We are recruiting!
The Silveira Lab is recruiting highly motivated undergraduate students with interest in microbial ecology to develop projects on phage-bacteria interactions in coral microbiomes. The student will apply molecular biology, bioinformatics and field biology tools to investigate tripartite symbiotic interactions between viruses, bacteria, and animal.
Viruses are the most abundant and diverse biological entities on the planet. There are about one million viruses per teaspoon of seawater, and 10 million viruses per gram of soil. Yet, most viral diversity is still unknown. A major standing question in the study on microbial communities is the contribution of bacteriophage (viruses that infect bacteria) infections to microbial diversity, metabolism, and community functions. Our goal is to understand, from molecular mechanisms to ecosystem outcomes, the interactions between phage and bacteria in coral-associated microbiomes.
Molecular drivers of phage-bacteria interactions Phages can establish different ecological relationships with the bacteria they infect, from predators to commensals. Our aim to understand the molecular drivers of these diverse interactions in marine microbial communities |
Phage-bacteria-coral symbiosisCorals live in symbiotic partnership with a milieu of bacteria and phage. The different phage replication strategies shape the microbiome of the coral host and modulate the interplay between commensal and pathogenic microbes. |
Phage-mediated coral diseaseLysogenic conversion of bacteria drives the emergence of human and animal pathogens. We are demonstrating that this process also happens in marine ecosystems, and is a threat for coral heath. |
NEWS
The Silveira Lab is up and running!University of Miami, January, 2020
The Silveira Lab officially started its operations at the Department of Biology located in the beautiful Coral Gables campus of the University of Miami. The year started at full speed with graduate student recruitment, graduate student symposium, and a field trip to the Everglades.
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PublicationsOxygen loss from
coral reefs December 2019 Algae-dominated reefs have lower oxygen standing stocks than coral-dominated reefs, despite higher oxygen production. A manuscript describing biophysical and physiological mechanisms explaining this pattern led by Dr. Silveira was published in December in the journal eLife. This finding adds to the alarming global deoxygenation levels on marine ecosystems, and was featured in an eLife Digest.
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New PublicationBacterial virulence and bacteriophages
February 2020 Together with colleagues at San Diego State University, Dr. Silveira studied and performed a metagenomic analysis of coral reef viruses from the Southwest Atlantic, Central Pacific, and Hawaiian archipelago. This study focused on bacterial density during coral reef degradation, and the role phage-encoded virulence genes in bacterial lysogeny. The study found that the distribution of virulence genes implicates phages role in reef degradation. This study was published in BMC Genomics in February 2020.
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