Facilities Core

Team

Robert R. Bidigare, Ph.D., Project Leader
Michael S. Rappe, Ph.D., Co-leader
Susan L. Brown, Ph.D., Co-Investigator
Henry Trapido-Rosenthal, Ph.D., Co-Investigator
Charles O'Kelly, Curator
Megan Huggett, Post Doctoral Researcher
Andrea Messer, Assistant Curator
Misty Miller, Research Technician
Russell Barlow, Lab Technician
Louise Shinkoethe, Lab Technician

This core facility consists of three components: isolation, characterization and cultivation. The core facility builds on existing assets previously in place at the University of Hawaii. UH researchers have ready access to the open and coastal waters of the subtropical Pacific Ocean as well as to the coral reef systems found in the Kaneohe Bay via the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (shown in the picture above). Specific projects include the development of improved enrichment culture isolation techniques designed to select for diverse marine bacteria (based on RFLP patterns and 16S rRNA gene sequences), including those with novel metabolic pathways (e.g., photoheterotrophs, chemolithoautotrophs). Photoautotropic microbes known to be in relatively high abundance but still not represented in our culture collections (i.e., microalgae and cyanobacteria) will be targeted. Once the isolates have been characterized by performing genetic and biomarker analyses, they are cultivated to yield sufficient biomass for bioactivity screening and secondary metabolite isolation.

The facility functions as a conduit between the three research cores by serving as:

1. a repository for maintaining microbes isolated by collaborators and other Center researchers (e.g., G. toxicus by Research Project 1 and pathogenic bacteria by Research Project 2);
2. an analytical facility for use by other PRCMB and UH researchers (e.g., access to the core facility’s GC/MS and LC/MS/MS instrumentation, DNA sequencer and flow cytometer systems); and
3. a source of microbial biomass for screening and isolating secondary metabolites.

Center researchers and collaborators will isolate 1000+ new microbes, including at least 950 marine bacterial and 50 microalgal strains, annually.

PRCMB Cultures

PRCMBCultureCollection.xls Jan 7, 2005

Specific Aims

Our specific aims and the research proposed herein are motivated by the following hypothesis: The “extreme” and “stressful” conditions (supersaturated dissolved oxygen concentrations, high UVA and UVB radiation fluxes, and low nutrient concentrations) found in surface waters of the subtropical Pacific Ocean have selected for a diverse community of marine microbes (bacteria, microalgae and cyanobacteria) that have evolved elaborate chemical offensive (allelopathic compounds and antibiotics) and defensive (UV blockers and antioxidants) systems that enhance their competitiveness.

1. Isolation of Marine Microbes
2. Characterization of Marine Microbes
3. Cultivation of Marine Microbes