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From Woods Hole to the Deep Sea:
Living in a Microbial World
Julie A. Huber
Marine Biological Laboratory
From Woods Hole to the Deep Sea:
Living in a Microbial World
Julie A. Huber
Marine Biological Laboratory
• We live on Planet Microbe
• Rocks + Water = Energy
• We need to think DEEP
How did life spread across the planet?
How did life diversify?
How do life and its environment co-evolve?
What does the future of life look like?
Planet Microbe
BACTERIA
EUKARYA ARCHAEA
P.
ferr
ophil
us
•No true nucleus
•Single chromosome
•No membrane-bound organelles
•Divide by binary fission
Dave Remsen, MBL
Universal
Tree of Life
BACTERIA
EUKARYA
ARCHAEA
Modified from Norman Pace
EUKARYA
You Are
Here
ARCHAEA
Baker and Dick Microbe 2013
Though they be small, they are mighty! -Shakespeare (sort of)
• Microbes are EVERYWHERE (inc. in/on you!)
• A petagram (~ 1015 g) of carbon in marine microbes
• All the people on Earth together weigh about 4x1013 grams
• Microbes were the only form of life for most of our
biological history (~3.5 Billion Years)
• Microbes mediate biogeochemical cycles (carbon,
oxygen, nitrogen, etc) that shape Earth’s habitability
Planet Microbe
Marine Food Webs
Worden et al. 2015
Breitbart 2012
Marine Food Webs
Classic food chain
Primary Producers
Dissolved organic matter
Grazers
Heterotrophic Prokaryotes
Viruses
Breitbart 2012
Phag
e by M
PI
Copepod by Hopcroft/UAF/CoML
Str
iper
by P
hil
ip C
oll
a
Breitbart 2012
Breitbart 2012
Marine Food Webs
Classic food chain
Primary Producers
Dissolved organic matter
Grazers
Heterotrophic Prokaryotes
Viruses
Breitbart 2012
Phag
e by M
PI
Copepod by Hopcroft/UAF/CoML
Str
iper
by P
hil
ip C
oll
a
Marine Food Webs
Classic food chain
Primary Producers
Dissolved organic matter
Grazers
Heterotrophic Prokaryotes
Viruses
Chemical Energy Breitbart 2012 Methanogen by Maryland Astrobiology Consortium U
W/D
eb K
elle
y
Rocks + Water = Energy
(R)evolutionary Crosstalk between
Earth & Life
Rocks + Water = Energy
Basalt
Dikes
Gabbro
Peridotite
WHOI
H2S
Fe
Rocks + Water = Energy
+ H2O
Mafic
Basalt
Dikes
Gabbro
Peridotite
WHOI
WHOI
H2
CH4
C2-C5
Ultramafic
Rocks + Water = Energy
+ H2O
Basalt
Dikes
Gabbro
Peridotite
Tim Shank
Nature: 459 , June 2009
Zhang et al. 2014 Frontiers in Microbio
Epsilonproteobacteria
Gastric ulcer, cancer
Food-borne diarrhea
Marine & Terrestrial
Sulfidic Systems
Vent Endemic: Most Ancient
Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents: Potential Hot Spots for
Natural Products Discovery?
Thornburg, Zabriskie and McPhail
J. Nat. Prod., 2010, 73, pp 489–499
www.mineweb.com
lbl.gov
Multi-Disciplinary Science
• Evolutionary Biology
• Geochemistry
• Geology
• Microbiology
• Modeling
• Natural Resources
• Oceanography
• Astrobiology
• Biochemistry
• Biogeography
• Climate
• Ecology
• Energy
• Engineering
From Woods Hole to the Deep Sea:
Living in a Microbial World
Julie A. Huber
Marine Biological Laboratory
• We live on Planet Microbe
• Rocks + Water = Energy
• We need to think DEEP
Most Marine Ecosystems are Important & Understudied
Understanding them Demands
Multi-Disciplinary BIG Science
Microbes, Viruses, Resources, Carbon, etc.
