Dr Jodie Van De Kamp1
1CSIRO, Hobart, Australia
Biomolecular ocean observing and research is a rapidly evolving field that uses omics approaches to describe biodiversity at its foundational level, giving insight into the structure and function of marine ecosystems over time and space. It is an especially effective approach for investigating the marine microbiome. To mature marine microbiome research and operations within a global ocean biomolecular observing network (OBON) for the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and beyond, research groups will need a system to effectively share, discover, and compare “omic” practices and protocols. While numerous informatic tools and standards exist, there is currently no global, publicly-supported platform specifically designed for sharing marine omics [or any omics] protocols across the entire value-chain from initiating a study to the publication and use of its results. Toward that goal, we propose the development of the Minimum Information for an Omic Protocol (MIOP), a community-developed guide of curated, standardized metadata tags and categories that will orient protocols in the value-chain for the facilitated, structured, and user-driven discovery of suitable protocol suites on the Ocean Best Practices System. Users can annotate their protocols with these tags, or use them as search criteria to find appropriate protocols. Implementing such a curated repository is an essential step toward establishing best practices. Sharing protocols and encouraging comparisons through this repository will be the first steps toward designing a decision tree to guide users to community endorsed best practices.
Biography:
Since beginning my research career I have applied molecular biology and metagenomics within a broad range of contexts, from bioprospecting and discovery of novel microorganisms in sub-Antarctic and Antarctic environments to investigating microbe-mineral interactions in geological formations, e.g. cave speleothems and desert varnish, and in 2005 I joined CSIRO as a Molecular Biologist investigating genetic controls for invasive fish species. For the past 10 years my research has been focussed in the marine environment, specifically, the use of environmental genomics for the study of microbial ecology and it’s utility for ecological monitoring, particularly in our coastal systems, in relation to anthropogenic impacts and determining long-term trends in ocean health. I currently lead the IMOS Marine Microbiome Initiative Facility which supports the generation of DNA-based time-series observations from the IMOS National Reference Stations in Australia’s coastal oceans and more recently expanding into near-shore coastal locations.