Environment Seminar Series: Left out in the cold: the microbial ecology of cryophilic life with Dr. Jackie Goordial
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About the Seminar
Though considered to be “extremophiles”, microorganisms that are metabolically active and that can replicate at sub-zero temperatures exist in cryoenvironments nearly ubiquitously on our planet. Cryoenvironments on Earth represent a natural laboratory in which we can observe the natural constraints to microbial activity and survival at low temperature, understanding where life can, and cannot, persist under conditions known to be harsh to life. This talk will present recent work in both Arctic and Antarctic permafrost settings. I will discuss Canadian Arctic permafrost where cold-adapted microbiota are thriving, with potential implications for our entire planet. I will also discuss arid, Antarctic permafrost settings, where the limits of active microbial life are being encroached upon. Finally, I will touch on how an increased understanding of cryophilic lifestyles on Earth will also help inform how (and where) we look for potential microbial life on cold planetary bodies in our solar system such as Mars, Europa, and Enceladus.
About the Speaker
Jackie Goordial is an Assistant Professor at the University of Guelph, and a Fellow in the Earth4D program at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR). She is an environmental microbiologist, investigating how communities of microorganisms interact to maintain diversity and mediate biogeochemical cycling in the environment. In particular, she focuses on environments at the extreme and those that are undergoing rapid change – such as permafrost soils. To carry out her research, she employs a combination of genomic sequencing with culturing, microbial metabolic activity and viability measurements both in situ and in the laboratory. While less than 1% of known microorganisms can be cultivated in the lab and are known to us solely through molecular analyses, this approach results in a more holistic understanding of environmental microbiology than genomic analyses alone.