Exploring the microenvironmental landscape of coral holobionts

Overview

The coral holobiont is a multispecies assemblage (host, symbionts, and microbiomes) spanning different compartments & microenvironments that together form a fitness landscape with different niche-defining traits that remain largely unknown. The small dimensions and dynamic changes of such microenvironments (e.g., due to animal behavior) and the presence of strong gradients of key physical (light, temperature) and chemical variables (e.g,. O2, pH, CO2) complicates their experimental investigation and characterization of microbiomes. However, application of microsensors and novel imaging techniques in combination with microvolume sampling is starting to alleviate the large knowledge gaps on the role of microenvironments and compartments for the coral holobiont and its resilience to environmental stress. I will give an overview of such experimental tools and their application for exploring the microenvironmental landscape and for linking structure and function in reef-building corals.

Bio

I am trained in marine biology and microbial ecology but have broad interdisciplinary interests ranging from technicalities of sensor development, over a fascination of single cell microbiology and behavior, to studies of microenvironmental controls and microbial interactions in aquatic communities and ecosystems,- but also in medical biofilms and chronic infections. I enjoy working at the boundaries and interfaces of different scientific disciplines and implement sensor chemistry, photonics, 3D bioprinting and advanced imaging approaches in my research.

Career path:
MSc (Biology) in 1988 and PhD (Microbial Ecology) in 1992, both at University of Aarhus, Denmark (mentor Bo Barker Jørgensen).
1992-1998, founder and group leader of the Microsensor Research Group at the Max-Planck-Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany.
1998-present, associate professor (1998-2003) and full professor (since 2003) at the Marine Biology Section, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
2010-2020, adjunct professor, Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, Australia.
2011-2015, visiting professor, Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Science Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.