300027 PP Extremophilic and thiotrophic Microorganisms from Volcanic Environments (2015S)

In the first week participants will take samples from terrestrial hot springs (in collaboration with geologists) and marine shallow waters, will perform initial microscopical and physical analyses of the samples and will set up enrichment cultures for moderate and hyperthermophilic chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms. In the second week, these samples and the enrichment cultures will be analysed for the presence and diversity of specific microorganisms and viruses, with molecular biological and microscopic techniques. In particular, we will focus on thermophilic archaea and thiotrophic marine symbiotic bacteria. Students will become familiar with a range of molecular and microscopic techniques that are routinely employed in microbial ecology and will get to know the physiology and growth requirements of some extremophilic and chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms. They will also learn to design experiments and to communicate about experimental setups.