Shaping of hydrothermal microbiomes in response to energy availability: An ecological investigation of variance of deep sea microbial diversity at different scales in connection with energy sources

Project title

Shaping of hydrothermal microbiomes in response to energy availability: An ecological investigation of variance of deep sea microbial diversity at different scales in connection with energy sources

Supervisors

Håkon Dahle, Ida Helene Steen, Runar Stokke, Ruth-Anne Sandaa, Eoghan Reeves

Project description

Dramatic chemical gradients within deep sea hydrothermal vent systems provide means for growth of lithoautotrophic life through a diverse yet limited set of redox reactions. My bioinformatic / molecular ecology-focused PhD work aims to gain insights into the microbial food webs of the chemically variable vent systems discovered to date across the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge including primary production, organotophy, and viral signatures. I use metagenomic data analysis to investigate the functional diversity of primary producers in these systems and connect this information to the local geochemistry using energy landscape and microbial community modeling. I am interested in the metabolic hand-offs present within these food webs, as well as the possibility that different primary producer assemblages in vent systems may support different types of organotrophic life.

You can also read a bit more about Emily on the webpage of CBU.