People: Astrobiology Graduate Students

Jesse Colangelo-Lillis
Oceanography

I am particularly interested in investigating the genomic evidence of virally mediated horizontal gene transfer (transduction) in psychrophilic (cold adapted) bacteria within sea ice of the Arctic. These bacteria are living at the currently known lower temperature limit of life (-18ºC), concentrated into liquid hypersaline brines between ice crystals, and exposed to what may be one of the highest environmental concentrations of virions (individual viruses) anywhere on the planet. Viruses are incredible repositories and vectors of genetic information and may have played a role in conferring numerous traits to psychrophiles that enable their persistence in an extreme terrestrial environment that may be our closest analog for potentially life-harboring environments in our solar system (i.e. the subsurface water ice of Mars, or the liquid/ice interface of Jupiter's moon Europa).

If you are interested in astrobiology, psychrophiles or horizontal gene transfer, you can find more about these topics on the webpage of my advisor, Jody Deming, or you can email me.