THE MAIN FOCUS of research in the Polz lab is the exploration of structure-function relationships in microbial communities.
Environmental microbiology is at an important crossroads. Over the last twenty years we have learned that microbes are the most ubiquitous organisms on Earth, yet the dynamics that govern their interactions and evolution remain poorly understood. What is the role of individual populations within the community? What is the range of genomic similarity that defines a population as a functional unit? What mechanisms govern diversification of microbial populations in the environment?
We address these questions using a combination of quantitative molecular approaches, genomics, physiology, and modeling. Our primary model system is the coastal ocean where we study patterns of diversity among co-occurring bacterioplankton from the level of the entire community to the individual genome. For the latter, we focus on bacteria of the genus Vibrio, which are longstanding models of heterotrophic, marine bacteria and also contain many pathogenic variants (e.g., V. cholerae, V. vulnificus). As part of the Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health (COHH), we are also exploring environmental and evolutionary mechanisms that trigger the emergence of pathogenic variants within the vibrios. We are also part of the Earth Systems Initiative and the Microbial Systems Group at MIT.
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Martin Polz - Principle Investigator
Michael Cutler - Lab Manager
Hans Wildschutte - Postdoctoral Fellow
Yan Boucher - Postdoctoral Fellow
Otto Cordero - Postdoctoral Fellow
Aidong Ruan - Guest Researcher
Gitta Szabo - Guest Researcher
Sarah Preheim - Graduate Student
Hong Xue - Graduate Student
Kathryn Kauffman - Graduate Student
Alison Takemura - Graduate Student
Selected Recent Publications
Le Roux F, Zouine M, Chakroun N, Binesse J, Saulnier D, Bouchier C, Zidane N, Ma L, Rusniok C, Lajus A, Buchrieser C, Médigue C, Polz MF, Mazel D. (2009). Genome sequence of Vibrio splendidus: an abundant planctonic marine species with a large genotypic diversity. Environ. Microbiol. 11(8):1959-1970.
Tzahor S, Man-Aharonovich D, Kirkup BC, Yogev T, Berman-Frank I, Polz MF, Béjà O, Mandel-Gutfreund Y. (2009). A supervised learning approach for taxonomic classification of core-photosystem-II genes and transcripts in the marine environment. BMC Genomics 2009, 10:229 (16 May 2009)
Joss MJ, Koenig JE, Labbate M, Polz MF, Gillings MR, Stokes HW, Doolittle WF, Boucher Y. ACID: annotation of cassette and integron data. BMC Bioinformatics 2009, 10:118 (21 April 2009).
Fraser C., Alm EJ, Polz MF, Spratt BG, Hanage WP.
The Bacterial Species Challenge: Making Sense of Genetic and Ecological Diversity. Science 6 February 2009 Vol. 323. no. 5915, pp. 741 - 746 DOI: 10.1126/science.1159388.
Stewart JR, Gast RJ, Fujioka RS, Solo-Gabriele HM, Meschke JS, Amaral-Zettler LA, del Castillo E, Polz MF, Collier TK, Strom MS, Sinigalliano CD, Moeller PDR, Holland AF. The coastal environment and human health: microbial indicators, pathogens, sentinels and reservoirs. Environmental Health, 7(Suppl 2):S3 (7 November 2008).
Bioinformatics Tools
People in the Polz Lab
MIT | 15 Vassar Street | Bldg 48-417 | Cambridge MA 02139 | (617) 253-7128 ph. | (617) 258-8850 fax
