Microbial Quanta
A quantum is a discrete, meaningful unit. For microbes, that might be a molecule, a gene, a cell, a community, or a biogeochemical cycle. Each is a unit of a different scale of the same biology that collectively influences life on Earth.
I study microbial dark matter, the microbes in nature that have never been cultivated. I apply cultivation techniques and cultivation-free methods to investigate the complexity of microbes at the single-cell and community level, examining their ultrastructure and ecophysiology in their native environments. Across these quanta, I work to understand the mechanisms that drive microbial life.
George Schaible, Postdoctoral researcher, UC Santa Barbara
The fastest known bacterium
First cultivation of Thiovulum on defined media since the organism's discovery over 240 years ago. Combining genomics, expansion microscopy, and behavioral analysis to investigate how expanded intracytoplasmic respiratory membranes power ultrafast motility.
Multicellular magnetotactic bacteria are genetically heterogeneous consortia
PLoS Biology Editors Pick. Demonstrates that MMB are not clonal but metabolically differentiated, the only known case of obligate multicellularity in bacteria.
Correlative SIP-FISH-Raman-SEM-NanoSIMS
A cultivation independent workflow linking identity, morphology, biochemistry, and physiology of environmental microbes at single cell resolution.
Matters Microbial Podcast appearance
Guest on the podcast discussing the work performed during my PhD on multicellular magnetotactic bacteria and the techniques used to study them.