10月26日: Metagenomics Intrigue: the Genetic Foundation of Microbiomes

报告人：James M. Tiedje 教授 美国科学院院士
主持人：邓杰 研究员
时  间：2018年10月26日 上午10:00
地  点：闵行校区 资环楼148室

报告人简介：James M. Tiedje，密歇根州立大学教授，现代微生物生态学的开创者之一，长期致力于微生物生态学和环境微生物技术的前沿领域研究；于1985年当选美国科学促进会Fellow，1993年获联合国教科文组织的Finlay奖，2003年当选美国科学院院士；曾任美国微生物学会主席，美国自然科学基金会微生物生态中心主任，Applied and Environmental Microbiology期刊主编；2010年被聘为中国科学院爱因斯坦讲席教授；先后共发表500多篇高水平的学术论文，被引用80000多次，H指数超过140。

报告内容简介：Metagenomics and its derivative, the microbiome, has become a core of new age microbial ecology. Metagenomics has advanced rapidly and taken many directions - those determined by the various methods employed, the complexity of the different communities, the resources available and of course the compelling questions. My lab has focused recently on ecofunctional genes, i.e. those genes that directly control important ecological function. I will illustrate with two examples: one of soil and its rhizosphere microbiome of biofuel crops, and the other of understanding the ecology of antibiotic resistance genes in the environment. I will show how new computational tools, especially gene–targeted assembly using Xander, helps quantify and categorize N cycle and other genes, and how we can assimilate metagenomic, metatranscriptomic and metaproteomic data from field soil to gain some insight into rhizosphere activities.  For antibiotic resistance we used highly parallel qPCR, with over 300 primer pairs for antibiotic resistances and mobile genetic elements, and long read sequencing, to assess quantity, type, potential mobility and fate of natural and human selected resistomes. Metagenomics and microbiome science is a field with big opportunities since there are many habitats, directions and needs, especially for creative ways to interrogate data to uncover new knowledge. It is a great opportunity area for students.