The overarching aim of my research is to identify fundamental biological processes that govern the adaptation and evolution of marine microalgae (Phytoplankton) and their microbiomes (e.g. bacteria) in the oceans. I want to know how things work from small to large scale. To meet this aim, I integrate approaches from cell biology, reverse genetics, molecular evolution, physiology, multi-omics and ecology. I focus on marine algae and their microbiomes because they contribute ca. 50% of annual global carbon fixation and therefore play key roles in maintaining the habitability of our Earth. Thus, to reveal their adaptation and (co)evolution with associated microbes (e.g. bacteria and viruses) in the context of biotic and abiotic interactions in different marine systems will help us to improve predictions on how algal microbiomes respond to global climate change. 

Selected Recent Publications

• Haoyu Jin, Chao Zhang, Siyu Meng, Qin Wang, Xiaokun Ding, Ling Meng, Yunyun Zhuang, Xiaohong Yao, Yang Gao, Feng Shi, Thomas Mock, Huiwang Gao (2024) Atmospheric deposition and river runoff stimulate the utilization of dissolved organic phosphorous in coastal seas. Nature Communications (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-44838-7) 
• Melody Clark, Joseph Hoffman, Lloyd Peck, Luca Bargelloni, Darjan Gande, Charlotte Haverman, Bettina Meyer, Tomaso Patarnello, Tony Phillips, Kathleen Stoof-Leichsenring, David Vendrami, Andreas Beck, Gemma Collins, Michael Friedrich, Kenneth Halanych, Juan Masello, Rebecca Nagel, Karin Noren, Christian Printzen, Micaela Ruiz, Sylke Wohlrab, Burkhard Becker, Kenneth Dumack, Fatemeh Ghaderiardakani, Karin Glaser, Svenja Heesch, Christoph Held, Uwe John, Ulf Karsten, Sarah Kempf, Magnus Lucassen, Anneke Paijmans , Katherina Schimani, Andreas Wallberg, Lea Wunder, Thomas Mock (2023) Multi-omics for studying and understanding polar life. Nature Communications (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-43209-y)
• Jan Strauss, Longji Deng, Shiqiang Gao, Andrew Toseland, Charles Bachy, Chong Zhang, Amy Kirkham, Amanda Hopes, Robert Utting, Eike F. Joest, Alessandro Tagliabue, Christian Loew, Alexandra Z. Worden, Georg Nagel, Thomas Mock (2023) Plastid-localized xanthorhodopsin increases diatom biomass and ecosystems productivity in iron-limited surface oceans. Nature Microbiology (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-023-01498-5) 
• Naihao Ye, Wentao Han, Andrew Toseland, Yitao Wang, Xiao Fan, Dong Xu, Cock van Oosterhout, Sea of Change Consortium, Igor V. Grigoriev, Alessandro Tagliabue, Jian Zhang, Yan Zhang, Jian Ma, Huan Qiu, Youxun Li, Xiaowen Zhang, Thomas Mock (2022) The role of zinc in the adaptive evolution of polar phytoplankton. Nature Ecology and Evolution (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-022-01750-x) 
• Ryoma Kamikawa, Takako Mochizuki, Mika Sakamoto, Yasuhiro Tanizawa, Takuro Nakayama, Ryo Onuma, Ugo Cenci, Daniel Moog, Samuel Speak, Krisztina Sarkozi, Andrew Toseland, Cock van Oosterhout, Kaori Oyama, Misako Kato, Keitaro Kume, Motoki Kayama, Tomonori Azuma, Ken-ichiro Ishii, Hideaki Miyashita, Bernard Henrissat, Vincent Lombard, Joe Win, Sophien Kamoun, Yuichiro Kashiyama, Shigeki Mayama, Shin-ya Miyagishima, Goro Tanifuji, Thomas Mock, Yasukazu Nakamura (2022) Genome evolution of a non-parasitic secondary heterotroph, the diatom Nitzschia putrida. Science Advances (https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abi5075)
• Angela Falciatore & Thomas Mock (Eds.) (2022) The Molecular Life of Diatoms, pp 808, Springer International Publishing (https://link.springer.com/book/9783030924980)
• Kara Martin, Katrin Schmidt, Andrew Toseland, Chris Boulton, Kerrie Barry, Bank Beszteri, Corina Brussaard, Alicia Clum, Chris Daum, Emiley Eloe-Fadrosh, Allison Fong, Brian Foster, Bryce Foster, Michael Ginzburg, Marcel Huntemann, Natalia Ivanova, Nikos Kyrpides, Erika Lindquist, Supratim Mukherjee, Krishnaveni Palaniappan, T.B.K. Reddy, Mariam Rizkallah, Simon Roux, Klaas Timmermans, Susannah Tringe, Willem van de Poll, Neha Varghese, Klaus Valentin, Timothy Lenton, Igor Grigoriev, Richard Leggett, Vincent Moulton, Thomas Mock (2021) The biogeographic differentiation of algal microbiomes in the upper ocean from pole to pole. Nature Communications (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-25646-9)

Publications: EPrints Digital Repository

Co-Director of UEA-OUC Strategic Alliance in Integrative Ocean Science

I teach on various modules at UEA in two different Schools (6010B (ENV), 6021X (ENV), 6005A (ENV), 4001A (ENV), 7017A (BIO)). Most of what I teach: Genetics and Genomics, Biological Oceanography, Marine Biology and Ecology, Environmental Sciences, and Molecular Biology. Furthermore, I teach students at the Ocean University of China (Qingdao) in Marine Sciences from genomes to ecosystems. 

I obtained my MSc (1998) in Biology with emphasis on Biological Oceanography at the Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel (GEOMAR) and the PhD (2003) at Bremen University (AWI), Germany. Before joining the University of East Anglia (UEA) in 2007, most of my PostDoc research was conducted with a fellowship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in the School of Oceanography, University of Washington (E.V. Armbrust lab) in joint cooperation with the Biotechnology Center, University of Wisconsin (M.R. Sussman lab), USA. Before I was promoted to Professor (Personal Chair) in 2014, I was Reader (2012-2014) and had a Research Councils UK (RCUK) Academic Fellowship (2007-2012). I was appointed Adjunct Professor (Teaching & Research) at the College of Environmental Science and Engineering of the Ocean University of China (Qingdao) in 2025 after I have been Guest (Visiting) Professor between 2019 and 2024. In 2024, I was awarded the CAS President’s International Fellowship (12 months) at the Institute of Oceanology (IOCAS), Qingdao.

Websites:

http://www.mocklab.com/

https://www.omicroncr.co.uk/