Ecology of microorganisms in dry environments

Participating students: Leslie Bennet, Jennifer Beverly, Nathan Lee Charnock, Njeri Kaittany, Michelle Pittman, Anna Sanford, Jesse Trull, Peter Vu,  Chester Willis, Sam Worthington, John Griner

Recent Publications
Nienow, J. A. 2009. Extremophiles: Dry Environments (including Cryptoendoliths). In: M. Schaechter, ed., Encyclopedia of Microbiology, 3^rd edition. Elsevier, Oxford. pp. 159-173.

Matsumoto, G. I., J. A. Nienow, E. I. Friedmann, E. Sekiya, and R. Ocampo-Friedmann. 2004. Biogeochemical Features of Lipids in Endolithic Microbial Communities from the Ross Desert (Mcmurdo Dry Valleys) in Antarctica. Cellular and Molecular Biology 50:591-604.

Nienow, J. A. 2002. Subaerial communities. In: Encyclopedia of Environmental Microbiology, G. Bitton, editor. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York. pp. 3055-3065.

Nienow, J. A., E. I. Friedmann, and R. Ocampo-Friedmann. 2002. Endolithic microorganisms in hot and cold arid regions. In: Encyclopedia of Environmental Microbiology.

Recent Presentations

Response of the terrestrial alga Stichococcus bacillaris Naegeli to controlled humidity – with N. L. Charnock and J. Trull. Presented by N. L. Charnock at the 31st Annual Southeastern Phycological Colloquy, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia, October 16 – 17, 2009.

A phylogenetic comparison of aquaporin gene sequences in subaerial green algae -- with J. D. Griner and T. J. Grove. Presented by J. D. Griner at the 85th Annual Meeting of the Georgia Academy of Science, held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Florida Academy of Sciences in Jacksonville, Florida, March 14-15, 2008.

Investigations of cell wall structure and ease of chlorophyll extraction in sub-aerial microalgae – with J. Griner and J. Trull. Presented by J. Trull at the  84th Annual Meeting of the Georgia Academy of Science, Albany, Georgia, March 30-31, 2007.

Ecology of subaerial algae: photosynthetic capacity as a function of relative humidity in a naturally-occurring association -- with C. P. McKay. Presented at the 103rd General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, Washington, DC, May 18-22, 2003.

Water relations in the resurrection fern Polypodium polypodioides (L.) Watt. -- with L. M. Pittman. Presented at the 79th Annual Meeting of the Georgia Academy of Science, Middle Georgia College and State University, Milledgeville, Georgia, 2002.

Strategies for survival among the subaerial algae -- with C. P. McKay.  Presented at the 1st Astrobiology Conference, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, 2000.