Jocelyne DiRuggiero

Associate Research Professor

235B Levi Hall
410-516-8498 | Lab 410-516-7744
jdiruggiero@jhu.edu
Group/Lab Website

Biography
Research
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Jocelyne DiRuggiero is an associate research professor in the Department of Biology and holds an appointment in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. She received her PhD from the University Claude Bernard in Lyon, France. Her research focuses on the mechanisms of stress response in the Archaea and on the microbial ecology of extreme environments.

From a single-cell as a microcosm to complex microbial consortia that inhabit extreme environments, our research probes how microorganisms adapt and respond to environmental stresses. Our research spans the fields of molecular biology, metagenomics, microbial ecology, and planetary science. We use archaeal model systems in the lab and do fieldwork in extreme deserts around the world.

Archaea are abundant in extreme environments, presenting an opportunity to gain insights into molecular adaptations to hostile habitats. Archaea are evolutionarily closer to Eukarya as emphasized by the recent discovery of the Asgard archaeal superphylum. This close evolutionary relationship between the archaeal and eukaryal domains is expressed by similarities of central dogma processes (replication, transcription, and translation) and an expected complexity in the Archaea. We thus stand to discover novel mechanisms and processes by studying the molecular biology of Archaea. We use the haloarchaeon Haloferax volcanii as a model to investigate regulatory mechanisms, at the post-transcriptional and translational level, in response to environmental stressors

Deserts and hypersaline environments represent the dry limits for life on Earth. These are fragile ecosystems and, as such, are unique model systems to study the effect of climate change on communities and ecosystems. Under the harsh conditions of hyper-arid deserts, microorganisms find refuge inside rocks as a survival strategy. We use these endolithic microbial communities from the Atacama, Namib, Negev, and Mojave Deserts and the Dry Valleys of Antarctica to address fundamental questions in microbial ecology.

Our research is directly related to Astrobiology. Visit the Institute for Planets and Life web site

Atacama Desert, Chile