Elizabeth Santos, University of Maryland, College Park

Class Year:

2007

Mentor:

Marcelino Suzuki, Ph.D.

Abstract:

Aquatic microbial species have been proven to be difficult to culture and thus hard to study. The use of genetic analysis has begun to fill the knowledge regarding aquatic microbes. Analyses of ribosomal RNA genes in fosmid libraries constructed from bacterioplankton from surface waters of the Chesapeake Bay has revealed the presence of several groups of marine/estuarine microbes. Through PCR, sequencing, and phylogentic analysis, several aquatic bacterial groups have been identified. These include, but are not limited to Thiobacillus (Betaproteobacteria), Delftia (Betaproteobacteria), Verrucomicrobia, Synechococcus, Bacteroidetes, Paenibacillus (Firmicutes), and Actinobacteria.

Location:

Chesapeake Biological Laboratory