Microbial Ecology of Antarctic Sea Stars
Sea stars are abundant in the shallow waters around the western Antarctica Peninsula. But, even sea stars living in close proximity to each other can have different feeding strategies and different diets. We have collected samples from the digestive organs of sea stars, as well as samples from the surrounding environment and we're interested in answering the following questions:
In the News:
UAB in Antarctica Blog
Walla Walla University's Homepage
Fall 2018 Westwind Magazine
Students Involved With This Project:
- What types of bacteria are found in the digestive organs of sea stars?
- What functions do these bacteria play?
- What influences a sea star's microbes? Host Species? Environment? Diet? Or something else entirely?
In the News:
UAB in Antarctica Blog
Walla Walla University's Homepage
Fall 2018 Westwind Magazine
Students Involved With This Project: