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Ocean Genome Legacy | July/August Newsletter


In this issue, we learn about President Obama's plan for the world's largest marine protected area, attend an international conference on biobanking, and participate in a workshop taught by world-renowned scientists studying marine symbiosis. Read on to learn how OGL and its genomic biorepository are involved in each! 

 

Click here to learn more about OGL and its mission, and, as always, follow our expeditions and other news from the marine world on our Facebook and Twitter pages!

 

Sincerely,

 

Dan Distel, PhD

Ocean Genome Legacy

 

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PresidentPresident Obama Proposes Expansion of US Marine Protected Area

 

 

World's Largest Marine Protected Area Proposed 

 

On June 17, 2014, US President Barack Obama proposed a plan to create the world's largest marine protected area, covering over three quarters of a million square miles of the Pacific Ocean. His proposal would expand the boundaries of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, designated by former President George W. Bush, from ~87,000 to about 782,000 square miles. The new protected areas would include waters up to 200 miles out from seven U.S.-controlled islands and atolls in the Pacific. Proposed bans on fishing and drilling are intended to protect these areas and the marine biodiversity they shelter. The Administration will make its final decision pending a public comment period this summer.

 

OGL has 142 marine genomes archived from this area including samples from Hawaii and the Nation of Kiribati.

 

Get involved! 

 

Which marine areas would you protect if you were in President Obama's shoes? Well, now you don't have to wait to be elected U.S. president ... the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is encouraging the public to nominate marine and Great Lakes areas to be classified as national marine sanctuaries. Click here to add your favorite place to the list.

Credit: Washington Post 

 

GenomeScientists Meet to Share the World's Genomes

 


With just three minutes to describe the Ocean Genome Legacy, OGL's Staff Scientist in charge of Collections, Timery DeBoer, had to speak quickly! Timery was presenting during the "lightning talks" round at the first International Conference on Biodiversity Banking held in London from June 30-July 2, 2014. The conference, sponsored by the Global Genome Biodiversity Network (GGBN), brought together approximately 150 members of the world's biobanking community, representing collections in 30 countries. OGL's innovative Marine Genome Sanctuaries concept and its established and planned satellite repositories in Nicaragua, Iraq, and Malaysia were a hit with the crowd.

  

Among the many issues discussed during the three-day event was the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The CBD is an international treaty with three goals:

  1. conservation of biological diversity;
  2. sustainable use of its components; and
  3. fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources

The U.S. is among just three nations on earth that are not party to the CBD. The other two, Andorra and the Holy See, have a combined population of fewer than 10,000 people, so the U.S. is virtually alone in its ambivalence toward this critical agreement. In spite of this, OGL attempts to adhere to the principles of the CBD, particularly with regard to The Nagoya protocol, a supplementary agreement that addresses fair and equitable sharing of genetic resources and equitable return of benefits to each nation for value derived from its own biological diversity. Access and Benefits Sharing guidelines and policies are being shaped right now in many countries, and these policies will govern how easily, or not, resources important to scientific discovery can be shared between countries. OGL and other GGBN biorepositories are committed to working within the guidelines of the CBD to expand access to the world's genetic resources.

  

  

 

workshopMarine Symbiosis Workshop

 

 

The Island of Elba, I

Symbiosis, the "living together" of two or more species, is a major contributor and shaper of the biological diversity of our planet, especially in the ocean. In June 2014, OGL Director Dan Distel and OGL Postdoc Reuben Shipway participated (Dan as an instructor and Reuben as a student) in the Second Symbionics Workshop, held at the Hydra Research Station on the tiny Mediterranean island of Elba, Italy. This workshop included many of the world's foremost experts on marine symbiosis and deep sea biology.

 

"The work was intense, yet highly enjoyable" said Reuben, whose typical day began with a morning lecture from 9:00-10:00 AM, followed by field sampling and lab work until 6:30 PM, round table discussions until 8:00 PM, and an evening lecture from 9:30 to 10:30 PM. "I particularly enjoyed the talks about symbiosis at deep-sea hydrothermal vents," he said. These active volcanoes occur on the sea floor and support many bizarre life forms. Reuben was also intrigued by a bioluminescent bacterium, Vibrio fisheri, that drives circadian rhythms of its squid host, and by the weird and wonderful world of meiofauna, the tiny invertebrate animals that thrive between sand grains on the sea floor. Fortunately, these busy days were fueled by outstanding Italian cuisine!

 

OGL Postdoc Reuben Shipway and another workshop participant take a break from collecting shipworms to mug for the camera.
In addition to attending and giving lectures, Dan and Reuben teamed up with researchers from Harvard University and the Max Planck Institute of Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany to perform experiments. Using a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer, the collaborators explored the biology of a group of marine clams (shipworms) that actually live on a diet of driftwood! Together the group may have detected a novel antimicrobial compound that one day could be used in the fight against antibiotic resistance. "I am quite certain the work will lead to a publication," said Reuben, "which will make the whole experience even more worthwhile."

 

 

  

 

Coming Soon... Starfish Wasting Disease

 


The shed limbs of a sunflower sea star near Popham Island, British Columbia, in September 2013. (Source: nbcnews.com

Starfish wasting disease causes mass mortality in affected individuals of many species. Typically, lesions appear, followed by rapid tissue decay and death. The cause of the disease is still unknown, but rising water temperatures may be a factor. In our next issue we'll tell you all about this disease and where its impacts are highest.

 

 

Want to help OGL document and preserve the spectacular genetic diversity of our world's oceans? 

 

 

Thank you for your continued support!