Research and Teaching
Costantino Vetriani
Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology and Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences
Research in my laboratory is focused on: i) the physiology, ecology and evolutionary relationships of deep-sea prokaryotes, with an emphasis on deep-sea hydrothermal vents and cold seeps, and ii) the microbial adaptations to extreme environmental conditions. More specifically, we work on the isolation and characterization of novel organisms from deep-sea environments, with an emphasis on thermophilic Archaea and Bacteria, and we look at community dynamics along chemical and physical gradients at deep-sea vents and cold seeps. Our experimental strategies include standard approaches in marine microbiology, such as enrichment cultures/isolations, and molecular ecological approaches, such as PCR, library construction and screening, sequencing, DGGE, and FISH. Furthermore, in collaboration with biochemists, we use genetic engineering and biochemical approaches, combined with comparative protein structure modeling, to study the evolutionary adaptive features that allow microorganisms to thrive in the extreme environmental conditions found in the deep-sea (e.g., extremely high temperature found at deep-sea vents). We believe that the integration of multiple approaches is critical to understand the ecology and evolution of deep-sea microorganisms. More information at: Exciting Science: Life at the Extremes - Microbiology of deep-sea volcanoes
Funded Projects (Current and Past)
Memberships in Graduate Programs and Academic Departments at RU
