Research with Arlene Haffa
My research program is focused on the molecular mechanisms and evolution
of photosynthetic microbes. These microbes are significant ecological
players. They exist in diverse and sometimes extreme habitats provided
they receive solar irradiation. One marine species, NAP1, has been cultured
and was recently sequenced and thus is immediately ready for further
exploration using instrumentation in the Proteomics and Functional Genomics
Core Facility at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh (UWO). The dissolution
of greenhouse gases into the world's oceans is causing them to become
acidified, or have a lower pH. Many biological processes, including
respiration and photosynthesis, are tuned to function at a particular
pH, and the impacts of this pH drop are not well-understood. Since photosynthetic
organisms are the basis of all food webs, the first goal will be to
determine how the proteome responds to acidification. Another immediate
project involves a computational technique I have developed to compare
whole genomes, which is providing insight into their evolutionary trajectory.
Microbial evolution is interesting for its historical perspective, but
pertinent in that it is related to antibiotic resistance, invasive species,
and viral impacts on genomes.
Microbial biogeochemical collage: aggregate of aerobic anoxygenic photosynthetic
bacteria (lower right), in a self-produced home of high-carbon-content
exo-polysaccharide matrices (upper right). Within the aggregates are
reduced sulfur compounds created by electron transfer reactions (lower
left).
