Education
| Ph.D |
2006 |
University of Wisconsin - Madison |
Microbiology |
| B.S. |
1998 |
University of Rochester |
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology |
Professional Interests
- Environmental microbiology.
- Adaptation of bacteria to ecological niches.
- Genomic and physiological diversity of microorganisms.
Professional Awards
NSF Biological Informatics Postdoctoral Fellowship
Research
Microorganisms exist in diverse habitats across the planet. In nature, bacteria, archaea, eukaryotes and viruses coexist and interact. The relative abundance of different cell types is determined by complex biological, chemical and physical interactions. Microbial ecologists study patterns of microbial diversity and relate these patterns to environmental parameters (e.g., temperature or nutrient availability). Microbial community structure is largely determined by genomic and metabolic differences between microorganisms.
I am interested in metabolic capabilities of bacteria that live in marine environments. One of the goals of my research is to identify environment-specific adaptations, including protein families (conserved domains) that are important in biogeochemical cycles. My scientific training includes molecular biology, bacteriology and bioinformatics. My current work integrates concepts from biology, computer science, and mathematics to interpret DNA sequence. My postdoctoral research in Alison Murray's Lab includes two metagenomics projects.
- Vent Epibiont Environmental Genome
I am interested in genes and proteins involved in inorganic ion transport and metabolism in epsilonproteobacteria. These functions are a potential link between microbial physiology and hydrothermal vent geochemistry in deep ocean habitats.
- International Polar Year
Antarctic bacterioplankton communities experience dramatic seasonal changes. My coworkers and I are comparing summer and winter Antarctic bacterioplankton metagenomes (and predicted proteomes) to gain an understanding of the genomic adaptations that bacterioplankton use to cope with changing conditions in the Southern Ocean
Resources
Bioinformatics tools
Selected Publications
- Riesenfeld, C.S., Murray, A.E., and Baker, B.J., 2008:
- Characterization of the microbial community and polyketide biosynthetic potential in the palmerolide-producing tunicate Synoicum adareanum. J Nat Prod. 71: 1812-1818.
- Riesenfeld, C.S., Williamson, L.L., and Handelsman, J., 2007:
- Methods for soil metagenomics: Extraction and cloning of soil DNA. In Manual of Environmental Microbiology, 3rd edn. Hurst, C.J., Crawford, R.L., Garland, J.L., Lipson, D.A., Mills, A.L., and Stetzenbach, L.D. Washington, DC, USA: ASM Press, pp. 1063-1071.
- Riesenfeld, C.S., Goodman, R.M., and Handelsman, J., 2004:
- Uncultured soil bacteria are a reservoir of new antibiotic resistance genes. Environ Microbiol 6: 981-989.
- Riesenfeld, C.S., Schloss, P.D., and Handelsman, J. 2004:
- Metagenomics: genomic analysis of microbial communities. Annu Rev Genet 38: 525-552.
- Handelsman, J., Liles, M., Mann, D., Riesenfeld, C., and Goodman, R.M., 2002:
- Cloning the metagenome: Culture-independent access to the diversity and functions of the uncultivated microbial world. In Functional Microbial Genomics. Wren, B., and Dorrell, N. San Diego, CA, USA: Academic Press, pp. 241-255.
- Riesenfeld, C., Everett, M., Piddock, L.J., and Hall, B.G., 1997:
- Adaptive mutations produce resistance to ciprofloxacin. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 41: 2059-2060.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DBI-0532893.
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