​Broadening biogeochemical and microbial perspectives at the Marine Biological Laboratory Summer School in Microbial Diversity

​Event Type: Seminar

Event Date: 26 Jan 2018

Venue: ASE 3D Viz Laboratory Room (N2-B1c-16c)

Speaker: Molly Moynihan

About the speaker:

Molly is a 3rd year PhD student at the Asian School of the Environment working under Dr Nathalie Goodkin.

About the event:

This summer she attended a 7 week enrichment course in Woods Hole, MA. As part of her independent project, Molly conducted experiments on a local species of coral, Astrangia poculata. She learned how to perform fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and image these samples using confocal laser scanning microscopy. These techniques allow specific microbes to be “tagged” and visualized inside the coral tissue, providing spatial information to complement sequencing data.  She also experimented with a wide range of protocols to optimize sample preparation for microscopy and DNA extraction, and she isolated and sequenced several bacteria strains from Astrangia poculata. She found that both cyanobacteria and sulfate reducing bacteria were important components of Astrangia poculata’s microbiome. These results suggest that coral-associated microbial communities play a key role in reef biogeochemical cycling. Molly will present her independent research project at this seminar.