(# I am the corresponding author; * Equal Contribution) 

Ionescu, D#*., Bizic, M*., Karnatak, R., Musseau, L.C., Onandia, G., Berger, S., Nejstgaard, J., Lischeid, D., Gessner., M, Wolrab, S., Grossart, H-P. (2022) From microbes to mammals: pond biodiversity homogenization across different land-use types in an agricultural landscape, Ecological Monographs, e1523

Brad, T*., Bizic, M*., Ionescu D*., Chiriac, C.M., Kenesz, M., Roba, C., Ionescu, A., Fekete, A., Mirea, I.C., Moldovan, O.T. (2022) Potential for Natural Attenuation of Domestic and Agricultural Pollution in Karst Groundwater Environments. Water 14, 1597. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14101597

Bizic, M*., Ionescu, D*., Karnatak, R., Musseau, L.C., Onandia, G., Berger, S., Nejstgaard, J., Lischeid, D., Gessner., M, Wolrab, S., Grossart, H-P. (2022) Land-use affects composition of active microbial and eukaryotic communities in ponds but not overall functionality, Molecular Ecology, 31, 1716– 1734

Ionescu, D*. (2021) A hitchhiker’s guide to DNA-based microbiome analysis Peer Community in Genomics, 100008.  doi.org/10.24072/pci.genomics.100008

Günthel, M., Donis, D., Kirillin, G., Ionescu, D., Bizic, M., McGinnis, D., F., Grossart, H-P., Tang, K. (2021) Reply to ‘Oxic methanogenesis is only a minor source of lake-wide diffusive CH4 emissions from lakes’. Nat Commun 12, 1205 doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21216-1

# Ionescu, D., Zoccarato, L., Zaduryan, A., Scorn, S., Bizic M., Pinnow, S., Cypionka, H., Grossart H-P. (2020) Heterozygous, polyploid, giant bacterium, Achromatium, possesses an identical functional inventory worldwide across drastically different ecosystems, Molecular Biology and Evolution,  doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaa273

Günthel M., Klawonn I., Woodhouse J., Bižić M., Ionescu D., Ganzert L., Kümmel S., Nijenhuis I., Zoccarato L., Grossart H-P., Tang KW. (2020) Photosynthesis-driven methane production in oxic lake water as an important contributor to methane emission, Limnology and Oceanography in press DOI:10.1002/lno.11557.

Bižić*, M., Klintzsch*, T., Ionescu*, D., Hindiyeh, M., Y., Günthel, M., Muro-Pastor, A., M., Keppler, F., Grossart, H-P. (2020) Aquatic and terrestrial Cyanobacteria produce methane. Science Advances. 6, 3: eaax5343, doi:10.1126/sciadv.aax5343; * Authors contributed equally to the manuscript.

Fasching, C., Akotoye, C., Bižić, M., Fonvielle, J., Ionescu, D., Mathavarajah, S., Zoccarato, L., Walsh, D. A., Grossart, H-P., Xenopoulos, M. A. (2020) Linking stream microbial community function to dissolved organic matter and inorganic. Limnology and Oceanography 65, 2020, S71–S87.  https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11356

Schorn, S., Salman-Carvalho, V., Littmann, S., Ionescu, D., Grossart, H-P., Cypionka, H. (2019) Cell architecture of the giant sulfur bacterium Achromatium oxaliferum: Extra-cytoplasmic localization of calcium carbonate bodies, FEMS Microbiology Ecology, in press

Günthel, M., Donis, D., Kirillin, G., Ionescu, D., Bizic, M., McGinnis, D., F., Grossart, H-P., Tang, K. (2019) Contribution of oxic methane production to surface methane emission in lakes – local and global importance Nature Communications, 10, 5497 doi:10.1038/s41467-019-13320-0

Munwes, Y.Y., Geyer, S., Katoshevski, D., Ionescu, D., Licha, T., Lott, C., Laronne, J.B., Siebert, C. (2019) Discharge estimation of submarine springs in the Dead Sea based on velocity or density measurements in proximity to the water surface. Hydrological. Processes, DOI: 10.1002/hyp.13598

Bižić-Ionescu, M., Ionescu, D.,& Grossart, H.-P. (2018) Organic particles: heterogeneous hubs for microbial interactions in aquatic ecosystems.  Front Microbiol. 2018; 9: 2569. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.02569

Cuadrat, R.C.R., Ionescu, D., Davila, A.M.R., Grossart, H-P. (2018) Recovering genomics clusters of secondary metabolites from lakes using genome-resolved metagenomics. Front. Microbiol, 9, 251 doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.00251

Hartmann J.F., Gentz T., Schiller A., Greule M., Grossart H-P., Ionescu D., Keppler F., Martinez-Cruz K., Sepulveda-Jauregui A., Isenbeck-Schröter M. (2018) A fast and sensitive method for the continuous in-situ determination of dissolved methane and its δ13C-isotope ratio in surface waters. Limnol. Oceanogr. Methods. 16: 273-285

# Ionescu, D., Bizic-Ionescu, M., De Maio, N., Cypionka, H. & Grossart, H.-P. Community-like genome in single cells of the sulfur bacterium Achromatium oxaliferum. Nat. Commun. 8, 455 (2017).

Hartmann, J.F., Schiller, A., Gentz, T., Greule, M., Grossart, H-P., Ionescu, D., Keppler, F., Martinez-Cruz, K., Sepulveda-Jauregui, A., Isenbeck-Schröter, M. (2017) Real Time Measurement of Concentration and δ 13 C-CH4 in Water, Procedia Earth and Planetary Science 17:460-463

Heim, C., Quéric, N-V., Ionescu, D., Schäfer, N., Reitner, J., Frutexites-like structures formed by iron oxidizing biofilms in the continental subsurface of the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory, Sweden, PLoS ONE 12 (5), e0177542                 

Tang, K.W., McGinnis, D., F., Ionescu, D., Grossart H-P., (2016) Methane Production in Oxic Lake Waters Potentially Increases Aquatic Methane Flux to Air. Environ Sci Technol Lett, 3:227–233 (Awarded of ESTL best papers for 2016)

# Hubalek, V., Wu, X., Eiler, A., Buck, M., Heim,C., Dopson, M., Bertilsson, S., Ionescu, D. (2016) Connectivity to the surface determines diversity patterns in subsurface aquifers of the Fennoscandian shield. ISMEJ, 10:2447-2458. doi:10.1038/ismej.2016.36

Duda, J-P., Van Kranendonk, M.J., Thiel, V., Ionescu, D., Strauss, H., Schäfer, N., Reitner, J. (2016) A Rare Glimpse of Paleoarchean Life: Geobiology of an Exceptionally Preserved Microbial Mat Facies from the 3.4 Ga Strelley Pool Formation, Western Australia. PLoS ONE 11(1): e0147629. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0147629

# Ionescu, D., Bizic-Ionescu, M., Khalili, A, Malekmohammadi, R., Morad M., R., de Beer, D., Grossart, H-P. (2015) A new tool for long-term studies of POM-bacteria interactions: overcoming the century-old Bottle Effect. Sci Rep, 5: Article 14706. doi:10.1038/srep14706

Thomas, C., Ionescu, D., Ariztegui, D., and the DSDDP Scientific Team. (2015) Impact of paleoclimate on the distribution of microbial communities in the subsurface sediment of the Dead Sea. Geobiology, 13:546-561. doi: 10.1111/gbi.12151

Raanan, H., Felde, J. M. N. L. V., Peth, S., Drahorad, S., Ionescu, D., Eshkol, G., Treves, H., Felix-Henningsen, P., Berkowicz, S. M, Keren, N., Horn, R., Hagemann, M., Kaplan, A. (2015) 3D structure and cyanobacterial activity within a desert biological soil crust, Environ Microbiol, 18:372-383

Heim, C., Simon, K., Ionescu, D., Reimer, A., De Beer, D., Quéric, N.V., Reitner, J., Thiel. V. (2015) Assessing the utility of trace and rare earth elements as biosignatures in microbial iron oxyhydroxides. Front Earth Sci, 3:6. doi: 10.3389/feart.2015.00006

# Ionescu, D., Reimer, A., Zippel, B., Spring, S., Schneider, D., Spitzer, S., Brinkmann, N., de Beer, D., Reitner, J., Arp, G (2015). Calcium dynamics in microbialite-forming exopolymer-rich mats on the atoll of Kiritimati, Republic of Kiribati, Central Pacific Geobiology, 13:170-180

Leefmann, T., Heim, C., Lausmaa, J., Sjövall, P., Ionescu, D., Reitner, J., Thiel, V. (2015) An imaging mass spectrometry study on the formation of conditioning films and biofilms in the subsurface (Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory, SE Sweden). Geomicrob, 32:197-206

# Ionescu, D., Heim, C., Polerecky, L., Ramette, A., Haeusler, S., Bizic-Ionescu, M., Thiel, V., de Beer, D. (2015) Diversity of iron oxidizing and reducing bacteria in bioreactors set in the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory, Geomicrob, 32:207-220

# Ionescu, D., Polerecky, L., Heim, C., Thiel, V., Reitner, J., de Beer, D. (2015) Biotic and abiotic iron precipitation in iron mineralization using the Äspö HRL as a model system. Geomicrob, 32:221-230

Spitzer, S., Brinkmann, N., Reimer, A., Ionescu, D., Friedl, T., de Beer, D., Arp, G. (2015) Effect of variable PCO2 on Ca2+removal and potential calcification of cyanobacterial biofilms - an experimental microsensor study. Geomicrob, 32:304-315

Bizic-Ionescu, M., Zeder, M., Ionescu, D., Orlic, S., Fuchs B., M., Grossart H-P., Amann R. (2015) Comparison of bacterial communities on limnic versus coastal marine particles reveals profound differences in colonization. Environ Microbiol, 17:3500-3514. doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.12466

# Häusler, S., Holtappel, M., de Beer, D., Ionescu, D. (2014) Activity of sulfur reducing and sulfide oxidizing bacteria in underwater freshwater springs in the Dead Sea and surrounding sediments. FEMS Microbiol Ecol, 90: 956-969.

Thomas, C., Ionescu, D., Ariztegui, D., and the DSDDP Scientific Team. (2014) Archaeal populations in two distinct sedimentary facies of the subsurface of the Dead Sea. Mar Genom, 17:53-62. doi: 10.1016/j.margen.2014.09.001

# Ionescu, D., Buchmann B, Heim C, Häusler S, de Beer D and Polerecky L (2014) Oxygenic photosynthesis as a protection mechanism for cyanobacteria against iron-encrustation in environments with high Fe2+ concentrations. Front. Microbiol. 5:459. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2014.00459

# Häusler, S., Noriega, B., Polerecky, L., Meyer, V., de Beer, D., Ionescu, D. (2014) Microenvironemts of reduced salinity allow for the formation of biofilms on the Dead Sea sediment. Environ Microb R, 6:152-158. doi:10.1111/1758-2229.12140

# Häusler, S., Weber, M., de Beer, D., Ionescu, D. (2014) Salinity adaptation of oxygenic phototrophs to salinity gradients formed by underwater freshwater springs in the Dead Sea. Extremophiles, 18:1085-1094 DOI :10.1007/s00792-014-0686-1

Siebert, C., Rödiger, T., Mallast, U., Gräbe, A., Guttman, J., Laronne, J.B., Storz-Peretz, Y., Greenman, A., Salameh, E., Al-Raggad, M., Vachtman, D., Ben Zvi, A., Ionescu, D., Brenner, A., Merz, R., Geyer, S. (2014) Challenges to estimate surface- and groundwater flow in arid regions: The Dead Sea catchment, Science of the Total Environment, 485–486: 828–841, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.04.010

Heim, C., Quéric, N. V., Ionescu, D., Simon, K., Thiel, V. (2013) Chemolithotrophic microbial mats in an open pond in the continental subsurface – implications for microbial biosignatures. Göttingen Contributions to Geosceicnes, 77:175-188

# Ionescu, D., Siebert, C., Polerecky, L., Munwes,Y.Y., Lott, C., Häusler S., Bizic-Ionescu, M., Quast, C., Jörg Peplies, J., Glöckner, FO., Ramette, A., Rödiger, T., Dittmar, T., Oren, A., Geyer, S., Stärk, HS., Sauter, M., Licha, T., Laronne, B. J., de Beer, D. (2012) Microbial and chemical characterization of underwater fresh water springs in the Dead Sea. PloS One http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0038319

Rao, A. M. F., Polerecky, L., Ionescu, D., Meysman, F.J.R., de Beer, D (2012) The influence of porewater advection, benthic photosynthesis, and respiration on calcium carbonate dynamics in reef sand. Limnol Oceano, 57:809-825

Ionescu, D., Voss, B., Oren, A., Hess, W.R., Muro-Pastor, A. M. (2010) Heterocyst-Specific Transcription of NsiR1, a Non-Coding RNA Encoded in a Tandem Array of Direct Repeats in Cyanobacteria. J Mol Biol, 398:177–188

# Ionescu, D., Malkawi, H., Hindiyeh, M., Oren, A. (2010) Biogeography of thermophilic cyanobacteria - insights from the Zerka Ma'in hot springs (Jordan). FEMS Microbiol Ecol, 72:103-113

Oren, A., Ionescu, D., Hindiyeh, M.Y., Malkawi, H.I. (2009) Morphological, phylogenetic and physiological diversity of cyanobacteria in the hot springs of Zerka Ma’in, Jordan. In: Krupp F, Musselman LJ, Kotb MMA, Weidig I (Eds) Environment, Biodiversity and Conservation in the Middle East. Proceedings of the First Middle Eastern Biodiversity Congress, Aqaba, Jordan, 20–23 October 2008. BioRisk, 3:69–82. doi: 10.3897/biorisk.3.29

Ionescu, D., Oren, A., Levitan, O., Hindiyeh, M., Malkawi, H., and Berman-Frank, I. (2009) The cyanobacterial community of the Zerka Ma’in hot springs, Jordan: morphological and molecular diversity and nitrogen fixation. Algological Studies, 130:129-144

# Ionescu, D., Penno, S., Haimovich, M., Rihtman, B., Goodwin, A., Schwartz, D., Hazanov, L., Chernihovsky, M., Post, A.F., Oren, A. (2009) Archaea in the Gulf of Aqaba. FEMS Microbiol Ecol, 69:425-38

Oren, A., Bina, D., Ionescu, D., Prášil, O., Reháková, K., Schumann, R., Sørensen, K., Warkentin, M., Woelfel, J., and Zapome lová, E. (2009) Saltern evaporation ponds as model systems for the study of microbial processes under hypersaline conditions – an interdisciplinary study of the salterns of Eilat, Israel, pp. 20-29 in: T.D. Lekkas and N.A. Korovessis (eds.), Proceedings of the 2nd Conference on the Ecological Importance of Solar Saltworks, Merida, Mexico.

Oren, A., Ionescu, D., and Hindiyeh M. 2008. Microalgae and cyanobacteria of the Dead Sea and its surrounding springs. Israeli Journal of Plant Science, 56:1-13

Elevi Bardavid, R., Ionescu, D., Oren, A., Rainey, F.A., Hollen, B.J., Bagaley, D.R., Small, A.M., and McKay, C.M. (2007) Selective enrichment, isolation and molecular detection of Salinibacter and related extremely halophilic Bacteria from hypersaline environments. Hydrobiologia, 576:3-13

Ionescu, D., Lipski, A., Altendorf, K., and Oren, A. (2007) Characterization of the endoevaporitic microbial communities in a hypersaline gypsum crust by fatty acid analysis. Hydrobiologia, 576:15-26

Oren, A., Ionescu, D., Lipski, A., and Altendorf, K. (2005) Fatty acid analysis of a layered community of cyanobacteria developing in a hypersaline gypsum crust. Algological Studies, 117:339-347

Proceedings papers

Heim, C.,  Beimforde, C., Ionescu, D., Ivarsson M., Thiel, V., (2019) Unconventional biosignatures of fungi in frutexites-like microbial mats in the subsurface, Proceedings of the 29th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry, Volume 2019, p.1 – 2

Siebert, C., Mallast, U., Rödiger, T., Strey, M., Ionescu, D., Häusler, S., Noriega, B., Pohl, T., Merkel, B. (2014) Submarine groundwater discharge at the Dead Sea. Proceedings of the 23rd Salt-Water Intrusion Meeting, Husum, Germany

# Häusler, S., Siebert, C., Dittmar, T., L., Munwes, Y.Y., Lott, C., Weber, M., Bizic-Ionescu, M., Quast, C., Oren, A., Geyer, S., Laronne, J.B., de Beer, D., Ionescu, D. (2013) Springs of Life in a Dead Sea - Investigating a newly discovered shallow freshwater spring system in the Dead Sea. Proceedings of the 3rd International Workshop “Research in Shallow Marine and Fresh Water Systems”, Bremen, Germany

Meola, M., Lee, N.M., Heim, C., Queric, N.V., Braissant, O., Ionescu, D., de Beer, D., Loeffler, F.E., Thiel, V., Reitner, J., Liebl, W. (2012) Astrobiological lessons from the ancient iron-oxidizing genus Gallionella. Proceedings of the 10th European Workshop on Astrobiology, Pushchino, Russia. Published in: Paleontological Journal, 2012, Vol. 46, 1071-1072

Oren, A., Ionescu, D., Hindiyeh, M.Y., Malkawi, H.I. (2009) Morphological, phylogenetic and physiological diversity of cyanobacteria in the hot springs of Zerka Ma’in, Jordan. In: Krupp F, Musselman LJ, Kotb MMA, Weidig I (Eds) Environment, Biodiversity and Conservation in the Middle East. Proceedings of the First Middle Eastern Biodiversity Congress, Aqaba, Jordan, 20–23 October 2008. BioRisk, 3:69–82. doi: 10.3897/biorisk.3.29

Oren, A., Bina, D., Ionescu, D., Prášil, O., Reháková, K., Schumann, R., Sørensen, K., Warkentin, M., Woelfel, J., and Zapome lová, E. (2009) Saltern evaporation ponds as model systems for the study of microbial processes under hypersaline conditions – an interdisciplinary study of the salterns of Eilat, Israel, pp. 20-29 in: T.D. Lekkas and N.A. Korovessis (eds.), Proceedings of the 2nd Conference on the Ecological Importance of Solar Saltworks, Merida, Mexico.

Book Chapters

Bižić#, M., Ionescu#, D (2019) The Methane Paradox, Bacteria In eLS, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd (Ed.),  doi:10.1002/9780470015902.a0028892

Ionescu, D. Bizic, M (2019) Giant Bacteria In eLS, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd (Ed.), doi:10.1002/9780470015902.a0020371.pub2

Bizic-Ionescu, M., Ionescu, D. Günthel, M., Tang, K., Grossart, H-P. (2018) Oxic methane cycling - new Evidence for methane formation in oxic lake water. In: Stams, M.J.A., Sousa, D.Z. (ed), Handbook of Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology Series. Biogenesis of Hydrocarbons. Springer International, pp 379–400.

Bizic-Ionescu, M., Ionescu D. (2015) Crossing the border - The freshwater/salt saline barrier: A phylogenetic analysis of bacteria inhabiting both freshwater and marine ecosystems. In: Glibert, P.M., Kanna, T.M. (ed), Aquatic Nutrient Biogeochemistry and Microbial Ecology: A Dual Perspective. Springer International, pp:35-44.

Ionescu D, Overholt W, Lynch M, Neufeld J, Naqib A, Green S. 2015. Microbial Community Analysis Using High-Throughput Amplicon Sequencing, p 2.4.2-1-2.4.2-26. In Yates M, Nakatsu C, Miller R, Pillai S (ed), Manual of Environmental Microbiology, 4th Edition. ASM Press, Washington, DC. doi: 10.1128/9781555818821.ch2.4.2.

Ionescu, D., Oren, A., Hindiyeh, M.Y., and Malkawi, H.I. (2007) The thermophilic cyanobacteria of the Zerka Ma'in thermal springs in Jordan. In: Seckbach, J. (ed.), Algae in extreme environments. Springer, Dordrecht, pp: 411-424.

Popular Science

Ionescu, D., Zoccarato, L., Schorn, S., (2022) When it comes to the giant bacterium Achromatium, everyting is everywhere, The Science Breaker, https://doi.org/10.25250/thescbr.brk613

Ionescu, D., Haeusler, S., Siebert, C., Noriega-Ortega, B., (2013) Springs of life in the Dead Sea (in Hebrew), in Starinsky A., Melach Ha’aretz 7 – A series on Dead Sea research, Magnes, Jerusalem, Israel. pp 15-35.