1) measuring bacterial activity and growth rates using molecular approaches and relating activity to the environment (see Campbell et al., PNAS, 2011); we are currently examining activity in relation to biotic and abiotic factors in stream, estuarine and coastal environments (Ludovic Besaury, Nattasha Vinas, Keith Thompson); 2) using metagenomics/metatranscriptomics to investigate temporal bacterial community and activity changes in coastal and open ocean bacterial communities (Ludovic Besaury); 3) using metagenomics/ metatranscriptomics to investigate the roles of Lucinid (clams) endosymbionts in pristine and impacted coastal environments (recruiting a student); 4) developing high-throughput sequencing approaches to investigate the presence, persistence and activity of fecal indicator bacteria and potential pathogens such as Helicobacter and Campylobacter in aquatic environments (see Twing et al., Water Research, 2011, Matthew Mallard, Rachel Weber, Lillian Jones); and 5) characterizing a novel nitrogen assimilation pathway in a thermophilic deep-sea Epsilonproteobacteria isolated from hydrothermal vents as well as in human-associated campylobacters (see Campbell et al., PLoS Genetics, 2009, Caleb Ahrns, Marco Valera)
