin B-1 uptake revealed with discovery of riboswitches in multiple marine eukaryotic lineages. ISME Journal, 8(12), 2517-2529. https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2014.146
- Mitra, A., Flynn, K. J., Burkholder, J. M., Berge, T., Calbet, A., Raven, J. A., Granéli, E., Glibert, P. M., Hansen, P. J., Stoecker, D. K., Thingstad, F., Tillmann, U., Väge, S., Wilken, S., & Zubkov, M. V. (2014). The role of mixotrophic protists in the biological carbon pump. Biogeosciences, 11(4), 995-1005. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-995-2014
- Wilken, S., Schuurmans, J. M., & Matthijs, H. C. P. (2014). Do mixotrophs grow as photoheterotrophs? Photophysiological acclimation of the chrysophyte Ochromonas danica after feeding. New Phytologist, 204(4), 882-889. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.12975 [details]
- Wilken, S., Verspagen, J. M. H., Naus-Wiezer, S., van Donk, E., & Huisman, J. (2014). Biological control of toxic cyanobacteria by mixotrophic predators: an experimental test of intraguild predation theory. Ecological Applications, 24(5), 1235-1249. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-0218.1 [details]
- Wilken, S., Verspagen, J. M. H., Naus-Wiezer, S., van Donk, E., & Huisman, J. (2014). Comparison of predator-prey interactions with and without intraguild predation by manipulation of the nitrogen source. Oikos, 123(4), 423-432. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2013.00736.x [details]
2013
- Wilken, S., Huisman, J., Naus-Wiezer, S., & Van Donk, E. (2013). Mixotrophic organisms become more heterotrophic with rising temperature. Ecology Letters, 16(2), 225-233. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12033 [details]
2011
- Wilken, S., Hoffmann, B., Hersch, N., Kirchgessner, N., Dieluweit, S., Rubner, W., Hoffmann, L. J., Merkel, R., & Peeken, I. (2011). Diatom frustules show increased mechanical strength and altered valve morphology under iron limitation. Limnology and Oceanography, 56(4), 1399-1410. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2011.56.4.1399
2010
- Wilken, S., Wiezer, S., Huisman, J., & van Donk, E. (2010). Microcystins do not provide anti-herbivore defence against mixotrophic flagellates. Aquatic Microbial Ecology, 59(3), 207-216. https://doi.org/10.3354/ame01395 [details]
2009
- Van Donk, E., Cerbin, S., Wilken, S., Helmsing, N. R., Ptacnik, R., & Verschoor, A. M. (2009). The effect of a mixotrophic chrysophyte on toxic and colony-forming cyanobacteria. Freshwater Biology, 54(9), 1843-1855. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2009.02227.x
2022
- Bachy, C., Hehenberger, E., Ling, Y.-C., Needham, D. M., Strauss, J., Wilken, S., & Worden, A. Z. (2022). Marine Protists: A Hitchhiker’s Guide to their Role in the Marine Microbiome. In The Marine Microbiome (pp. 159-241). (The Microbiomes of Humans, Animals, Plants, and the Environment; Vol. 3). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90383-1_4
2009
- Wilken, S., Huisman, J., & van Donk, E. (2009). Do microcystins act as an inducible defense against flagellate grazing in Microcystis aeruginosa?. Poster session presented at Annual Congress of the American Society for Limnology and Oceanography, .
2013
- Wilken, S. (2013). Mixotrophs in aquatic ecosystems: linking physiology to food web dynamics.
2019
- Wilken, S., Yung, C., Hamilton, M., Hoadley, K., Nzongo, J., Eckmann, C., Poirier, C., Worden, A. Z. & Corrochano-Luque, M. (2019). Flow cytometry data and taxonomic information for sorted cells from The need to account for cell biology in characterizing predatory mixotrophs in aquatic environments.. The Royal Society. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.9730847.v2
2016
- Wilken, S., Verspagen, J. M. H., Naus-Wiezer, S., Huisman, J. & Van Donk, E. (2016). Appendix A. Detailed methods of additional experiments to explain the lack of biological control at high nitrogen loads.. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3519638.v1
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Ancillary activities
- No ancillary activities
Wilken, S., & McManus, G. (2025). Introduction to the themed section “Mixotrophs and mixoplankton: conceptual integration into aquatic research”. Journal of plankton research, 47(1), Article fbae056.