Accueil de Véronica Molina
Dr. Véronica Molina from the Departamento de Biologia. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas. Universidad de Playa Ancha (Chile) will be invited by the UPMC as Professor for one month at the LOMIC (september 2015).
Dr Molina has extensive expertise in molecular techniques (metagenomics, proteomics and Q-PCR) and has been working on the regulation of marine nitrogen cycle for the last 10 years. Her research interest are currently devoted to understanding the impact of microbial communities (archaea and bacteria) on the cycling of green house gases in extreme conditions. She is also interested in the capacity of microbial assemblages to process anthropogenic organic inputs derived from aquaculture activities.
Dr Molina is an active member of LIA MORFUN (International Associated Laboratory of Marine Biogeochemistry and Functional Ecology, OOB-University of Concepcion Chile) and has published with Dr Camila Fernandez and Ingrid Obernosterer of LOMIC.
During her stay at LOMIC, Dr Molina will undertake a data mining project from sequences obtained in the frame of the project “Archaeal versus bacterial driving nitrification in the high-altitude saline wetland of Salar del Huasco” (Molina PI, Fernandez co-PI). In particular, she will concentrate on the detection and assessment of genes involved in ammonification and green house gases (N2O) production processes. This should lead to a publishable manuscript during 2015.
A second step will be launching HPLC analyses of samples collected in Patagonian fjords (Puyuhuapi campaign of the COPAS center, ongoing collaboration with LIAMORFUN) and microbial mats obtained in northern Chile.
Also, De Molina is involved in the project “impact of pesticides used in aquaculture on microbial diversity and function”, for which she will start treatment of sequence data obtained during biodegradation experiments carried out in august 2014.
Contact: veronica.molina @ upla.cl
Recent publications:
Castro-González M, V Molina, E Rodríguez-Rubio, O. Ulloa 2014 The first report of a microdiverse anammox bacteria community in waters of Colombian Pacific, a transition area between prominent oxygen minimum zones of the eastern tropical Pacific. Environmental Microbiology Reports DOI: 10.1111/1758-2229.12165
Levipan H, V Molina, C Fernandez 2014 Nitrospina–like bacteria are the main drivers of nitrite oxidation in the seasonal upwelling area of the Eastern South Pacific (central Chile ~36° S). Environmental Microbiology Reports. DOI: 10.1111/1758-2229.12158
Molina V, CE Morales, L Farías, M Cornejo, M Graco, Y Eissler, LA Cuevas. 2012. Contribution of planktonic components to nitrogen regeneration in the coastal area off central-southern Chile during non-upwelling conditions. Special Issue Progress in Oceanography. 92–95: 43–49.
Galán A, V Molina, L Belmar & O Ulloa. 2012. Seasonal variability of planktonic anammox bacteria in the coastal upwelling ecosystem off central Chile (~36º S). Special Issue. Progress in Oceanography. Special Issue Progress in Oceanography. 92–95: 110-120.
Belmar L, V Molina & O Ulloa. 2011. Abundance and phylogenetic identity of archaeoplankton in the permanent oxygen minimum zone of the eastern tropical South Pacific. FEMS Microbiology Ecology. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 78: 314 - 326
Molina V, L Belmar & O Ulloa. 2010 High diversity of ammonia-oxidizing archaea in permanent and seasonal oxygen-deficient waters of the eastern South Pacific. Environmental Microbiology, 12(9), 2450–2465.
Junier P, V Molina, C Dorador, O Hadas, O-S Kim, T Junier, K-P Witzel & J Imhoff. 2010. Phylogenetic and functional markers to study ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms (AOM) in the environment. Minireview. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. 85:425-440
Molina V & L Farías. 2009. Aerobic NH4+ oxidation in the oxycline and oxygen minimum zone of the eastern tropical South Pacific off northern Chile (~20°S). Deep – Sea Research II, 56: 1009-1018.
Galán A, O Ulloa, V Molina, B Thamdrup, D Woebken, G Lavik & MMM Kuypers. 2009. Anammox bacteria and the anaerobic oxidation of ammonium in the oxygen minimum zone off northern Chile. Deep – Sea Research II, 56: 1125-1135.
Junier P, O-S Kim, V Molina, P Limburg, T Junier, J.F. Imhoff & K-P Witzel. 2008. Comparative in silico analysis of PCR primers suited for diagnostics and cloning of ammonia monooxygenase genes from ammonia-oxidizing bacteria. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 64:141-152.
Molina V, O Ulloa, L Farías, H Urrutia, S Ramírez, P Junier & K-P Witzel. 2007. Ammonia-oxidizing -Proteobacteria from the oxygen minimum zone off northern Chile. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 70:3547-3555.