University of South Florida

We’ll fix *your* carbon...

Giant Riftia worms from a hydrothermal vent on the East Pacific Rise.  Vent communities such as this one are sustained entirely by carbon fixation by autotrophic microorganisms that use geothermally-produced reduced chemicals for energy.

Scott Lab Introduction

We study  inorganic carbon uptake and fixation by autotrophic microorganisms, with an emphasis on marine systems, including deep-sea hydrothermal vents as well as ocean surface communities.

 

We care about these processes since carbon fixed by autotrophic microorganisms is a substantial fraction of the organic carbon that enters  food webs (though if you consider chloroplasts to be derived cyanobacteria…’substantial’ = ‘all’).  These organisms are diverse in every possible way.   Autotrophs populate the tree of life in all three domains; accordingly, different species of autotrophs are wildly different from eachother with respect to energy sources used (e.g., sunlight, versus redox-sensitive chemicals) and biochemistries (there are currently *6* known autotrophic carbon fixation pathways, with more on the horizon).  They thrive in benign-to-impossible habitats, and the significance of their role(s) in biogeochemical cycles beyond carbon is impossible to overstate.

 

We use a variety of approaches, including bioinformatics, molecular manipulation, chemostat cultivation, mass spectrometry … whatever it takes.  Sometimes we get lucky and do fieldwork.

Mail:

KT Scott, USF IB Dept.

4202 East Fowler Avenue

110 SCA

Tampa, FL 33620

 

Shipments:

4202 East Fowler Avenue

NES 107

Tampa, FL 33620

 

 

To contact us:

Phone: 813-974-5173

E-mail: kmscott@usf.edu

Artwork by D. Nicholson