Anne Michelle Wood
Professor
of Biology Department of Michelle received her Ph.D. with L. R.
Pomeroy at the Research Summary The oceans remain one of the least explored frontiers of our region of the solar system; more is known about the surface of the moon and of Mars than is known about the watery landscape that covers 71% of our planet. My research uses tools from genetics, cell biology, oceanography, and remote sensing to explore connections between microorganisms in the sea and the physical processes that determine their abundance, distribution and productivity. Unlike many ecologists, who tend to view the properties of the organisms they study as relatively static, my research is guided by an evolutionary perspective within which we recognize that both evolutionary history and evolutionary potential lead to dynamic ecological patterns. Most people in my lab study marine phytoplankton. These unicellular organisms are responsible for approximately 50% of global primary productivity. They play a key role in the global carbon cycle and the planetary heat budget. (They are also very beautiful.) Marine phytoplankton represent a phylogenetically diverse group of organisms with representatives from at least three phyla of protists and many cyanobacterial lineages. In nature, they attain large population sizes and can have rapid growth rates (Lande et al. 1989, Sherry and Wood, 2001) which means that microevolutionary responses can be an important aspect of their adaptive strategy (Wood et al. 1998; Lynch et al., 1991). Because we work with unicellular organisms, where the connections between gene, phenotype, and fitness are relatively direct, it is possible to apply the intellectually satisfying power of modern molecular biology and biochemistry to the study of adaptation and phenotypic evolution in ecologically important organisms, often in the natural environment. Further, since the food web in which these organisms are embedded also includes rapidly growing heterotrophic and mixotrophic microorganisms with large population sizes, we are in a unique position to explore the effects of evolutionary adaptation by one member of an ecosystem on the evolution and fitness of other members of the ecosystem. We are particularly fortunate in our focus on the evolutionary ecology of two important cyanobacterial taxa (Synechooccous and Prochlorococcus) because the genome of several different marine strains has been completely sequenced. In addition, three organisms isolated by our laboratory have been selected for complete genome sequencing by the Moore Foundation: two strains of marine Synechococcus capable of chromatic adapatation (Everroad et al. 2006) and a strain of Acaryochloris that contains a hybrid cyanobacterial/proteobacterial ribosome (Miller et al., 2005). I am looking forward to utilizing the power of bioinformatics and genomics to address fundamental questions about the evolutionary ecology of these groups. In addition to research on the mechanisms
and processes of evolution in marine phytoplankton, I am particularly
interested in the development of the new field of optical biogeography.
This concept, which we introduced in 1998 (Wood et al.,1998) suggests that
differences in the optical properties of different water masses represent
important differences in the selection regime that affects the success of
different phytoplankton taxa. In my ongoing fieldwork ,we are using a
combination of remote sensing and ship-based ground truth measurements to
determine the extent to which water masses represent distinct marine
habitats,each with characteristic properties of ecological structure and
function. In the
|Microbial Genome Sequencing Project|
Representative Publications Dooittle, D.F, W.K.W. Li, and A.M. Wood. 2008. Wintertime abundance of picoplankton in the Antarctic sector of the Southern Ocean. Nova Hedwigia. 133:147-60. Everroad, C., S. Augustine, T. L. Olson, Everroad, C., C. Six, F. Partensky, J.-T. Thomas, J. Holzendorff, and A. M. Wood. 2006. Biochemical Bases of Type IV Chromatic Adaptation in Marine Synechococcus spp. J.; Bacteriology, 188:3345-56. Miller, S. R., S. Augustine, T. L. Olson,
R. E. Blankenship, J. Selker, A. M. Wood, 2005, Discovery of a free-living
chlorophyll d-producing
cyanobacterium with a hybrid proteobacterial/cyanobacterial small-subunit
rRNA gene. PNAS 102 (3): 850-855.
Arnone, R. A., A. M. Wood, R. W. Gould,
Jr., 2004, The Evolution of
Optical Water Mass Classification. Oceanography 17 (2): 14-15. Coble, P., C. Hu, R. W. Gould, Jr., G.
Chang, A. M. Wood, 2004, Colored
Dissolved Organic Matter in the Coastal Ocean: An Optical Tool for Coastal
Zone Environmental Assessment and Management. Oceanography 17 (2): 50-59.
Wingard, L, S. R. Miller, J. M. L. Sellker, E. Stenn, M. M. Allen, A. M. Wood, 2002, Cyanophycin-Production in a Phycoerythrin-containing Marine Synechococcus. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 68(4). Additional Phylogenetic Information for Synechococcus Strain G2.1 Sherry, N. D. and A. M. Wood. 2001.
Phycoerythrin-containing picocyanobacteria in the
Wood, A.M., D.A. Phinney, and C.S. Yentsch 1998. Water column transparency and the distribution of spectrally distinct forms of phycoerythrin-containing organisms. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 162:25-31. Wood, A.M., and T. Leatham. 1992. The Species Concept in Phytoplankton Ecology. J. Phycol. 28:723-729. Lynch, M.; W. Gabriel; and A.M. Wood. 1991. Adaptive and Demographic Responses of Plankton Populations to Environmental Change. Limnol. Oceanogr. 36(7):1301-1312. Lande, R. S., W. K. W. Li, E. P. Horne, and A. M. Wood. 1989. Phytoplankton growth rates estimated from depth profiles of cell concentration and turbulent diffusion. Deep-Sea Res. 36:1141-1159. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Michelle
Wood, Department of Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403 |
