Evolution of Microorganisms
At Linnaeus University Centre for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial Model Systems (EEMiS) seven research groups investigates how microorganisms interact with each other and with other organisms in their environment.
Seminars
Time and Place: 13.00 in A137 (if not otherwise stated)
1-2 February
EEMiS Workshop
21 February
Room B221
March 7
Marielle van Toor (postdoc) and Josanne Verhagen (postdoc), group Jonas Waldenström, EEMiS, Linnaeus University.
Title: "Unraveling how viruses keep traveling: waterbird migration and avian influenza virus evolution"
21 March
Karen Labret, Postdoc, LnuC-EEMiS.
Title: " From population genetics to community analyses: my journey towards the understanding of plankton ecology"
4 April
Emil Fridolfsson, LnuC-EEMiS. Half time seminar.
Title: " Transfer of vitamins and pigments in the aquatic food web" (Room KSL332)
Room KSL332
11 April
Mohamed L. Merroun, Associate professor, Department of Microbiology, University of Granada, Spain.
Title: "Microbes and metals: environmental perspectives and industrial benefits"
16 May
Anders Forsman och Per Larsson, LnuC-EEMiS
Title: "Misconduct in research"
Presumably, everyone agrees that misconduct in research is a bad thing. There are rules and regulations to keep research and researchers on track. But the distinction is not always clear cut. We have a shared responsibility to think about these issues. What is - and what is not - misconduct? Why does it occur? Can it be avoided? How does it concern me/us? Following a brief opening/introduction we will present some hypothetical examples or case studies for discussion in smaller groups.
Room A140, A141 and KSL401
30 May
Domenico Simone, LnuC-EEMiS
Title: "Twenty-thousand leagues under the sea: bioinformatics of the deep biosphere"
Room A205
13 June
Richard Williams och Daniela Polic, LnuC-EEMiS
Room KSL332
Projects
Within the center we have a wide and unique basis to overview the entire Baltic Sea food chain. The six different research groups are working on their own specific projects, and interact at the same time in joint projects within their different specialties. Three of the joint projects are:
Ecology and evolution of marine anoxic sediments
In this project we are studying how microorganisms use nutrients in the sediments in anoxic environments of the Baltic Sea. By understanding the microbial processes in anoxic sediments, we can find strategies to restore the dead areas of the Baltic Sea.
Oxygen concentrations in marine sediments may increase or decrease due to natural seasonal variations during the year, but anthropogenic activities such as nutrient loading can accelerate oxygen depletion and eventually void the sediments of all oxygen. If undisturbed by turbulence, such as in the deep sea, the sediment may be permanently anoxic. We are interested in how the microbial populations and their functions cope with such changes, and how we can relate molecular biology data to chemical fluctuations affected by changes in the oxygen level. These data have the potential to aid the design of strategies to remediate anoxic zones.
Sediments are environments that host a vast amount of organisms, ranging from the small (microbes) to the large (bottom dwelling fish). Many organisms larger than microorganisms depend on oxygen for survival, while microbes are able to utilize other electron acceptors than oxygen for survival. Hence, in anoxic sediments microbial life may still thrive by respiring e.g. nitrate (denitrification) or ferric iron (iron reduction). Due to nitrate yielding more energy as an electron acceptor than ferric iron, profiles of chemical substances can often be seen in the sediment depth. Microbial processes such as these and other chemical redox processes cause sediments to be complicated systems. Even though life seems to be difficult in anoxic sediment (sometimes also called "dead" sediments), life actually still exists in the prokaryotic domain.
