Antibiotics from natural sources are an essential part of modern medicine; however, their function in the environment is poorly understood.
In this project, we perform manipulation experiments both at UNSW and at Sydney Institute for Marine Science (SIMS) combined with a range of –omic technologies (e.g. deep sequencing of phylogenetic marker genes, genomics, transcriptomics, etc.) to define how antibiotic-producing bacteria from marine macroalgae determine ecological interactions. This project addresses the fundamental question of the impact of antibiotics in natural systems and the role of antibiotic-producing bacteria in safeguarding important habitat-forming macroalgae against environmental stress.
