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SUMMARY:The micro-scale ecological dynamics of particle attached bacteria 
 in the ocean
DTSTART:20150505T161500
DTEND:20150505T171500
DTSTAMP:20260407T134032Z
UID:44af7096e00de2e0add6d910931120969a8a95bbe38d715455cb23d2
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Dr Otto Cordero Sanchez\, Microbial Population Biology\, Depar
 tment of Environmental Systems Science (D-USYS)\, ETH Zurich\nAbstract:\nA
 t ecosystem scales\, particulate organic matter (POM) represents one of th
 e major reservoirs of carbon in the planet\, transporting fixed C and N fr
 om surface waters to the ocean floor. At micrometer scales\, POM consumpti
 on is driven by complex ecological dynamics involving diverse communities 
 of bacteria that assemble around particles\, disassemble as the ecological
  opportunities expire and migrate to find new nutrient patches. Because of
  the enormous diversity of microbes in the environment\, this process is l
 ikely to involve a large number of species interacting at different points
  during assembly and disassembly. Yet\, little is known about microbial co
 mmunity dynamics at these scales is constrained by the ecological interact
 ions and trade-offs between populations. Using a model system based on chi
 tin-associated communities from the coastal ocean\, I will discuss how we 
 can reconstruct community dynamics on particles using a combination of com
 putational and experimental tools. Our results show that community dynamic
 s on chitin particles is ordered in a succession of ‘species’ that att
 ach\, grow and then migrate out of particles\, all in a highly reproducibl
 e manner despite the high diversity of the system. Further analysis of the
  traits associated with this dynamics\, both with cultured isolates as wel
 l as with meta-genomics\, showed that these complex dynamics are not drive
 n by changes in substrates\, but by local biological interactions and ecol
 ogical trade-offs which structure communities at micro-meter scales. Furth
 ermore\, Analysis of pairwise interactions between these bacteria suggests
  that strong facilitation\, and not antagonism\, dominates the interaction
  network of the community and that these positive interactions could incre
 ase the total productivity of the system. Overall\, these results thus sho
 w that important ecosystem processes can be controlled by local interactio
 ns networks at micron scales and that synergistic interactions between mic
 robes are common and can have major effects on the performance of multi-sp
 ecies systems.Short biography:\nHaving started as a computer scientist and
  engineer\, Otto X. Cordero completed his PhD in Theoretical Biology with 
 Paulien Hogeweg at the University of Utrecht. Then he moved to MIT where h
 e worked with Martin Polz on the population diversity and social interacti
 ons of marine vibrios. Otto was awarded an ERC Starting Grant in 2013 and 
 became Assistant Professor of Microbial Population Biology at ETH Zurich.\
 nStarting July 1st 2015\, Otto will move his lab to MIT\, where he has bee
 n appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environment
 al Engineering
LOCATION:GR A3 31 http://plan.epfl.ch/?room=GR%20A3%2031
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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