Dr. Koty Sharp – Corals Under the Microscope: tiny microbes, big solutions for a changing planet

Dr. Sharp is the Director of the Roger Williams University Center for Economic and Environmental Development, and an Associate Professor in Biology, Marine Biology, & Environmental Science. She received her B.A. in Biology at Mount Holyoke College and her PhD from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego in 2006. She has formerly held positions with the Smithsonian Institution, New England Biolabs, and Eckerd College. Her field and laboratory research is centered around marine animal microbiomes and the chemicals that microbes produce to benefit their host animals. Her research at RWU focuses on microbiomes in tropical and temperate corals, identification of bioactive compounds produced by coral-associated bacteria, and exploration of the potential applications of naturally occurring beneficial bacteria as probiotics. Since 2016, she has co-convened conferences to gather researchers and educators who work on the local, temperate coral Astrangia poculata – which she worked to designate as Rhode Island’s official State Coral, and together this group is working to establish this coral as a model organism for coral biology and for the broad study of animal-microbe symbioses. 

 

In our research laboratory at RWU, we investigate the diversity and dynamics of marine animal microbiomes. Microbes are the invisible players that shape the health of their animal hosts, and ultimately the health of ecosystems around the globe. In this talk, I’ll share with you some stories of hope – as we continue to learn more about beneficial microbes in and on marine animals, our research provides us with new solutions for today’s challenges in ocean and human health. Our work with the local coral Astrangia poculata – Rhode Island’s official state coral, which can be found here on Block Island – has led us to isolate bacteria that we are now developing as a probiotic for oysters and corals, and identification of other beneficial bacteria that we think drive disease recovery in tropical corals. I’ll also share stories about spawning and culturing this coral in our laboratory at RWU, where we achieved the first insertion of a gene into the genome of a hard coral, using a genome editing technology called CRISPR. We have worked to create methods with this animal so that our lab and others around the world can use it to learn more about resilience of tropical corals to global climate change, and their recovery from coral bleaching and disease. Together, microbiology research and collaboration across the coral reef science community are advancing discoveries that are shaping how we address critical challenges facing our oceans and human health.