Earth and Marine Sciences, A455
(831) 459-5563 msisonma@ucsc.edu

Research

Our research focuses on understanding the interactions between bacteria and their aquatic eukaryotic hosts, how these associations influence the ecology and evolution of both partners and what are the impacts of these interactions on ocean health and biogeochemical cycling. I combine experimental, physiological and molecular approaches in elucidating the factors and mechanisms that affects the stability of the host-bacteria association and how this in turn affects hosts’ health and functioning in their aquatic environment. Communication between bacteria and hosts, influences of bacteria on host metabolite secretions and immunity to diseases, and environmental influences to microbial community structure and function, are key areas of research that are being pursued in my lab. The goal is to understand how these interactions drive the microbial world, the microbes’ responses to environmental change and ultimately, how these affect the cycling of nutrients and the health of the ocean.