Plasma Screen Biological Sciences

1
Field trip, Tropical Ecology, Honduras 2003
2
Freshwater Ecology

• Eutrophication studies in Reservoirs

• Invertebrate surveys of lowland Rivers

3
Estuarine mudflat ecology
Invertebrate sampling
Rescuing a student!
Algal biofilms on mudflat
Hydrobia mudsnails
Grey Mullet feeding marks
4
Tropical mudflats
Mictyris longicarpus Soldier crabs, Australia
Uca sp. Fiddler crabs, Fiji.
5
UK fieldwork in marine and
freshwater biology
6
Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)
Dr Kevin Oxborough (PI)
Dr Tracy Lawson (RO)
Prof. Richard Geider
Prof. Graham Underwood
7
Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)
How Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy works
A laser pulse creates a plasma. Spectroscopic
analysis as the plasma cools allows for the
identification of elements within the sample from
their unique spectral signatures.
8
LIBS spectrum of Emiliania huxleyi
http//www.soes.soton.ac.uk/staff/tt/
9
LIBS analysis of Diatoms
Ag II
Mg II
Ag II
Na
Cu II
Fe II
C
Mg II
Ca
Fe
Ca
5 µm
Ca II
C
Navicula perminuta
10 µm
Images supplied by Jen Waring
Nitzschia epithemioides
10
Extremophiles

• Exploring microbiology of deep-sea,
  salt-saturated brine lakes, lacking oxygen, on
  the floor of the Mediterranean
• Team obtained many new species
• Microbes are being investigated for their
  potential applications, e.g. enzymes for
  synthesising new drugs

11
The Enigma of Prokaryotic Life in Deep
Hypersaline Anoxic Basins Paul W. J. J. van der
Wielen, Henk Bolhuis, Sara Borin, Daniele
Daffonchio, Cesare Corselli, Laura Giuliano,
Giuseppe D'Auria, Gert J. de Lange, Andreas
Huebner, Sotirios P. Varnavas, John Thomson,
Christian Tamburini, Danielle Marty, Terry J.
McGenity, Kenneth N. Timmis, and BioDeep
Scientific Party Science 307 121-123. (2005)

• Essex scientists involved in discovery of
  microbial life in extreme environments
• Salt-saturated brine lakes occur more than 3km
  below the surface of the Mediterranean
• Diverse microbial communities have been found in
  these brine lakes
• Many unique microbes have been identified

12
Launching the sampler, Mediterraean
Mobile docking station and water sampler
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Analysing microbial samples on board ship