Freshwater microbial ecology

Our mission is to improve understanding of the diversity, dynamics and activities of microorganisms and their genetic elements in natural and polluted freshwaters.

Freshwater microbial ecology is pursued in a way that combines traditional approaches (cultivation, [electron] microscopy, rate measurements of microbially-mediated environmental processes) with modern molecular biology approaches - principally (DNA-based) molecular detection, characterisation by sequencing, and probing. This holistic approach allows us to tackle big topics such as the relationship between microbial diversity and ecosystem function.

Current work on freshwater microbial ecology in the Section is divided into the following two broad areas:

Microbial biodiversity and ecosystem function

  • fundamental characteristics and global patterns
  • microbial activities and biogeochemical cycling in freshwaters and soil
  • impact of pollution sources on microbial processes
  • potential for natural attenuation of polluted environments

 

Microbial pathogens in the natural environment (environment and health)

  • linking the presence of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis to the incidence of Crohn’s disease and catchment management practices
  • dynamic models linked to GIS
  • environmental diversity of bacterial pathogens and potential for survival in freshwater

More information

Please click here for more on CEH's work on bacterial plasmids.

Mycobacterium cells inside Acanthamoeba vacuole