Our group explores the relationships between physiology and ecology by complementing field observations with culture-based physiological studies. We are currently investigating how temperature and the microbial community influence the marine cyanobacterium, Prochlorococcus. Prochlorococcus is the most abundant photosynthetic organism in the oceans and plays a major role in global carbon cycling. Physiologically-distinct genetic lineages of Prochlorococcus (i.e. ecotypes) partition the niche vertically by their optimizations for light levels, and latitudinally by their optimizations for temperature. In collaboration with Zackary Johnson at Duke University Marine Lab and Steven Wilhelm at the University of Tennessee, our current National Science Foundation-funded project focuses on the latitudinal partitioning by Prochlorococcus ecotypes in the North Pacific Ocean. We are seeking to improve our understanding of temperature as an ecological determinant for this important genus, and to improve our ability to predict the impact of climate change on Prochlorococcus' role in the global carbon cycle. The other major line of investigation in our group is the characterization of Prochlorococcus interactions with heterotrophic bacteria. We have discovered that co-existing heterotrophic bacteria protect Prochlorococcus from the oxidative stresses associated with life in an oxygenated, sun-lit ocean. We are using laboratory and oceanographic approaches to continue our exploration of the interactions of Prochlorococcus with other members of the microbial community.

• Rowe, J.M., DeBruyn, J.M., Poorvin, L., LeCleir, G.R., Johnson, Z.I., ZINSER, E.R., and S.W. Wilhelm. 2011. Viral and bacterial abundance and production in the Western Pacific Ocean and the relation to other oceanic realms. FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-6941.2011.01223.x
• Morris, J.J., Johnson, Z.I., Szul, M.J., Keller, M., and E.R. ZINSER. 2011. Dependence of the cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus on hydrogen peroxide-scavenging microbes for growth at the ocean's surface. PLoS ONE 6: e16805
• Johnson, Z.I., Shyam, R., Ritchie, A.E., Mioni, C., Lance, V.P., Murray, J.W., and E.R. ZINSER. 2010. The effects of iron- and light-limitation on phytoplankton communities of deep chlorophyll maxima of the Western Pacific Ocean. J. Mar. Res. 68: 283-308
• Malmstrom, R.R., Coe, A., Kettler, G.C., Martiny, A.C., Frias-Lopez, J., ZINSER, E.R., and S.W. Chisholm. 2010. Temporal dynamics of Prochlorococcus ecotypes in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. ISME J. 4:1252-1264.
• ZINSER, E.R., Lindell, D., Johnson, Z.I., Futschik, M.E., Steglich, C., Coleman, M.L., Wright, M.A., Rector, T., Steen, R., McNulty, N., Thompson, L.R., and S.W. Chisholm. 2009. Choreography of the transcriptome, photophysiology, and cell cycle of a minimal photoautotroph, Prochlorococcus. PLoS ONE 4: e5135
• Morris, J.J., R. Kirkegaard, M.J. Szul, Z.I. Johnson, and E.R. ZINSER. 2008. Robust growth of Prochlorococcus colonies and dilute liquid cultures: facilitation by "helper" heterotrophic bacteria. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 4530-4534.
• ZINSER, E.R., Z.I. Johnson, A. Coe, E. Karaca, D. Veneziano, and S.W. Chisholm. 2007. Influence of light and temperature on Prochlorococcus ecotype distributions in the Atlantic Ocean. Limnol. Oceanogr. 52: 2205-2220.
• Moore, L.R., A. Coe, E.R. ZINSER, M.A. Saito, M.B. Sullivan, D. Lindell, K. Frois-Moniz, J. Waterbury, and S.W. Chisholm. 2007. Culturing the marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus. Limnol. Oceanogr.: Methods 5: 353-362.
• Johnson, Z.I.*, E.R. ZINSER*, A. Coe, N.P. McNulty, E.M.S. Woodward, and S.W. Chisholm. 2006. Niche partitioning among Prochlorococcus ecotypes along ocean-scale environmental gradients. Science 311: 1737-1740. * co-first authors
• ZINSER, E.R, A. Coe, Z.I. Johnson, A. Martiny, N.J. Fuller, D.J. Scanlan, and S.W. Chisholm. 2006. Prochlorococcus ecotype abundances in the North Atlantic Oceans as revealed by an improved quantitative PCR method. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 723-732.

Link: Web of Science

B.A., 1994, Kenyon College

Ph.D., 2001, Harvard University

Postdoctoral Fellow, 2001-2005, Massachusetts Institute of Technology