ENCYCLOPEDIA of GEOBIOLOGY Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series
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GTL PI Meeting 2003 Presentation Nealson
USCUSC Geobiology Astrobiology Ken Nealson Wrigley Professor of Geobiology USC SHEWANELLA and Genomes to Life !! THE FUTURE!! WHERE ARE WE GOING? HOW WILL WE GET THERE? WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES AND TRAPS? USCUSC Geobiology Astrobiology Genomes to Life: Shewanella and the future !! Genomes & Genomics: For sake of this discussion, I include Genome composition, gene expression, & metabolism Genomics Physiology Ecophsyiology Ecology Predictable Community Behavior Successful Manipulation of Natural Communities USCUSC Geobiology Astrobiology Shewanella in the future: Short Term: Genomic/Proteomic/Metabolic Connections Linkage of physiology to genomic information Mid Term: Ecophysiology Questions regarding regulation of MR-1 How does the cell”work”? Linkage of laboratory to microcosm and field data Long Term: Community structure and activities Genetic variability and use of genomic approaches Predictable community ecology The “old view” of Shewanella oneidensis Gamma Purple proteobacteria MR-1; when Isolated was One of ~10, Now >50 ! USCUSC Geobiology Astrobiology The “new view” of Shewanella Now MR-1 is again one of 1, although a strain of S. benthica is almost finished by a Japanese group (JAMSTEC) USCUSC Geobiology Astrobiology Excitement of the “new view”: May be able to use this information to dissect specific aspects of both ecology and evolution: Ecology: Involved in many different redox processes Aerobic and anaerobic niches Metal cycling connected with carbon cycling Potential for dealing with many toxic metals and radionuclides Can we understand Shewanella well enough to begin to use it? what it does how it does it how it regulates how it interacts with other organisms All of this well enough to make predictions that work. -
Foundations of Complex Life: Evolution, Preservation and Detection on Earth and Beyond
National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA Astrobiology Institute Annual Science Report 2016 Team Report: Foundations of Complex Life: Evolution, Preservation and Detection on Earth and Beyond, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Foundations of Complex Life Evolution, Preservation and Detection on Earth and Beyond Lead Institution: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Team Overview Foundations of Complex Life is a research project investigating the early evolution and preservation of complex life on Earth. We seek insight into the early evolution and preservation of complex life by refining our ability to identify evidence of environmental and biological change in the late Mesoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic eras. Better understanding how signatures of life and environment are preserved will guide how and where to look for evidence for life elsewhere in the universe—directly supporting the Curiosity mission on Mars and helping set strategic goals for future explorations of the Solar System and studies of the early Earth. Our Team pursues these questions under five themes: I. The earliest history of animals: We use methods from molecular biology, experimental taphonomy, and paleontology to explore what caused the early divergence of animals. Principal Investigator: II. Paleontology, sedimentology, and geochemistry: We track the origin of complex Roger Summons protists and animals from their biologically simple origins by documenting the stratigraphy, isotopic records, and microfossil assemblages of well-preserved rock successions from 1200 to 650 million years ago. III. A preservation-induced oxygen tipping point: We investigate how changes in the preservation of organic carbon may have driven the Neoproterozoic oxygenation of the oceans coincident with the appearance of complex life. -
Thoughts in Geobiology
Journal of Geology and Mining Research Vol. 1(8), October, 2009 Available online http://www.academicjournals.org/jgmr ISSN 2006 – 9766 © 2009 Academic Journals Editorial Thoughts in Geobiology One of the possible ways to make connection between geologists and biologists is through studying subjects related to the newly established trend “Geobiology”. In the year 1972, Sylvester-Bradley stated that the Earth sciences include not only geology, but the hybrid-sciences geophysics, geochemistry and geobiology, of which the most complex and least rigorous is geobiology. Kump (2008) simply defined geobiology as the field that has recently energized the life and Earth sciences as geologists and biologists bring new tools to collaborations addressing fundamental problems that transcend the disciplines. The book edited by Xiao and Kaufman (2007) includes a set of multidisciplinary reviews on the Neoproterozoic fossil record (animals, algae, acritarchs, protists, and trace fossils), evolutionary developmental biology of animals, molecular clock estimates of phylogenetic divergences, and Neoproterozoic chemostratigraphy and sedimentary geology. The editors of this book believe that these topics are of continuing interest to geoscientists and bioscientists who are intrigued by the deep history of the Earth and its inhabitants. Yildirim et al. (2008) believe that microbial systems in extreme environments and in the deep biosphere may be analogous to potential life on other planetary bodies and hence may be used to investigate the possibilities of extraterrestrial life. I would add that astrobiologists are working on this point through studying materials from Mars. Through geobiology we search for origins and evolution of life, atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere, reasons of mass extinctions, interactions between microbes and minerals, global changes, and other subjects of interest. -
Rowan C. Martindale Curriculum Vitae Associate Professor (Invertebrate Paleontology) at the University of Texas at Austin
ROWAN C. MARTINDALE CURRICULUM VITAE ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR (INVERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY) AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN Department of Geological Sciences E-mail: [email protected] Jackson School of Geosciences Website: www.jsg.utexas.edu/martindale/ 2275 Speedway Stop C9000 Orchid ID: 0000-0003-2681-083X Austin, TX 78712-1722 Phone: 512-475-6439 Office: JSG 3.216A RESEARCH INTERESTS The overarching theme of my work is the connection between Earth and life through time, more precisely, understanding ancient (Mesozoic and Cenozoic) ocean ecosystems and the evolutionary and environmental events that shaped them. My research is interdisciplinary, (paleontology, sedimentology, biology, geochemistry, and oceanography) and focuses on: extinctions and carbon cycle perturbation events (e.g., Oceanic Anoxic Events, acidification events); marine (paleo)ecology and reef systems; the evolution of reef builders (e.g., coral photosymbiosis); and exceptionally preserved fossil deposits (Lagerstätten). ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin September 2020 to Present Assistant Professor, University of Texas at Austin August 2014 to August 2020 Postdoctoral Researcher, Harvard University August 2012 to July 2014 Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology; Mentor: Dr. Andrew H. Knoll. EDUCATION Doctorate, University of Southern California 2007 to 2012 Dissertation: “Paleoecology of Upper Triassic reef ecosystems and their demise at the Triassic-Jurassic extinction, a potential ocean acidification event”. Advisor: Dr. David J. Bottjer, degree conferred August 7th, 2012. Bachelor of Science Honors Degree, Queen’s University 2003 to 2007 Geology major with a general concentration in Biology (Geological Sciences Medal Winner). AWARDS AND RECOGNITION Awards During Tenure at UT Austin • 2019 National Science Foundation CAREER Award: Awarded to candidates who are judged to have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education. -
MARTIAN PALEOMAGNETISM with the SQUID MICROSCOPE Thesis
MARTIAN PALEOMAGNETISM WITH THE SQUID MICROSCOPE Thesis by Benjamin Paul Weiss In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Pasadena, California 2003 (Defended January 28, 2003) ii 2003 Benjamin Paul Weiss All Rights Reserved iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are of course many people who need to be thanked for making this thesis possible, but by far the most important of these is Joe Kirschvink. Joe couldn’t have had me in his lab more than a week before trusting me and a fellow undergraduate—the two of us new to geology, unproven and truly nobodies—to stay up all night slicing up the martian meteorite ALH84001. All night long we kept laughing out of excitement and disbelief as we played with not only an invaluable rock from Mars but the oldest known rock from any planet! This ability to inspire through his trust is Joe’s genius as a teacher. Joe also taught me how to be at once fearlessly creative and within the bounds of rigor. To me, it is the stories—of the rocks, of the events of the past, and of how we learn about them—that were what attracted me to planetary science in the first place. Trucking around the world with Joe (through South Africa, Swaziland, Mexico, Australia, Japan…), I saw some really strange rocks and places, which had even stranger stories to tell. Strange, at least, when told through Joe as their interpreter (Joe says I am a Martian that has just recently taken over a human body but hasn’t quite learned how to use all of the equipment; if this is true, then where did he come from?). -
Dornbos.Web.CV
Stephen Quinn Dornbos Associate Professor and Department Chair Department of Geosciences University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI 53201-0413 Phone: (414) 229-6630 Fax: (414) 229-5452 E-mail: [email protected] http://uwm.edu/geosciences/people/dornbos-stephen/ EDUCATION 2003 Ph.D., Geological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA. 1999 M.S., Geological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA. 1997 B.A., Geology, The College of Wooster, Wooster, OH. ADDITIONAL EDUCATION 2002 University of Washington, Summer Marine Invertebrate Zoology Course, Friday Harbor Laboratories. 1997 Louisiana State University, Summer Field Geology Course. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 2017-Present Department Chair, Department of Geosciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 2010-Present Associate Professor, Department of Geosciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 2004-2010 Assistant Professor, Department of Geosciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 2012-Present Adjunct Curator, Geology Department, Milwaukee Public Museum. 2004-Present Curator, Greene Geological Museum, University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee. 2003-2004 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California. 2002 Research Assistant, Invertebrate Paleontology Department, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. EDITORIAL POSITIONS 2017-Present Editorial Board, Heliyon. 2015-Present Board of Directors, Coquina Press. 2014-Present Commentaries Editor, Palaeontologia Electronica. 2006-Present Associate Editor, Palaeontologia Electronica. Curriculum Vitae – Stephen Q. Dornbos 2 RESEARCH INTERESTS 1) Evolution and preservation of early life on Earth. 2) Evolutionary paleoecology of early animals during the Cambrian radiation. 3) Geobiology of microbial structures in Precambrian–Cambrian sedimentary rocks. 4) Cambrian reef evolution, paleoecology, and extinction. 5) Exceptional fossil preservation. HONORS AND AWARDS 2013 UWM Authors Recognition Ceremony. 2011 Full Member, Sigma Xi. -
Cyanobacterial Evolution During the Precambrian
International Journal of Astrobiology 15 (3): 187–204 (2016) doi:10.1017/S1473550415000579 © Cambridge University Press 2016 This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Cyanobacterial evolution during the Precambrian Bettina E. Schirrmeister1, Patricia Sanchez-Baracaldo2 and David Wacey1,3 1School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queen’s Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK e-mail: [email protected] 2School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, University Road, Bristol BS8 1SS, UK 3Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis, and ARC Centre of Excellence for Core to Crust Fluid Systems, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia Abstract: Life on Earth has existed for at least 3.5 billion years. Yet, relatively little is known of its evolution during the first two billion years, due to the scarceness and generally poor preservation of fossilized biological material. Cyanobacteria, formerly known as blue green algae were among the first crown Eubacteria to evolve and for more than 2.5 billion years they have strongly influenced Earth’s biosphere. Being the only organism where oxygenic photosynthesis has originated, they have oxygenated Earth’s atmosphere and hydrosphere, triggered the evolution of plants –being ancestral to chloroplasts– and enabled the evolution of complex life based on aerobic respiration. Having such a strong impact on early life, one might expect that the evolutionary success of this group may also have triggered further biosphere changes during early Earth history. -
Thiomargarita Namibiensis Cells by Using Microelectrodes Heide N
APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Nov. 2002, p. 5746–5749 Vol. 68, No. 11 0099-2240/02/$04.00ϩ0 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.11.5746–5749.2002 Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved. Uptake Rates of Oxygen and Sulfide Measured with Individual Thiomargarita namibiensis Cells by Using Microelectrodes Heide N. Schulz1,2* and Dirk de Beer1 Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, D-28359 Bremen, Germany,1 and Section of Microbiology, University of California, Davis, Davis, California 956162 Received 25 March 2002/Accepted 31 July 2002 Gradients of oxygen and sulfide measured towards individual cells of the large nitrate-storing sulfur bacterium Thiomargarita namibiensis showed that in addition to nitrate oxygen is used for oxidation of sulfide. Stable gradients around the cells were found only if acetate was added to the medium at low concentrations. The sulfur bacterium Thiomargarita namibiensis is a close conclusions about their physiology by observing chemotactic relative of the filamentous sulfur bacteria of the genera Beg- behavior, as has been done successfully with Beggiatoa and giatoa and Thioploca. It was only recently discovered off the Thioploca filaments (5, 10). However, because of the large size Namibian coast in fluid sediments rich in organic matter and of Thiomargarita cells, they develop, around individual cells, sulfide (15). The large, spherical cells of Thiomargarita (diam- measurable gradients of oxygen and sulfide that can be used eter, 100 to 300 m) are held together in a chain by mucus that for calculating uptake rates of oxygen and sulfide. Thus, the surrounds each cell (Fig. 1). Most of the cell volume is taken physiological reactions of individual cells to changes in oxygen up by a central vacuole in which nitrate is stored at concen- and sulfide concentrations can be directly observed by observ- trations of up to 800 mM. -
Tanja Bosak Was Born in Croatia and Graduated from the Zagreb University with a Degree in Geophysics
Tanja Bosak was born in Croatia and graduated from the Zagreb University with a degree in Geophysics. After a summer of research at JPL, she moved to the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, where she studied signatures of microbial processes in ancient sedimentary rocks and earned a Ph.D. in Geobiology. She spent two years at Harvard as a Microbial Initiative Postdoctoral Fellow, joined the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at MIT in 2007 and is now a Professor of Geobiology and the group leader of the Program in Geology, Geochemistry and Geobiology. Tanja’s work integrates microbiology, sedimentology and stable isotope geochemistry into experimental geobiology to ask how microbial processes leave chemical, mineral and morphological signals in sedimentary rocks. Her lab uses this approach to explore modern biogeochemical and sedimentological processes, interpret the co-evolution of life and the environment during the first 80% of Earth history and look for signs of past life on Mars. For this work, and her work with graduate students and undergraduates, Bosak received the Subaru Outstanding Woman in Science award by the Geological Society of America (2007), the Macelwane Medal from the American Geophysical Union (2011), the Edgerton Award for young faculty at MIT (2012), the Undergraduate Research Opportunities for Undergraduates Mentor of the Year award by MIT (2012) and the Award for Outstanding Contributions and Dedication to Geobiology and Geomicrobiology from The Geobiology and Geomicrobiology Division of The Geological Society of America. Bosak is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union (2011), the American Academy of Microbiology (2021), and a subject editor for Geobiology, Frontiers of Microbiology and Geochemical Perspectives Letters. -
Microbial Facies in a Sturtian Cap Carbonate, the Rasthof Formation, Otavi Group, Northern Namibia
Precambrian Research 181 (2010) 187–198 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Precambrian Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/precamres Microbial facies in a Sturtian cap carbonate, the Rasthof Formation, Otavi Group, northern Namibia Sara B. Pruss a,∗, Tanja Bosak b, Francis A. Macdonald c, Marie McLane a, Paul F. Hoffman c,d a Department of Geosciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063, USA b Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA c Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA d School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada V8W 2Y2 article info abstract Article history: Microbial structures in Neoproterozoic cap carbonates record the environmental processes present in Received 4 February 2010 the aftermath of global glaciation. The Rasthof Formation of northern Namibia is a unique carbonate Received in revised form 24 May 2010 depositional sequence that formed during post-glacial transgression and highstand following the Chuos Accepted 2 June 2010 glaciation. Carbon isotope profiles from four examined localities reveal that onlap was diachronous over post-glacial, syn-rift topography. The lower Rasthof Formation consists primarily of dark gray thinly (<mm) and thickly (1–4 mm) laminated microbialites that exhibit different rheological responses to the Keywords: emplacement of syndepositional dikes. The thinly laminated microbialaminite facies commonly host cm- Cryogenian Roll-up structure sized syndepositional folds of microbially laminated sediment called roll-up structures. In more thickly Neoproterozoic laminated facies, layers are deformed into broad decimeter-sized folds, but roll-up structures are absent. -
Spontaneous Generation & Origin of Life Concepts from Antiquity to The
SIMB News News magazine of the Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology April/May/June 2019 V.69 N.2 • www.simbhq.org Spontaneous Generation & Origin of Life Concepts from Antiquity to the Present :ŽƵƌŶĂůŽĨ/ŶĚƵƐƚƌŝĂůDŝĐƌŽďŝŽůŽŐLJΘŝŽƚĞĐŚŶŽůŽŐLJ Impact Factor 3.103 The Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology is an international journal which publishes papers in metabolic engineering & synthetic biology; biocatalysis; fermentation & cell culture; natural products discovery & biosynthesis; bioenergy/biofuels/biochemicals; environmental microbiology; biotechnology methods; applied genomics & systems biotechnology; and food biotechnology & probiotics Editor-in-Chief Ramon Gonzalez, University of South Florida, Tampa FL, USA Editors Special Issue ^LJŶƚŚĞƚŝĐŝŽůŽŐLJ; July 2018 S. Bagley, Michigan Tech, Houghton, MI, USA R. H. Baltz, CognoGen Biotech. Consult., Sarasota, FL, USA Impact Factor 3.500 T. W. Jeffries, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA 3.000 T. D. Leathers, USDA ARS, Peoria, IL, USA 2.500 M. J. López López, University of Almeria, Almeria, Spain C. D. Maranas, Pennsylvania State Univ., Univ. Park, PA, USA 2.000 2.505 2.439 2.745 2.810 3.103 S. Park, UNIST, Ulsan, Korea 1.500 J. L. Revuelta, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain 1.000 B. Shen, Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, FL, USA 500 D. K. Solaiman, USDA ARS, Wyndmoor, PA, USA Y. Tang, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA E. J. Vandamme, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium H. Zhao, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA 10 Most Cited Articles Published in 2016 (Data from Web of Science: October 15, 2018) Senior Author(s) Title Citations L. Katz, R. Baltz Natural product discovery: past, present, and future 103 Genetic manipulation of secondary metabolite biosynthesis for improved production in Streptomyces and R. -
Chemosynthetic Symbiont with a Drastically Reduced Genome Serves As Primary Energy Storage in the Marine Flatworm Paracatenula
Chemosynthetic symbiont with a drastically reduced genome serves as primary energy storage in the marine flatworm Paracatenula Oliver Jäcklea, Brandon K. B. Seaha, Målin Tietjena, Nikolaus Leischa, Manuel Liebekea, Manuel Kleinerb,c, Jasmine S. Berga,d, and Harald R. Gruber-Vodickaa,1 aMax Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, 28359 Bremen, Germany; bDepartment of Geoscience, University of Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada; cDepartment of Plant & Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695; and dInstitut de Minéralogie, Physique des Matériaux et Cosmochimie, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France Edited by Margaret J. McFall-Ngai, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, and approved March 1, 2019 (received for review November 7, 2018) Hosts of chemoautotrophic bacteria typically have much higher thrive in both free-living environmental and symbiotic states, it is biomass than their symbionts and consume symbiont cells for difficult to attribute their genomic features to either functions nutrition. In contrast to this, chemoautotrophic Candidatus Riegeria they provide to their host, or traits that are necessary for envi- symbionts in mouthless Paracatenula flatworms comprise up to ronmental survival or to both. half of the biomass of the consortium. Each species of Paracate- The smallest genomes of chemoautotrophic symbionts have nula harbors a specific Ca. Riegeria, and the endosymbionts have been observed for the gammaproteobacterial symbionts of ves- been vertically transmitted for at least 500 million years. Such icomyid clams that are directly transmitted between host genera- prolonged strict vertical transmission leads to streamlining of sym- tions (13, 14). Such strict vertical transmission leads to substantial biont genomes, and the retained physiological capacities reveal and ongoing genome reduction.