There is very limited knowledge of the microorganisms associated with marine invertebrates in general and hardly any on whether environmental pollution affects the composition and function of the invertebrate microbiome. The project can accept one or two students. Invertebrates will be sampled from the inner Oslofjord (polluted) and a comparatively pristine location in the Skagerrak. Samples will be taken for sequencing of the microbiome. In addition, organisms from the clean location will be brought back and exposed for 14 days to polluted sediment prior to sampling. The project will entail work on our research vessel, work with sediment, sampling of organisms, extraction and analyses of metagenome data.
Contact Ketil Hylland (ketilhy@ibv.uio.no) or Alex Eiler (alexander.eiler@ibv.uio.no) if you are interested.