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Ocean Genome Legacy Newsletter
May 2010
banner 600pixel    exploring, preserving and protecting the genetic diversity of the world's oceans
In This Issue
Philippines Expedition
Florida Keys Expedition
Australia Expedition
Coming Soon
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Greetings!

This May, we are looking forward to the start of a busy field season.  In May, OGL scientists, Dan, Koty, and Abby, will be trekking to the Philippines, the Florida Keys, and Western Australia.  Read on to learn more about our upcoming research expeditions.  Better yet, check back on our Facebook or Twitter pages this May to follow our intrepid OGL scientists throughout their voyages!


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The Philippines

Wood-Boring Clams

Dan tests the seawater from the collection site in the Philippines.
Dan with refractometer
This month, OGL scientists return to the Philippines with a team of colleagues from the University of the Philippines, Oregon Health Sciences University, the University of Utah, and the Academy of Natural Sciences.  We are studying the diversity of marine mollusks - snails and clams - and the symbiotic bacteria that live in and on them. The group will be searching for compounds made by these bacteria that may have medicinal value or that can be used in biofuel production.

Surprisingly, most of the drugs that we use today come from natural compounds produced by plants, animals and bacteria.  Though the majority of these compounds come from terrestrial organisms, scientists are increasingly turning to marine organisms, including mollusks.  In fact, the FDA recently approved the use of the first drug derived from a marine organism, Conus magus, a venomous cone snail. 

The only marine animals known to be able to live on a diet of wood are also mollusks. Commonly known as shipworms, these worm-like clams have  a penchant for eating wooden ships, piers, and pilings. Bacteria living inside of the shipworms make enzymes that help them to convert cellulose, the main component of wood, into sugar that the shipworms can eat. These same sugars can be used to make ethanol for biofuel.  Learning more about these enzymes may allow us to design new methods for making fuel from waste products from agriculture, forestry, and even our own household garbage. This May, OGL scientists Dan and Abby are heading to the Philippines to collect mollusks and grow the bacteria that live inside them, with the hopes of learning more about how marine bacteria can help make drugs and harvest energy from waste.
The Florida Key
Reproduction on Coral Reefs

Koty sets up experiments with collaborators from the Smithsonian, University of Florida, and Mote Marine Laboratory.
Koty with FLK Group
OGL is off to the Keys again to collect newly released larvae from the mustard hill coral.  Once a year, this coral releases its young (larvae) into the water.  Along with collaborators from the Smithsonian Institution and the Mote Marine Laboratory, Koty will spend the month harvesting and raising young corals to understand more about how corals interact with bacteria and respond to global climate change.  She hopes to use what she learns to help the Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary manage coral health and prevent bacterial diseases in corals.  This work is funded by the Mote Marine Laboratory "Protect Our Reefs" license plate grant program.

Abby Ningaloo Publicity Shot
Return to Ningaloo
A Coral Reef Census

Abby with samples in Australia. (Photo:Gary Cranitch)
Abby Ningaloo Publicity Shot
It's census year, but not just not in the United States!  In May, Abby will be working on a completely different census project.  Traveling to western Australia's remote and spectacular Ningaloo Reef, she will collect, identify, and archive genomes from reef-associated animals. This is Abby's third time participating in large-scale collaborative collections with the Census of Coral Reef Ecosystems (CReefs) to catalog and archive genetic diversity from the reefs of Australia.  Working with the scientists from CReefs provides us with a remarkable opportunity to document and preserve the spectacular global treasures of coral reef biodiversity.

Visit the CReefs website to learn more about this expedition and its participating researchers.
http://www.creefs.org/
Coming Soon...
Celebrate World Ocean Day June 8!

Image courtesy of http://www.edge-of-reef.com
Reef Landscape Shot

OGL has joined with The Ocean Project's global
network of partners to celebrate World Ocean Day!  Our ocean sustains all life on Earth and provides us with vital resources. No matter where we live, each of us affects and is affected by the ocean. Help us make a difference... take the time to appreciate and conserve the wonders of our ocean that continue to enhance our lives.
Want to learn how you can help OGL to document and preserve the spectacular genetic diversity of our world's oceans?
Visit
http://www.oglf.org/Support.htm

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To learn more about OGL and its mission, just click "More About Us" in the Quick Link box. Thanks for your interest!
 
Sincerely,

Dan Distel
Ocean Genome Legacy