Research interestInvestigations of modern ‘extreme’ environments as analogues for the early Earth and astrobiology.
Natural product chemistry – particularly elucidation of novel compounds and their utility as signatures for biological activity.
Molecular indicators of redox boundaries
Chemotaxonomy of lipids
Darwin Center programs and projects1012: Membrane lipids of Thermogata as indicators for present and past thermophilic anaerobic oxidation of methane
ProjectsIntact polar lipids (IPLs) derived from microbial communities in extreme environments
The direct analysis of IPLs is gaining increasing popularity in determining the presence and diversity of microbial communities in different environments. In this project we want to further develop this method by using HPLC combined with multidimensional MS techniques and apply it to unusual microbial communities in extreme environments. Specifically, material collected from several off-axis hydrothermal vents in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean (in collaboration with Prof. A.L. Reysenbach, Portland State) will be analysed and compared with genomic results obtained by our collaborators. We will also investigate several terrestrial hot springs for which material has been collected or will be collected during field trips within this project.
People involved: R. Gibson (Post-doc), Prof. Dr. J.S. Sinninghe Damsté, Dr. S. Schouten, Dr. M.T.J. van der Meer, Dr. E.C. Hopmans.
Funding: DARWIN
Duration: 2009-2011
PublicationsChuanlun L. Zhang, Zhiyong Huang, Yi-Liang Li, Christopher S. Romanek, Gary L. Mills, Robert A. Gibson, Helen M. Talbot, Juergen Wiegel, John Noakes, Randy Culp and David C. White, 2007. Lipid biomarkers, carbon isotopes, and phylogenetic characterization of bacteria in California and Nevada hot springs, Geomicrobiology 24, 519 – 534.
Robert A. Gibson, Helen M. Talbot, Gurpreet Kaur, Richard D. Pancost, Bruce Mountain, 2008. Bacteriohopanepolyol signatures of cyanobacterial and methanotrophic bacterial populations recorded in a geothermal vent sinter, Org. Geochem. 39, 1020 – 1023.