El Dr. Joaquín Martinez Program Director, Biological Oceanography, Division of Ocean Sciences, NSF y
Senior Research Scientist, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences Research Faculty, Colby College, visitará el Instituto de Química y Bioquímica invitado por la profesora Yoanna Eissler gracias al apoyo de la Vicerrectoría Académica de la Universidad de Valparaíso a través del Concurso de PROFESORES VISITANTES.
El Dr. Martinez trabajará en conjunto con la Dra. Eissler en el Laboratorio de Virología, realizando experimentos de infección viral para aislar virus nuevos que infecten a la microalga Emiliania Huxleyi.
Además realizará dos charlas, una invitada a través del Instituto de Química y Bioquímica y la otra por el Doctorado Interdisciplinario en Ciencias Ambientales, doctorado conjunto UV-UPLA.
Charla Instituto:
Lugar: auditorio de la Facultad de Ciencias 14 de enero 10:00 h
«Genomic exploration of diverse and abundant marine viruses”
Viruses are ubiquitous and the most numerous biological entities in the ocean. The genetic diversity of marine viruses appears to be immense, yet there is agreement that much of that diversity remains to be discovered. The assessment of viruses’ global role modulating microbial mortality, evolution, and metabolic reprogramming, as well as their impact on biogeochemical cycles in the marine environment is precluded by our still limited knowledge of viral diversity and global distribution. Pragmatically, marine viruses are difficult to investigate. Their diverse capsid morphologies and sizes and genome nature (i.e., single-stranded and double-stranded DNA or RNA) hinder the development of a single method for studying all viruses within a natural assemblage. In addition, virus studies are challenged by the absence of a universal genetic marker for taxonomic identification and molecular quantification. This talk will highlight some breakthrough discoveries facilitated by single virus genomics and targeted viromics about viral diversity and community connectivity from surface to deep ocean waters and into the deep-sea subsurface.
*********************************************
Doctorate program seminar
Lugar: auditorio de la Facultad de Ciencias 16 de enero 10:00 h
«An ocean of viruses»
All forms of life in the ocean, from bacteria to whales, are potentially susceptible to viral infection, but for the most part, marine viruses only infect a narrow group of organisms and are completely harmless to others. Through their collective role as microbial predators, however, viruses perform crucial ecological, chemical, and evolutionary functions in the environment. Arguably, one of the most important impacts of viral infection is the modulation of carbon flow in the ocean. In this lecture I will discuss current research about the roles that marine viruses play in the ocean’s complex food web and the virus-mediated microbial mechanisms and processes that shape diverse marine environments.
