From Hydrothermal Vents to Cold Seeps: How Bacteria Sustain Ocean Life - Meet the Microbiologist

Nicole Dubilier, Ph.D., Director at the Max Planck Institute for Marnie Microbiology, has led numerous research cruises worldwide, studying symbiotic relationships between bacteria and marine invertebrates in diverse ecosystems. Join us for a special live recording of Meet the Microbiologist podcast, where she discusses her adventurous expeditions and how her research has fueled a paradigm shift in understanding symbioses between bacteria and animals.
Discussions:
00:00:19 Introduction to Dr. Nicole Dubilier and her research
Ashley Hagen, introduces Dr. Nicole Dubilier, the director of the symbiosis department at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany. Dr. Dubilier's research focuses on understanding the importance of diversity and function of symbioses between bacteria and animals. Ashley asks Dr. Dubilier to explain the concept of microbial symbioses, which she describes as the living together of two or more different organisms in close physical intimacy for a longer period of time, without implying whether the interactions are beneficial or detrimental.
00:03:43 Dr. Dubilier's research journey and key discoveries
Dr. Dubilier shares that she started working on symbiosis in 1992 as a postdoc, joining the lab of Colin Kavanagh at Harvard University, who was one of the first researchers to work on the symbioses between hydrothermal vent tube worms and their symbiotic bacteria. At the time, their main focus was to identify the symbionts using 16S sequencing, which was a lengthy and challenging process. Dr. Dubilier emphasizes how exciting it is that researchers now have access to tools like sequencing and imaging to study these symbiotic relationships in much more depth. She discusses some of her team's key discoveries, such as finding bacteria that can use carbon monoxide as an energy source, and the process of proving their hypotheses through various experimental methods.
00:07:47 Collecting and analyzing samples
Dr. Dubilier explains the process of collecting samples, both from shallow water environments and the deep sea. For shallow water hosts, the team uses a method called decantation to separate the worms from the sediment, and then identifies the white-colored worms that have sulfur-oxidizing bacteria. For deep-sea samples, they rely on remote-operated vehicles or submersibles to collect the organisms. Once the samples are collected, the team uses a variety of techniques, including sequencing, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, to study the symbionts and understand their functions.
00:09:50 Differences between coastal and deep-sea environments
Dr. Dubilier discusses the differences between the host organisms and their symbionts in coastal and deep-sea environments. While some species, like the Bathymodiolus mussels, can be found in both shallow and deep-sea environments, the majority of the hosts are distinct between the two. However, the lineages of bacteria that form these symbiotic relationships can be found in both environments, suggesting convergent evolution. Dr. Dubilier also mentions the hypothesis of 'stepping stones' for the migration of mussels from shallow to deep-sea environments over evolutionary time.
00:18:03 Challenges and rewards of the research
Dr. Dubilier shares that one of the biggest challenges she faces is dealing with the rejection of research proposals and papers, which is a common experience in the scientific community. She emphasizes the importance of persistence and resilience in overcoming these setbacks. On the rewarding side, Dr. Dubilier finds great satisfaction in working with her team of young researchers, mentoring them, and seeing them grow and succeed in their careers, whether in academia, industry, or other fields.
00:26:26 Future plans and potential applications
Dr. Dubilier discusses her team's upcoming expedition to the Great Barrier Reef, which they are planning to coincide with the Australian summer to take advantage of the better weather conditions. She also mentions their interest in studying the evolution of species in the Mediterranean, which is a relatively young ocean basin. While Dr. Dubilier's team is not focused on developing patents or commercial applications, she does mention that some of their discoveries, such as the oxygen-tolerant hydrogenases found in their symbiotic microbes, have potential industrial applications.
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