Alison Murray

Associate Research Professor

Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences

Email: Alison.Murray@dri.edu

Education

Professional Interests

Dr. Murray is a molecular microbial ecologist with research interests centered around a common theme of utilizing molecular biological and genomic approaches to describe the diversity of life, understand the evolutionary history, ecological roles, and physiological capacity and capabilities of microorganisms that inhabit environments (or other organisms) several of which are considered to be at the extremes of where life exists. Murray has had long term interests in developing technologies to study microorganisms in the natural environment. Recent work has been dedicated to developing environmental genomics technologies for studying gene expression in organisms sampled directly from the environment, thereby circumventing the need for cultivation. Her research is interdisciplinary in nature, drawing upon oceanography, geosciences, computational biology, and chemistry. She collaborates with a number of scientists with expertise in these fields.

Murray’s research has taken her and members of her research group to the Antarctic Peninsula and the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, deep sea hydrothermal vents of the East Pacific Rise, and Yellowstone National Park to study the microorganisms inhabiting these diverse, and extreme ecosystems. She has also worked locally in Lake Tahoe to characterize the diversity of organisms throughout the water column and in different periods of stratification through the year.

Several Murray Research Group projects are described briefly below, with some links to project-oriented websites. Murray is a US representative on the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) on Life Sciences Standing Scientific Group (LSSSG). She is also on the steering committee for the Census of Antarctic Marine Life program (CAML).

Areas of Expertise

• Microbial diversity and evolution
• Archaeal and bacterial ecology
• Microbial genomics, specifically, functional and comparative genomics
• Development of molecular biology technigues to solve ecological problems
• Influence of extreme environments on microbial community structure and function

Awards

Teaching

Courses at University of Nevada Reno

Current Issues in Microbial Ecology Seminar (UNR-ERS 793C)

Other Courses

International Graduate Training Course "Interactive Biology and Adaptation of Antarctic Organisms"

Projects

Antarctic Microbial Biology

	GenEx 2 - Gene Expression in Extreme Environments: Extending Microarray Technology to Understand Life at its Limits (Supported by the NSF- LExEn program) GenEx 2 Project Description/Summary - GenEx 2 Website
	Genome Sequencing of two Antarctic bacteria – a marine Actinobacterium, str. PHSC20C1 and a sea-ice associated bacterium, Polaribacter irgensii, 23-P. (Supported by the Marine Microbiology Initiative Program at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation)
	Subsurface ice and brine sampling: life detection and characterization in the McMurdo Dry Valleys using an ultrasonic gopher. (Supported by the NASA-ASTEP program)
	Environmental genomics of Antarctic marine bacterioplankton using a large-contig sequencing approach. (Supported by DOE - Joint Genome Institute Community Sequencing Program)

Hydrothermal Microbial Biology

	Vent Epibiont Environmental Genome (VEEG) - A meta-genome level analysis of an extreme microbial symbiosis. (Supported by the NSF- Biocomplexity GENEN program)
	Geobiology and the emergence of terraced architecture during carbonate mineralization. (Supported by NSF – Biocomplexity: Coupled Biogeochemical Cycles)

Selected Publications

Lee, CK, SC Cary, AE Murray, RM Daniel (2008).

Enzymatic approach to eurythermalism of Alvinella pompejana and its episymbionts. Appl. Env. Microbiol. 74:774-782.

Passow U, C. De La Rocha, C Arnosti, H-P Grossart, AE Murray, and A Engel (2007).

Microbial dynamics in autotrophic and heterotrophic seawater mesocosms: I Overview of an experiment investigating the impact of phytoplankton on the microbial loop. Aquatic Microbial Ecology. 49:109-121.

Murray, AE, C Arnosti, C L De La Rocha, HP Grossart, and U Passow (2007).

Microbial dynamics in autotrophic and heterotrophic seawater mesocosms: II Bacterial community structure and hydrolytic enzyme activities. Aquatic Microbial Ecology. 49:123-141.

Grossart, H-P A Engel, C Arnosti, C De La Rocha, AE Murray, and U Passow (2007).

Microbial dynamics in autotrophic and heterotrophic seawater mesocosms: III Organic matter fluxes. Aquatic Microbial Ecology. 49:143-156.

Nassar, S., GL Vert, M. Nicolescu, AE Murray.

Multisequence assembly for prokaryotes and eukaryotes using fuzzy logic. International Journal of Information Technology and Intelligent Computing. In press.

Hollibaugh, J.T., C. Lovejoy and A.E. Murray. (2007).

Microbiology in Polar Oceans. Oceanography 20 (2):138-143.

Murray, AE and JJ Grzymski. (2007).

Diversity and genomics of Antarctic marine microorganisms. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Ser. B. 362 DOI 10.1098/rstb.2006.1944.

Cruz-Garcia, C., A.E. Muray, J.A. Klappenbach, V. Stewart, J.M. Tiedje. (2007).

Respiratory nitrate ammonification by Shewanella oneidensis MR-1. J. Bacteriol. 189: 656-662

Mosier, A.C., A.E. Murray, C.H. Fritsen. (2007).

Microbiota within the perennial ice cover of Lake Vida, Antarctica. FEMS Microb. Ecol. 59 (2):274-288.

Martin, D., R.M. Ross, L. B. Quetin, and A.E. Murray. (2006).

Molecular approach (PCR-DGGE) to diet analysis in young Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba). Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 319:155-165.

Grzymski, J.J., , B. Carter, E.F. DeLong, R. Feldman, A. Ghadiri, A.E. Murray. (2006).

Comparative genomics of DNA fragments from six Antarctic marine, planktonic bacteria. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72 (2):1532-1541.

Peck, L.S., M.S. Clark, A. Clarke, C.S. Cockell, P. Convey, H.W, Detrich III, K.P.P. Fraser, I.A. Johnston,

B.A. Methe, A.E. Murray, K. Römisch, A.D. Rogers (2005). Genomics: Applications to Antarctic Ecosystems. Polar Biol. 28(5):351-365.

Murray, A.E. (2002).

Archaea in Marine Environments. In: Encyclopedia of Environmental Microbiology, Ed. Gabriel Bitton. John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2002. Pp. 276-293.

Murray, A.E., D.L. Lies, G. Li, K.H. Nealson, J. Zhou, J.M. Tiedje. (2001).
	DNA:DNA hybridization to microarrays reveals gene-specific differences between closely related microbial genomes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 98 (17):9853-9858.

Murray, A.E., A. Blakis, R. Massana. S. Straszewski, U. Passow, A. Alldredge, and E.F. Delong. (1999).

A time series assessment of planktonic archaeal variability in Santa Barbara Channel. Aquat. Microbial Ecol. 20:129-145.

Murray, A.E., K.Y. Wu, C. Moyer, D. M. Karl and E.F. Delong. (1999).

Evidence for circumpolar distribution of planktonic archaea in the Southern hemisphere. Aquat. Microbial Ecol. 18:263-273.

Murray, A.E., C.M. Preston, R. Massana, L.T. Taylor, A. Blakis, and E.F. DeLong (1998).

Seasonal and spatial variability in coastal Antarctic bacterioplankton assemblages. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64(7): 2585-2595.

Massana, R., A.E. Murray, C.M. Preston, and E.F. DeLong (1997).

Vertical distribution and phylogenetic characterization of marine planktonic Archaea in the Santa Barbara Channel. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 63(1):50-56.

Murray, A.E., J.T. Hollibaugh and C. Orrego (1996).

Phylogenetic compositions of bacterioplankton from two California estuaries compared by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of 16S rDNA fragments. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 62(7):2676-2680.