Antony Nitti

Email: cdaniels@marine.usf.edu

Phone: (727) 553-3930; FAX: (727) 553-1189

Project: Microbial Ecology of Living Microbialites in Cuatro Cienegas, Mexico

         The Cuatro Cienegas Basin (CCB) is a system of hundreds of pools and streams in the Chihuahuan desert of Coahuila, Northern Mexico.  The CCB is thought to have the highest level of endemic biodiversity in all of North America, supporting more than 70 endemic species of aquatic invertebrates and vertebrates.  The microbial communities (consisting of Bacteria, Archaea, and viruses) in the CCB pools are also extremely abundant and diverse. The pools in the CCB are excellent sites to examine natural microbial and viral diversity, as well as the impacts of increased human activity, since these are geographically isolated areas surrounded by the Chihuahuan desert.

        One of the most unique features of the CCB is the presence of large, microbialites, which are widespread throughout the fossil record, but only actively forming in a few unique locations.  With collaborators David Hollander (USF), Janet Siefert (Rice University), and Valeria Souza (UNAM), we are using genomics and stable isotope analyses to examine the diversity and activity of microbes associated with the microbialites.  Bulk analyses have revealed the presence of a diverse, redox-dependent microbial community and current research is examining microbial metabolism on small spatial scales to identify processes directly involved in carbonate precipitation.

This project is supported by the National Geographic Society and a New Researcher Grant from the University of South Florida.

See videos about this field site by Neilan Kuntz (Plaid Productions)

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Publications:

Breitbart, M., A. Hoare, A. Nitti, J. Siefert, M. Haynes, E. Dinsdale, R. Edwards, V. Souza, F. Rohwer and D. Hollander (in press). "Metagenomic and stable isotopic analyses of modern freshwater microbialites in Cuatro Ciénegas, Mexico." Environmental Microbiology.

Presentations:

April 18^th, 2008. The Origin of Freshwater Microbialites: An in-situ Chemical, Genomic and Stable Isotope Approach. University of South Florida College of Marine Science Graduate Student Symposium, Saint Petersburg, Florida.

Honors and Awards:

USF College of Marine Science: Gulf Oceanographic Charitably Trust Endowed Fellowship (2008)

USF College of Marine Science: Von Rosenstiel Fellowship: Most Outstanding Incoming Chemical Oceanography Student (2007)

University of Wisconsin Stevens Point: Academic Honors (2003-2007)

Hiawatha Education Foundation Scholarship (2003)