Lynd Research Lab: Dr. Javier Izquierdo
Microbial Ecology Area Leader
My research involves the study of cellulose degradation and utilization from the perspective of a microbial ecologist. Researchers and students in the microbial ecology area that I oversee work with bacterial communities we obtain from natural environments, able to make a living from lignocellulose as their main substrate. Our goal is to understand how microbial communities change from the natural environments we get them from, identifying which particular species are playing the key role of breaking down cellulose, and characterizing what functional roles other community members are playing in the conversion of lignocellulose to biofuels and other products.
Cellulose degradation in nature is a collaborative process amongst many different species of microorganisms. As a microbial ecologist, I am interested in addressing basic questions regarding the interspecies interactions that lead to the effective utilization of cellulose. For this purpose, we utilize a variety of molecular tools and modern fermentation technology to characterize lignocellulose utilization and the microbial community interactions involved in this process.
If you are interested in this area of research within the Lynd Lab, please contact me (javier.izquierdo@dartmouth.edu) or Prof. Lee Lynd to discuss possible projects.
Current Projects
- Molecular and metabolic characterization of lignocellulose utilization of microbial communities
- Comparative genomics of thermophilic lignocellulose degraders
Current Teaching Activities
- Metabolic Engineering (ENGS 161)
Recent Publications
- Izquierdo JA, Sizova MV, Lynd LR. (2010) Diversity of bacteria and glycosyl hydrolase family 48 genes in cellulolytic consortia enriched from thermophilic biocompost. Appl Environ Microbiol. 76(11):3545-3553. (Abstract)
- Izquierdo JA, Nüsslein K. (2010) Distribution of extensive nifH gene diversity across physical soil microenvironments. Microb Ecol. 51(4):441-452 (Abstract)