Research Interests
- Syntrophic Interactions
- Anaerobic Physiology
- Genomics
- Anaerobic Microbiology
About Me
Currently I am in the third year of my graduate program working towards my PhD in Microbiology. In the lab I am currently investigating the genomes of two syntrophic bacteria Syntrophus aciditrophicus and Syntrophomonas wolfei. These bacteria's genomes are the first of their kind to be sequenced. In the environment these bacteria are very important because they remove small chain fatty acids and more complex aromatic fatty acids such as benzoate. Without these organisms the system would become overloaded with organic acids produced by other bacteria and the pH would decrease to toxic levels. While degrading these acids the syntroph produces lots of hydrogen, however if there is no organism present such as a methanogen or sulfate reducing bacteria to uptake the hydrogen the syntroph will eventually choke to death from hydrogen build up. This win win situation is what gives the syntroph its name.
