Lab of Jennifer Hughes Martiny, PhD
This grant to Brown University supports research in the laboratory of Dr. Hughes Martiny. Her lab uses a combination of approaches, from genetic surveys of natural communities to field experiments and microcosm studies. Outcomes for this grant include development of new sampling and statistical methods to evaluate marine microbial activity, identification of novel factors of microbe biodiversity, and establishment of the connection between microbe biodiversity and ecosystem processes.
Lab of Victoria Orphan, PhD
This grant supports research in the Caltech laboratory of Dr. Orphan. Her interests include microbial community structure and function in deep subsurface habitats, marine sediments, oil and gas seeps, and early Earth analog environments. Outcomes for this grant include documentation of the flow of carbon and nitrogen through microbial assemblages using novel methods, detection of metabolic gene expression in uncultured archaea and bacteria, and analysis of complex microbial communities using state-of-the-art, high-resolution technologies.
Lab of Forest Rohwer, PhD
This grant to San Diego State University supports research in the laboratory of Dr. Rohwer into the genomics and evolutionary relationships of viruses. The work includes the sequencing of viral metagenomes from environmental samples. Outcomes for this grant include completion of 25 to 50 viral metagenomes sequences, discovery of common viral ancestor and creation of viral metabolomes to serve as the metabolic "fingerprints" of viral communities, and construction of online genome analysis tools.
Lab of Stephen Giovannoni, PhD
This grant to the Oregon State University supports research conducted in the laboratory of Dr. Giovannoni—a recognized expert on the cultivation of marine microbes from the natural ocean environment. Dr. Giovannoni and his team successfully cultured SAR 11, an elusive bacterial group now called Pelagibacter ubique, which are some of the smallest (billions fit into a teaspoon) and most abundant organisms on Earth. Outcomes for this grant include improved marine microbe lab culture success and the description of Pelagibacter nutrient limiting factors and proteomics.
Lab of Mary Moran, PhD
This grant to the University of Georgia Foundation supports the research of Dr. Moran, a leading expert on oceanic sulfur cycles. Outcomes for this grant include deepened understanding of the global sulfur cycle and exploration of the taxonomic and functional dynamics of marine microbial communities, and the ecosystem-scale implications of microbial interactions.
Lab of E. Virginia Armbrust, PhD
This grant to the University of Washington supports the research of Dr. Armbrust into the genomics and physiology of diatoms. Diatoms play a major role in marine ecology and in facilitating the flow of nitrogen, carbon, and energy in the oceans. Outcomes for this grant include identification of the molecular basis of diatom toxin production, explanation of the adaptation of microbial communities to local environments and the environmental causes for toxic diatom blooms, and application of diatom genomics to the understanding of carbon and nitrogen metabolism.
Lab of Nicole King, PhD
This grant to UC Berkeley supports the research of Dr. King into the evolution of multi-cellular animals from their unicellular ancestors. A key question under investigation at the laboratory is how and when the genetic "toolkit" that led to the origin of animals was assembled. Outcomes for this grant include reconstruction of an ancestral animal genome, characterization of Choanoflagellate cell biology, investigation of the ancestral function of the genes required for multicellular development in animals, and substantiation of priority for animal mode gene regulation.
Lab of Alexandra Z. Worden, PhD
This grant to the University of Miami supports research in the laboratory of Dr. Worden into marine microbial population dynamics and carbon cycling in marine ecosystems. Researchers will explore biochemical and molecular mechanisms of microbe-algae interactions and study microbial predator-prey interactions. Outcomes for this grant include description of microbial predation, explanation of the biochemistry of microbe-algae interactions, connection of microbial competition to population dynamics, delineation of competition processes and population dynamics within marine food webs, and annotation of the (green alga) Ostreococcus tauri genome.
Lab of Sallie W. Chisholm, PhD
This grant to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology supports the work of Dr. Chisholm into the ecology and evolution of the marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus. Commonly called blue-green algae, cyanobacteria are among the largest and most important groups of bacteria alive today. Outcomes for this grant include explanation of the ecotype genomics and diversity of the marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus, definition of Prochlorococcus ecotype growth factors, and examination of the relative fitnesses of mixed culture strains.
Lab of Edward F. DeLong, PhD
This grant to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology supports the research of Dr. Delong into the genetic diversity of planktonic marine bacteria and archaea. Outcomes for this grant include characterization of the genomes and genomic variability of dominant planktonic bacteria and archaea, integration of biogeochemical and genomic evolutionary theories, creation of a metabolic and biogeochemical model of microbe communities, and the tracking of microbe populations by DNA.
Lab of Jonathan Zehr, PhD
This grant to UC Santa Cruz supports the work of Dr. Zehr in the development of remote-sensing probes and sampling procedures for the study of nitrogen-fixing marine microbes. Outcomes for this grant include deployment of remote microbe samplers, construction of probes for, and investigation of, the gene expression of Crocosphaera.
Lab of David M. Karl, PhD
This grant to the University of Hawaii's Department of Oceanography supports the research of Dr. Karl into the genetic diversity and physiological capacity of microbes in the ocean. Outcomes for this grant include construction of rDNA tools to track dynamic populations, descriptions of short-time population dynamics, definition of community composition factors, and a refined ocean ecosystem model.