Department of Biology

Evolutionary genomics of uncultivated microbial groups in the global ocean

Dr. Frank Aylward

October 2, 2019
4-5pm

Abstract:

Diverse microbial lineages play a central role in driving biogeochemical cycles in the ocean. Despite their importance, difficulties in laboratory cultivation have long hampered the analysis of ecologically important microbial groups, and cultivation-independent methods such as metagenomics have become indispensable tools for studying microbes in the environment over the last ∼40 years. One marine bacterial group that has eluded cultivation thus far is the Marinimicrobia, a candidate phylum present in diverse marine environments that is thought to play important roles in carbon and nitrogen cycling. Numerous genomes of Marinimicrobia have recently been generated in metagenomic and single-cell genomic studies, providing a unique opportunity to examine the genomics, biogeography, and evolution of this uncultivated phylum. Recent comparative genomic analyses have shed light on the evolutionary drivers that shape this group and provided insight into broader patterns of genome evolution in the ocean.