Microbial Communities Group (Continued)
Phil Hugenholtz
Phil Hugenholtz is head of the Microbial Ecology Program at the DOE Joint Genome Institute. His research centers on metagenomic analysis of microbial communities found in habitats such as termite hindguts, activated sludges, glacial ice and hypersaline mats. He will participate in the generation and analysis of metagenomic data from microbial consortia adapted to degrading feedstocks of interest.
Jennifer Pett-Ridge
Jennifer Pett-Ridge's work includes microbial ecology of environmental and human microbial communities; biogeochemistry; stable isotope probing for analysis of nutrient cycling, molecular genomics of environmental microbial communities, linking microbial phylogeny to function, and subcellular imaging. For JBEI, she is working on understanding diversity and function relationships in tropical soil microbial communities, as a backdrop for those who which to exploit these communities' inherent capacity for ligno-cellulose degredation.
Amitha Reddy
Amitha Reddy is a Post Doctoral Scholar at the University of California, Davis. She will be responsible for enriching and examining microbial communities, such as those found in compost, for the deconstruction of potential bioenergy feedstocks
Steven Singer
Steve’s research examines the composition and function of compost-derived microbial communities that degrade lignocellulosic biomass.
Michael Thelen
Our research focuses on microbial processes in natural ecosystems and how they shape the biogeochemistry of the environment. We use two systems to study protein functions essential for survival of microbes in unusual habitats. The first is a prolific biofilm community found in an extremely acidic, metal-rich environment. The second includes communities that utilize plant biomass by breaking down refractory polymers such as lignin and cellulose. In addition, we have established microbial and plant cell cultures to examine lignocellulose degradation. We take an integrated approach that relies on microbiology, cell biology, proteomics, biochemical analysis, and computational structure prediction.
Jean VanderGheynst
Jean VanderGheynst is a Professor of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at the University of California, Davis. Her group works on solid-state fermentation processes for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to products. Her group will be responsible for enriching and examining microbial communities, such as those found in compost, for the deconstruction of potential bioenergy feedstocks.
