Spotlight on Research
Ecogenomics: An Evolution of Biology
In recent years, the application of genome research to problems in molecular
evolution has introduced innovative ideas and opportunities for investigating
bacteria and other microorganisms. The microbial and environmental biocomplexity
research group within the College of Arts and Sciences is studying one such novel
application - ecogenomics, or the large-scale application of molecular biology to
an ecosystem. The group, based at the Prince William Campus, collaborates with
the neighboring American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) and other research groups
in Northern Virginia and beyond.
"Ecogenomics looks at microorganisms in the environment to assess their biodiversity
and functionality," says Patrick Gillevet, associate professor in the Department
of Environmental Science and Policy. Through comparative analysis, scientists
discover how living organisms relate within an ecosystem. "One of our research
programs, which is sponsored by a grant from the National Science Foundation,
compares different types of genomes to discover relationships between organisms,"
he says.
Gillevet and colleagues at ATCC have studied Pfiesteria in the Chesapeake
Bay and determined that these dinoflagellates are not responsible for massive
fish kills, as research from other sources has previously suggested. Collecting
DNA from animal species that were at one time thought to be extinct at the bottom
of the ocean in the Bahamas allows him and scientists at the Smithsonian Institution's
National Museum of Natural History to pursue questions about survival, physical
changes, and specific characteristics of these gastropods.
Other biocomplexity research at Prince William explores the impact of human
activity on the wildlife of an ecosystem. For example, the U.S. Marine Corps Base
in Quantico is home to otters and coyotes, and George Mason scientists track the
movements of these wild creatures within their environment. The animals are genetically
fingerprinted using fecal waste to determine sex, diet, and the individual animal's
identity. In another setting - the Airlie Center in Warrenton - research is focused
on population studies and the migration patterns of swans and geese. This research
was the basis for the 1996 movie Fly Away Home, a story about the use of
Ultralight aircraft to train geese to migrate.
Gillevet also is working with scientists at ATCC and the Bigelow Laboratory
for Ocean Sciences in Maine to develop a genetic fingerprinting tool to detect
the paramoeba associated with the 1999 lobster kill in Long Island Sound. Additional
research funded by the Nuclear Security Agency of the Department of Defense applies
these new molecular tools to the monitoring of biological warfare agents, such
as anthrax, in the environment.
"Genomics is what physics was in the '50s," Gillevet says. "Genome discoveries
have changed the way we do biology. It has become interdisciplinary - a melding
of science, engineering, and instrumentation."
- Patty Snellings
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