Natasha Tsekiri

Natasha is investigating DMSP catabolism in microorganisms associated to Cymodocea nodosa – an environmentally important seagrass that grows in intertidal and shallow subtidal elevations of the Mediterranean & Northeast Atlantic.

Although seagrasses are reported as some of Earth’s most prolific DMSP producers, currently we do not know the mechanisms by which they produce DMSP, nor do we appreciate the influence that the seagrass-produced DMSP has on its holobiome. Natasha is using culture dependent and -independent methods such as DNA-Stable Isotope Probing, to elucidate the microbes assimilating carbon from DMSP, how they do so, why and if they interact with the plant host. She is also conducting a seasonal study of DMSP production and cycling in seagrass meadows to determine their importance for climate-active gas production.