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Research |
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The
USC Microbial Observatory
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The
USC Microbial Observatory focuses on exploratory
investigation of prokaryotic and unicellular
eukaryotic diversity in the
San Pedro Channel
, California, with an initial focus on time-dependent
changes in community composition in relation to
environmental parameters. It also includes focused studies
of particular microbial groups.
We are
currently in 6th year of this project. Our primary
sampling site is located midway between
Los Angeles
and the USC Wrigley Marine Laboratory on
Santa Catalina
approximately 900 m of water. This site is visited
monthly by ship for sampling to 500 m depth. Additional
sampling is conducted on an ad hoc basis in coastal water
near the lab on
Catalina Island.
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Please visit
the
USC Microbial Observatory Website for more details. |
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Viruses
in Marine Food Webs
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Viruses
are the most abundant biological agents in marine plankton
and have a tremendous potential impact on biological
oceanographic processes, including material & energy
flow as well as plankton diversity. New molecular methods
to investigate diversity of host bacteria and viruses
(including molecular fingerprinting of 16S rRNA and other
genes for bacterial hosts, and pulsed field gel
electrophoresis for virus communities) permit us to begin
unraveling the relationships between virus and host
diversity in marine plankton, and how it may affect
overall rate processes. This project uses such approaches
to study natural and experimental marine microbial systems
and address basic hypotheses on the relationships between
bacterial and viral communities. Study sites include the
San Pedro Ocean Time Series (SPOT) site, midway between
Los Angeles
and
Catalina Island
, run by the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental
Studies, and also richer coastal waters near
Los Angeles
and
Catalina Island
. Part of the project is continuation of a monthly time
series at SPOT of virus abundance and virus community
composition at 4 depths to 500 m, to augment other
microbiological and oceanographic observations being made
at that location as part of the Microbial Observatory
Project (link). In addition to the general time series
databasing component which continues to provide valuable
microbial community data in its own right, we are also
this sampling to investigate hypotheses about viral
control of specific common groups of marine bacteria, such
as cyanobacteria, marine alpha proteobacteria, and the
SAR11 cluster. Short-term, more frequent sampling and
experimental mesocosms are also used to examine community
and specific subgroup dynamics on the generation time
scale. The project has the added value of taking advantage
of a unique time series of microbial diversity at an
easily accessible marine site, suitable for further
analysis such testing hypotheses relating diversity and
stability in marine microbes. Samples (e.g. preserved
virus concentrates, microbial DNA) are also available for
retrospective analysis. Exploratory investigation of virus
diversity and activity in sediments is also included as a
component of this project. |
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Global
Survey of Marine Prokaryotes
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The focus of
our research is the marine environment. In that
environment, like many others, the diversity of
naturally-occurring prokaryotes is poorly known. It has
only been in the last decade or so, with the advent of
molecular biological techniques in this field, that we
have the ability to say what kinds of bacteria and archaea
live in seawater. We have been using such techniques,
originally pioneered by Norman Pace and his colleagues, to
study naturally-occurring marine microbes by means of 16S
rRNA gene sequences. This approach has provided a valuable
and extremely broad phylogenetic framework of
classification, and has the huge benefit that it can be
done without culturing the organisms. The results are in
the form of sequence data, and interpretation within the
context of a large existing database is via phylogenetic
analysis computer programs. |
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Please click
here for more details. |
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Human
Pathogens in the Coastal Zone
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Ongoing
research in our lab on viruses at
Southern California
beaches has been funded for several years by USC Sea Grant.
This has included measurement of human pathogenic viruses,
comparison to bacterial indicators, and development of rapid
and convenient molecular biological tests suitable for
standardized testing. Such work has been coordinated with
local water quality agencies (e.g. Orange County Sanitation
District) and user groups (e.g. Surfrider, Santa Monica
Baykeeper). Coordination has been facilitated by USC Sea
Grant and Southern California Coastal Water Research Project
(SCCWRP).
Please click
here for more details.
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Related Links |
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The USC Microbial Observatory Website -
http://www.usc.edu/microbialobservatory
* Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation
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