Advancements in Genetic Engineering
Open Access

Eric Allen

Biography

He is awarded Ph.D Community genomics in microbial ecology and evolution. Nature Rev Microbiol  from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego in the 2005.  He/She holds a Master Degree (M.Sc) Ecology from -University of Oregon  Eugene,USA in the 2000, followed by a Bachelor’s Degree (BSc) in General Biology from University of Oregon  Eugene,USA in 1998  He has extended his/her valuable service as an Associate Professor in awrds and grants. Currently, he is working as an Associate Professor for  the faculty of Biological Sciences and the Scripps Institution of Oceangraphy at UCSD in 2006. His international experience includes various programs, contributions and participation in different countries for diverse fields of study.  His research interests as an Associate Professor reflect in his wide range of publications in various national and international journals.  

Research Interest

Research in our laboratory centers upon the use of environmentally-derived genome sequence information to explore the genetic potential, ecology, and evolution of environmental microbial populations. The nature of this work relies equally upon field-based collections, bioinformatics (genome assembly, annotation, and comparative analyses) and the tools of molecular ecology and genetics. Together, these approaches enable us to utilize environmental genome sequence data to understand natural microbial phenomena including environmental adaptation, evolutionary processes, lateral gene transfer events, biogeographical patterning, biogeochemical cycling, microbial interactions, and in situ metabolic activity.

Current investigations include exploring the genetic composition of microbial populations (Archaea & Bacteria) inhabiting hypersaline environments via cultivation- independent genomic approaches ("metagenomics"). Our primary study site for this project is a hypersaline lake system in NW Victoria, Australia (near the town of Sea Lake approx. 370 km NW of Melbourne). With over 1 billion bases (>1 Gbp) of environmental genome sequence data generated, near complete and complete genome sequences for resident microbial populations can be analyzed in the absence of cultivation requirements. Such a data set uniquely allows analysis of population structure (allelic variation) thus providing insight into natural mechanisms of genomic heterogeneity, diversification, and environmental selection. Additional projects are aiding in the analysis of various marine microbial metagenomic projects including the J. Craig Venter Institute's Global Ocean Sampling (GOS) expedition. 

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