Halmos Graduate Student First Author on Bioluminescent Paper

During October, MS alumna Lindsay Freed was lead author in a peer reviewed paper entitled “Characterization of the Microbiome and Bioluminescent Symbionts Across Life Stages of Ceratioid Anglerfishes of the Gulf of Mexico.” (FEMS-Microbiology Ecology 95 (10) October 2019, fiz146). This work began with her Master’s thesis research on anglerfish bacterial characterizations back in 2015 when the DEEPEND Consortium was just getting started. This study shows how Lindsay used 16S gene analyses to differentiate microbial types across different parts of the fish body (gills, fins, and lures) and the seawater. The results indicate for the first time that lures hold a very homogeneous population of bacteria that led to more in-depth genomics research collaborations between DEEPEND and Cornell University, led by Assistant Professor Tory Hendry. It also showed that the lures of adult anglerfish hold a homogeneous population of bacteria belonging to the genus Enterovibrio in the Vibrio group, common among marine bacteria.

Ms. Freed worked in the genomics lab lead by Halmos Faculty Jose Lopez, Ph.D.

Freed, LL., Easson, C., Baker, LJ., Fenolio, D., Blackwelder, P., Khan, Y., Sutton, TT., Hendry, TT., Lopez,  JV. Characterization of the Microbiome and Bioluminescent Symbionts Across Life Stages of Ceratioid Anglerfishes of the Gulf of Mexico. FEMS-Microbiology Ecology. 95 (10) October 2019, fiz146,  https://doi.org/10.1093/femsec/fiz146