Darwin’s invertebrates: A transient anoxic microbial oasis
MPI Seminar
- Date: Nov 5, 2018
- Time: 01:15 PM (Local Time Germany)
- Speaker: Prof. Dr. Harold Drake
- University of Bayreuth, Department of Ecological Microbiology
- Location: MPI for Terrestrial Microbiology
- Room: Lecture hall
- Host: Prof. Dr. Andreas Brune
- Contact: brune@mpi-marburg.mpg.de
Although their subsurface lifestyle make earthworms an unseen feature of the terrestrial biosphere, Charles Darwin was fascinated by the capacity of these invertebrates to alter terrestrial habitats and documented their unique bioengineering skills in his final publication. However, Darwin was not aware that the impact of earthworms is due in part to interactions that occur between the earthworm and the ingested soil microbiome in the anoxic gut. The talk will examine earthworm-microbe interactions that augment the production of greenhouse gases, the cycling of elements in the terrestrial biosphere, and diverse gut fermentations that facilitate the heterotrophic lifestyle of the earthworm.