VIMS Events
This calendar presented by
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
[PAST EVENT] Investigating Microbial Interactions with Plastic Debris in the Open Ocean
November 9, 2012
3pm - 4:30pm
Location
VIMS - Watermen's Hall, McHugh Auditorium1375 Greate Road
Gloucester Point, VA 23062Map this location
Background:
Dr. Mincer received his B.S. in Chemistry/Biochemistry from the University of San Diego in 1995 and his Ph.D. in Oceanography from Scripps Institute of Oceanography in 2004. He conducted his post-doctoral studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 2004-2008, and subsequently began as an Assistant Scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. His interests include determining in-situ selective pressures on marine microorganisms, elucidation of chemical communication and its role in coordinating microbial degradation of particles in the water column, marine microbial natural products and their role in protist grazing deterrence and quorum sensing disruption, use of heterologous expression techniques to determine heavy metal bio-transformation, and gaining a deeper understanding of the epibiont community of the bloom-forming cyanobacteria Trichodesmium.
Abstract:
The current global annual production of plastic is 245 million tonnes or 35 kg of plastic for each of the 7 billion humans on the planet, rivaling the combined biomass of all humans. In less than 60 d, plastic particles can passively migrate from land (> 1000 km) to the central gyres, impacting "pristine" gyre interiors and persisting for many years. Plastic debris provides a substrate for microbes that lasts much longer than most natural floating substrates. Plastic debris has also been implicated as a vector for transportation of harmful algal species, pathogens, and persistent organic pollutants and can function as an unnatural "microbial reef." Pyrotag amplicon sequencing of bacterial and eukaryotic small subunit ribosomal RNA gene sequences, together with scanning electron microscopy performed by Dr. Mincer's group and collaborators, suggest that plastic debris harbors a unique association of microbes that is likely to be contributing to the degradation of this substrate. Genetic determinants in some bacteria could be responsible for specific attachment to plastic substrates. Overall, work over the next 2.5 years aims to investigate the diversity, function, and fate of microbial communities attached to plastic debris in the North Atlantic and North Pacific subtropical gyres employing cultivation-based, and cultivation independent methods in combination with field-based incubation studies.
Dr. Mincer received his B.S. in Chemistry/Biochemistry from the University of San Diego in 1995 and his Ph.D. in Oceanography from Scripps Institute of Oceanography in 2004. He conducted his post-doctoral studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 2004-2008, and subsequently began as an Assistant Scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. His interests include determining in-situ selective pressures on marine microorganisms, elucidation of chemical communication and its role in coordinating microbial degradation of particles in the water column, marine microbial natural products and their role in protist grazing deterrence and quorum sensing disruption, use of heterologous expression techniques to determine heavy metal bio-transformation, and gaining a deeper understanding of the epibiont community of the bloom-forming cyanobacteria Trichodesmium.
Abstract:
The current global annual production of plastic is 245 million tonnes or 35 kg of plastic for each of the 7 billion humans on the planet, rivaling the combined biomass of all humans. In less than 60 d, plastic particles can passively migrate from land (> 1000 km) to the central gyres, impacting "pristine" gyre interiors and persisting for many years. Plastic debris provides a substrate for microbes that lasts much longer than most natural floating substrates. Plastic debris has also been implicated as a vector for transportation of harmful algal species, pathogens, and persistent organic pollutants and can function as an unnatural "microbial reef." Pyrotag amplicon sequencing of bacterial and eukaryotic small subunit ribosomal RNA gene sequences, together with scanning electron microscopy performed by Dr. Mincer's group and collaborators, suggest that plastic debris harbors a unique association of microbes that is likely to be contributing to the degradation of this substrate. Genetic determinants in some bacteria could be responsible for specific attachment to plastic substrates. Overall, work over the next 2.5 years aims to investigate the diversity, function, and fate of microbial communities attached to plastic debris in the North Atlantic and North Pacific subtropical gyres employing cultivation-based, and cultivation independent methods in combination with field-based incubation studies.
Contact
[[rdseit, Rochelle Seitz]] at 804-684-7698