Prof. Dr. Thomas Maskow
Contact
Prof. Dr. Thomas Maskow
Scientist
Department of Microbial Biotechnology
Working Group Ecothermodynamics / Biocalorimetry
Helmholtz Centre for
Environmental Research - UFZ
Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Phone +49 341 6025-1328
thomas.maskow@ufz.de
Research interests
My primary focus is on developing a quantitative understanding of bioconversions in natural and engineered systems—a fundamental step toward achieving sustainable chemistry and effective remediation of polluted environments. I am particularly interested in the application of irreversible thermodynamics, which, despite its potential, remains underutilized in these areas. My work involves creating biothermodynamic models and developing advanced real-time analytical tools to monitor and control complex biological systems.
These models and tools have diverse applications, including the adaptation of microbes to extreme environments, analysis of food webs in ecosystems, innovative approaches to bioenergy production, and the optimization of technical biosyntheses. Future challenges in this field include accounting for heterogeneous systems (such as biofilms and subsurface processes) and integrating additional energy sources, such as light (e.g., photosynthesis) and electrical energy (e.g., microbial fuel cells), into biothermodynamic frameworks.
Current Research Projects
- Investigating the links between energy and matter balances in complex soil systems
- Developing biotechnological processes for the recycling of microplastics
- Constructing biothermodynamic models for complex metabolic and ecosystem networks (systems biology)
- Exploring the bioenergetic role of bacteriophages and predatory bacteria in ecosystems
- Assessing the biological effects of nanoparticles
1988
Diploma in Theoretical and Physical Chemistry,
TU Leuna-Merseburg
1988-1992
PhD, University of Halle-Wittenberg;
Subject: 'Thermodynamics of complex multicomponent mixtures'
1992-1996
Head of the analytical division of the engineering consultants 'R. Meyer Laboranalysen Umwelttechnik GmbH'
1996-2001
Postdoc at the Department of Environmental Microbiology at the UFZ Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig-Halle
since 2001
Senior scientist at the Department of Environmental Microbiology at the UFZ Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig-Halle
2002
Guest researcher at the Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Aberystwyth (University of Wales Aberystwyth College Research Fund)
2004
Guest researcher at the Laboratoire de Genie Chimique et Biologique (LGCB), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (founded by EPFL)
2005
Habilitation at the Technical University Dresden ' Thermodynamic Characterization and Calorimetric Control of Microorganisms in Transient Growth States '.
2006 - 2009
Election in the ' Scientific and Technical Council ' of the Helmholtz Centre of Environmental Research UFZ
2007 - 2009
Guest researcher for one month per year at China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei province, P.R. China (founded by DAAD/CSC)
2010-2012
Chair person of the ISBC (International Society for Biological Calorimetry)
14 June 2018
Awarded with the Lavoisier medal by the International Society for Biological Calorimetry (ISBC)
Since 2023
Co-speaker of the ICTAC (International Confederation for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry)
Since 2023
Professor at the University of Cooperative Education, Riesa, Saxony
Since 2024
Group leader at the Department of Microbial Biotechnology
Recent publications
2024 (10)
- Duong, H.L., Paufler, S., Harms, H., Maskow, T., Schlosser, D. (2024):
Biocalorimetry-aided monitoring of fungal pretreatment of lignocellulosic agricultural residues
Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 108 (1), art. 394 10.1007/s00253-024-13234-y - Fricke, C., Di Lodovico, E., Meyer, M., Maskow, T., Schaumann, G.E. (2024):
Design, calibration and testing of a novel isothermal calorespirometer prototype
Thermochim. Acta 738 , art. 179785 10.1016/j.tca.2024.179785 - Kästner, M., Maskow, T., Miltner, A., Lorenz, M., Thiele-Bruhn, S. (2024):
Assessing energy fluxes and carbon use in soil as controlled by microbial activity - A thermodynamic perspective A perspective paper
Soil Biol. Biochem. 193 , art. 109403 10.1016/j.soilbio.2024.109403 - Kästner, M., Maskow, T., Miltner, A., Lorenz, M., Thiele-Bruhn, S., Bölscher, T., Blagodatsky, S., Streck, T., Pagel, H., Blagodatskaya, E. (2024):
Gibbs energy or enthalpy - What is relevant for microbial C-turnover in soils? A letter to Wang & Kuzyakov, GBC, 2023
Glob. Change Biol. 30 (2), e17183 10.1111/gcb.17183 - Lorenz, M., Maskow, T., Thiele-Bruhn, S. (2024):
Energy stored in soil organic matter is influenced by litter quality and the degree of transformation – A combustion calorimetry study
Geoderma 443 , art. 116846 10.1016/j.geoderma.2024.116846 - Maskow, T., Yang, S., Di Lodovico, E., Rupp, A., Fricke, C., Miltner, A., Kästner, M. (2024):
Expanding understanding: Investigating the information value of calorespirometric ratio in dynamic processes of soil microbial growth using calorimetry
EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024
EGUsphere
Copernicus Publications, EGU24-6520 10.5194/egusphere-egu24-6520 - Stumpf, K., Simon, C., Miltner, A., Maskow, T., Lechtenfeld, O. (2024):
Deciphering the energy use channels in soil organic matter: Impacts of long-term farmyard manure addition and microbial necromass revealed by LC-FT-ICR-MS
ChemRxiv 10.26434/chemrxiv-2024-txqzj - Varsadiya, M., Dehghani, F., Yang, S., Blagodatskaya, E., Maskow, T., Meier, D.V., Lueders, T. (2024):
Carbon and energy utilization in microbial cell extracts from soil
SSRN 10.2139/ssrn.4962119 - Yang, S., Di Lodovico, E., Rupp, A., Harms, H., Fricke, C., Miltner, A., Kaestner, M., Maskow, T. (2024):
Enhancing insights: exploring the information content of calorespirometric ratio in dynamic soil microbial growth processes through calorimetry
Front. Microbiol. 15 , art. 1321059 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1321059 - Yang, S., Rupp, A., Kästner, M., Harms, H., Miltner, A., Maskow, T. (2024):
Experimental access to cellulose oxidation and the dynamics of microbial carbon and energy use in artificial soil under varying temperature, water content, and C/N ratio
SSRN 10.2139/ssrn.4951746
2023 (5)
- Di Lodovico, E., Meyer, M., Maskow, T., Schaumann, G., Fricke, C. (2023):
Isothermal macrocalorespirometry – novel instrument design to analysis microbial metabolism in soil systems
EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24–28 Apr 2023
EGUsphere
Copernicus Publications, EGU23-9096 10.5194/egusphere-egu23-9096 - Lorenz, M., Diehl, D., Maskow, T., Thiele-Bruhn, S. (2023):
Energy content of soil organic matter in soil profiles investigated by bomb calorimetry and DSC-TG
EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24–28 Apr 2023
EGUsphere
Copernicus Publications, EGU23-6542 10.5194/egusphere-egu23-6542 - Maskow, T., Schlosser, D. (2023):
Lignocellulose-Verwertung durch Pilze mit metabolischer Wärme erfassen
Biospektrum 29 (3), 321 - 323 10.1007/s12268-023-1944-5 - Miltner, A., Kästner, M., Maskow, T., Lorenz, M., Thiele-Bruhn, S. (2023):
Thermodynamic control of microbial turnover of organic substrates in soils
EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24–28 Apr 2023
EGUsphere
Copernicus Publications, EGU23-8948 10.5194/egusphere-egu23-8948 - Thiele-Bruhn, S., Kästner, M., Miltner, A., Maskow, T., Lorenz, M. (2023):
SoilSystems, a research program on systems ecology of soils – energy discharge modulated by microbiome and boundary conditions
EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24–28 Apr 2023
EGUsphere
Copernicus Publications, EGU23-16304 10.5194/egusphere-egu23-16304
2022 (4)
- Assael, M.J., Maitland, G.C., Maskow, T., von Stockar, U., Wakeham, W.A., Will, S. (2022):
Commonly asked questions in thermodynamics, second edition
CRC Press / Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton, FL, 498 pp. 10.1201/9780429329524 - Duong, H.L., Paufler, S., Harms, H., Maskow, T., Schlosser, D. (2022):
Applicability and information value of biocalorimetry for the monitoring of fungal solid-state fermentation of lignocellulosic agricultural by-products
New Biotech. 66 , 97 - 106 10.1016/j.nbt.2021.11.001 - Duong, H.L., Paufler, S., Harms, H., Schlosser, D., Maskow, T. (2022):
Fungal lignocellulose utilization strategies from a bioenergetic perspective: Quantification of related functional traits using biocalorimetry
Microorganisms 10 (8), art. 1675 10.3390/microorganisms10081675 - Zhou, L.-J., Wang, Y.-Y., Li, S.-L., Cao, L., Jiang, F.-L., Maskow, T., Liu, Y. (2022):
Core–shell polydopamine/Cu nanometer rods efficiently deactivate microbes by mimicking chloride-activated peroxidases
ACS Omega 7 (34), 29984 - 29994 10.1021/acsomega.2c02986
2021 (4)
- Fricke, C., Klee, T., Richter, S., Paufler, S., Harms, H., Maskow, T. (2021):
Numerical heat flow and transport simulation as a development tool for the design of isothermal microcalorimeters
Thermochim. Acta 706 , art. 179070 10.1016/j.tca.2021.179070 - Greinert, T., Vogel, K., Maskow, T., Held, C. (2021):
New thermodynamic activity-based approach allows predicting the feasibility of glycolysis
Sci. Rep. 11 , art. 6125 10.1038/s41598-021-85594-8 - Korth, B., Heber, C., Normant-Saremba, M., Maskow, T., Harnisch, F. (2021):
Precious data from tiny samples: Revealing the correlation between energy content and the chemical oxygen demand of municipal wastewater using micro-bomb combustion calorimetry
Front. Energy Res. 9 , art. 705800 10.3389/fenrg.2021.705800 - Vogel, K., Wei, R., Pfaff, L., Breite, D., Al-Fathi, H., Ortmann, C., Estrela-Lopis, I., Venus, T., Schulze, A., Harms, H., Bornscheuer, U.T., Maskow, T. (2021):
Enzymatic degradation of polyethylene terephthalate nanoplastics analyzed in real time by isothermal titration calorimetry
Sci. Total Environ. 773 , art. 145111 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145111
2020 (8)
- Fricke, C., Harms, H., Maskow, T. (2020):
How to speed up the detection of aerobic microbial contaminations by using isothermal microcalorimetry
J. Therm. Anal. Calorim. 142 (5), 1933 - 1949 10.1007/s10973-020-09986-0 - Fricke, C., Xu, J., Jiang, F.-L., Liu, Y., Harms, H., Maskow, T. (2020):
Rapid culture‐based detection of Legionella pneumophila using isothermal microcalorimetry with an improved evaluation method
Microb. Biotechnol. 13 (4), 1262 - 1272 10.1111/1751-7915.13563 - Greinert, T., Vogel, K., Mühlenweg, J.-K., Sadowski, G., Maskow, T., Held, C. (2020):
Standard Gibbs energy of metabolic reactions: VI. Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase reaction
Fluid Phase Equilib. 517 , art. 112597 10.1016/j.fluid.2020.112597 - Greinert, T., Vogel, K., Seifert, A.I., Siewert, R., Andreeva, I.V., Verevkin, S.P., Maskow, T., Sadowski, G., Held, C. (2020):
Standard Gibbs energy of metabolic reactions: V. Enolase reaction
BBA-Proteins Proteomics 1868 (4), art. 140365 10.1016/j.bbapap.2020.140365 - Vogel, K., Greinert, T., Harms, H., Sadowski, G., Held, C., Maskow, T. (2020):
Influence of cytosolic conditions on the reaction equilibrium and the reaction enthalpy of the enolase reaction accessed by calorimetry and van ‘t HOFF
Biochim. Biophys. Acta-Gen. Subj. 1864 (10), art. 129675 10.1016/j.bbagen.2020.129675 - Vogel, K., Greinert, T., Held, C., Harms, H., Maskow, T. (2020):
Application of irreversible thermodynamics to determine the influence of cell mimicking conditions on the kinetics of equilibrium reactions of the glycolysis
Biophys. J. 118 (3, Suppl. 1), 346a - 347a 10.1016/j.bpj.2019.11.2000 - Vogel, K., Greinert, T., Reichard, M., Held, C., Harms, H., Maskow, T. (2020):
Thermodynamics and kinetics of glycolytic reactions. Part I: Kinetic modeling based on irreversible thermodynamics and validation by calorimetry
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 21 (21), art. 8341 10.3390/ijms21218341 - Vogel, K., Greinert, T., Reichard, M., Held, C., Harms, H., Maskow, T. (2020):
Thermodynamics and kinetics of glycolytic reactions. Part II: Influence of cytosolic conditions on thermodynamic state variables and kinetic parameters
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 21 (21), art. 7921 10.3390/ijms21217921
Complete list of publications
Lecture course
Bioprocess technology, BA Riesa, University of cooperative education
Biophysics and biophysical chemistry; study course: Bioprocess engineering (WS), Dresden University of Technology
Innovative potential of white biotechnology; (System biology, Biothermodynamics, Extremophiles); branch of study: Biology and Biochemistry (SS), Leipzig University