Dr. Amanda Bendia, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Oceanographic Institute of University of São Paulo, Brazil, will present a talk about her research entitled, “Recovering the Unknown: Microbial Genomes From Antarctica, Deep Sea and Caves as Functional Models for Astrobiology.” Dr. Bendia’s research interests involve studying microbial life in extreme environments, particularly in Antarctica, volcanoes and deep-sea ecosystems, using molecular tools and bioinformatics. Her research also focuses on understanding molecular adaptations in extremophiles and how they can help us in the search for life on Mars or in the Ocean Worlds from the Solar System.

The study of life in extreme environments has long fascinated biologists. Understanding how life persists at environmental extremes provides insight into how living systems function, as well as providing a unique window into the evolutionary history of life itself. The advance of DNA sequencing and bioinformatic tools is allowing the description of novel and not-yet cultivated microbial lineages in different ecosystems, due to the genome reconstruction approach from metagenomic data. In this context, our group has been applying metagenomics tools to recover microbial genomes from extreme ecosystems, such as an active volcano in Antarctica (with extreme temperature gradients), sediments from the deep Atlantic Ocean and rocks in caves from Brazil. We were able to reveal the metabolic potentials and survival strategies of underrepresented taxonomic groups, especially related to extremophiles such as hyperthermophiles, thermophiles, psychrophiles and radioresistant lineages, which showed to be metabolically diverse. The recovery of genomes from metagenomes has shown to be a powerful tool on revealing novel lifestyles, metabolic processes, and ecological roles of microorganisms, mainly in extreme ecosystems that are largely unknown, and for which cultivation is often not viable. Revealing microbial genomes in extreme environments can also contribute to the elucidation of potential metabolisms in extraterrestrial analogous systems, such as subsurface environments on Mars or the ocean worlds in our Solar System.

The presentation will begin at 4:00 PM via Microsoft Teams, preceded by an informal Q&A from 3:45 – 4:00. Click here to join the meeting, via Microsoft Teams.