Manuel Kleiner

Dr. Manuel Kleiner is an Associate Professor at North Carolina State University (NC State), affiliated with the Department of Plant & Microbial Biology and the Microbiomes and Complex Microbial Communities Cluster. His research focuses on microbial symbioses, uncultured microorganisms, and metabolic evolution using advanced omics techniques like metagenomics, metaproteomics, and metabolomics. Key projects include studying CO₂ fixation pathways, horizontal gene transfer in bacterial symbionts, and developing cutting-edge microbiome analysis methods. Kleiner holds a Ph.D. in Marine Microbiology from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology (2012) and a Diploma in Biology from the University of Greifswald (2008).

• Education: Ph.D., Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology (2012); Diploma, University of Greifswald (2008)
• Research: Microbial physiology, symbiosis, and environmental microbiology
• Funding: $6.3M+ in grants from NSF, NIH, USDA, and the Novo Nordisk Foundation

His lab emphasizes open-access data, global collaborations, and interdisciplinary approaches to address agricultural sustainability and microbiome-host interactions. Recent projects include decoding rhizosphere microbiota interactions and investigating microbe-dependent heterosis in maize.