报告主题：Niche Adaptation of Picocyanobacteria and their Viruses to the Estuarine Environment

主 讲 人：Feng Chen 教授（马里兰大学）

主 持 人：张 锐 教授

时 间：2023年10月17日周二16:00

地 点：致知楼706

报告摘要：

Tiny unicellular cyanobacteria (<3 µm), or picocyanobacteria can make up 50% of the ocean’s primary production, and thereof they play a pivotal biogeochemical role in the ocean. Ecological distribution, light adaptation, phylogenetic diversity, and genomic evolution of picocyanobacterial in the coastal and open ocean have been studied extensively. However, much less is known about picocyanobacteria living in the estuarine environment. About 20 years ago, our group began to isolate and characterize picocyanobacteria from the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the U.S. We found that the estuarine water contains novel groups of picocyanobacteria which differ from open ocean picocyanobacteria in terms of physiology, phylogeny, and genomic feature. We first defined a few new lineages of picocyanobacteria in subcluster 5.2 and they were later found in other estuarine ecosystems by other researchers. We also isolated viruses that infect estuarine picocyanobacteria. Viruses in all three common viral families (myo-, podo-, and siphoviridae) were found infecting picocyanobacteria isolated from the Bay. Genomic sequencing of these cyanobacterial viruses (cyanophage) provides new insight into their global distribution and unique virus-host strategy adopted by estuarine picocyanobacteria.

嘉宾简介：

Dr. Feng Chen is a Professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. He received his B.S. in Marine Biology from the Ocean University of China in 1985, M.S. in Phytoplankton Ecology from the First Institute of Oceanography, the State Oceanic Administration, China in 1988, and Ph.D. in Marine Microbial Ecology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1995. He joined the faculty of the University of Maryland in 2000. His main research interests focus on the diversity and function of microorganisms (mainly viruses, bacteria, cyanobacteria, and microalgae) and their ecological role in the marine ecosystem. He applies both traditional cultivation methods and advanced molecular or omics technologies to discover novel microbes and understand their physiology, ecology, and evolution. He also develops algae-based biotechnology as a solution for sustainable environments and renewable energy.