Jennifer Biddle
Professor, Marine Science and Policy | University of Delaware
Lewes, DE, UNITED STATES
Prof. Biddle's research interests include microbial ecology of marine systems, deep biosphere life, benthic archaea and bacteria.
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Biography
Jennifer F. Biddle is an American microbiologist who is a professor of microbial ecology at the University of Delaware. Biddle joined the Department of Geosciences, then moved to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a postdoctoral researcher in 2007, supported by the NASA postdoctoral program. Biddle is interested in the microbial ecology of subsurface environments. Her early research made use of deep sea drilling to identify organisms in the ocean floor. She used genomic analysis to identify microbes in sediment collected 500 feet below the ocean floor during the Ocean Drilling Program in 2002.
Biddle also investigated the organisms in deep lakes in the Canadian Rockies. She studied Pavilion Lake through genomic analysis of a series of samples collected at different depths. Working with ExxonMobil, Biddle demonstrated that microbial communities found in deeper seafloor sediments in and around sites of hydrocarbon seepage had considerable available energy and high population turnover rates.
In 2010, Biddle was appointed an assistant professor at the University of Delaware. She was promoted to associate professor in 2017 and full Professor in 2022.
Industry Expertise (2)
Research
Education/Learning
Areas of Expertise (5)
Geobiology
Deep Biosphere Life
Microbial Ecology
Marine Systems
Benthic Archaea and Bacteria
Media Appearances (3)
Deep-Sea Microbes: New Research Looks at Life Inside and Outside of Seafloor Hydrocarbon Seeps
SciTechDaily online
2020-07-12
Using sediment samples collected by ExxonMobil researchers, UD professor Jennifer Biddle and her lab group — including Rui Zhao, a postdoctoral researcher who is the first author on the paper; Kristin Yoshimura, who received her doctorate from UD; and Glenn Christman, a bioinformatician — worked on a study in collaboration with Zara Summers, an ExxonMobil microbiologist.
Study looks at life inside and outside of seafloor hydrocarbon seeps
Phys.org online
2020-07-09
Using sediment samples collected by ExxonMobil researchers, UD professor Jennifer Biddle and her lab group—including Rui Zhao, a postdoctoral researcher who is the first author on the paper; Kristin Yoshimura, who received her doctorate from UD; and Glenn Christman, a bioinformatician—worked on a study in collaboration with Zara Summers, an ExxonMobil microbiologist.
Examining the lifestyles of microbes
EurekAlert! online
2017-09-27
University of Delaware professor Jennifer Biddle and Rosa Leon-Zayas, who completed post-doctoral work at UD earlier this year, recently described new details about microbes known as Parcubacteria in a paper published in Environmental Microbiology.
Articles (5)
Occurrence, Diversity, and Genomes of “Candidatus Patescibacteria” along the Early Diagenesis of Marine Sediments
Applied and Environmental Microbiology2022 The phylum “Candidatus Patescibacteria” (or Candidate Phyla Radiation [CPR]) accounts for roughly one-quarter of microbial diversity on Earth, but the presence and diversity of these bacteria in marine sediments have been rarely charted. Here, we investigate the abundance, diversity, and metabolic capacities of CPR bacteria in three sediment sites (Mohns Ridge, North Pond, and Costa Rica Margin) with samples covering a wide range of redox zones formed during the early diagenesis of organic matter.
Community Dynamics of Marine Planktic Archaea in an Estuarine River Water Column
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts 20222022 We report the results of a year-long census of the archaeal community at the mouth of the Broadkill River, a tidal estuarine river that empties into the Delaware Bay. Water was filtered monthly at high and low tides through sequential 2.7 µm, 0.7 µm and 0.3 µm filters and 16s rRNA genes from all filters were sequenced. Size fraction was the most important factor determining the structure of the community; also important was the time of year, with a clear difference between the community in the spring and winter compared to summer and fall.
Introducing Candidatus Bathyanammoxibiaceae, a family of bacteria with the anammox potential present in both marine and terrestrial environments
ISME Communications2022 Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) bacteria are a group of extraordinary bacteria exerting a major impact on the global nitrogen cycle. Their phylogenetic breadth and diversity, however, are not well constrained. Here we describe a new, deep-branching family in the order of Candidatus Brocadiales, Candidatus Bathyanammoxibiaceae, members of which have genes encoding the key enzymes of the anammox metabolism.
Expanding the repertoire of electron acceptors for the anaerobic oxidation of methane in carbonates in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean
The ISME Journal2021 Authigenic carbonates represent a significant microbial sink for methane, yet little is known about the microbiome responsible for the methane removal. We identify carbonate microbiomes distributed over 21 locations hosted by seven different cold seeps in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans by carrying out a gene-based survey using 16S rRNA- and mcrA gene sequencing coupled with metagenomic analyses.
Helarchaeota and co-occurring sulfate-reducing bacteria in subseafloor sediments from the Costa Rica Margin
ISME Communications volume2021 Deep sediments host many archaeal lineages, including the Asgard superphylum which contains lineages predicted to require syntrophic partnerships. Our knowledge about sedimentary archaeal diversity and their metabolic pathways and syntrophic partners is still very limited. We present here new genomes of Helarchaeota and the co-occurring sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) recovered from organic-rich sediments off Costa Rica Margin.
Accomplishments (1)
International Ocean Drilling Program Distinguished Lecturer (professional)
2013-2014
Education (2)
The Pennsylvania State University: PhD, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2006
Dissertation: Microbial populations and processes in subseafloor marine environments
Rutgers University: BS, Biotechnology 1999
Affiliations (2)
- MicroSeminar : creator and organizer
- International Society of Microbial Ecology (ISME) Journal : Senior Editorial Board
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