Shana Goffredi headshot
Professor, Biology
B.A., University of San Diego; Ph.D., UC Santa Barbara
Appointed In
2005
Office
Bioscience 107
Hours
Thursday 4:30pm-5:30pm and Friday 10:30am-12:30pm

Shana Goffredi’s research interests concern beneficial symbiotic partnerships between bacteria and invertebrates.

Read her Oxy Story profile

Research . Courses . Publications

Summary of Research Interests

Dr. Goffredi’s research interests concern beneficial symbiotic partnerships between bacteria and invertebrates.  Most of her career has so far been devoted to the study of beneficial associations between bacteria and deep-sea invertebrates,including marine polychaetes (Riftia and Osedax), clams (Calyptogena), crabs (the yeti crab Kiwa), and leeches. In the past few years, she has begun to explore tropical insects which provide many promising new avenues for research with regard to bacterial involvement in their nutritional ecology. Dr. Goffredi was the recipient of the 2014 Linda and Tod White Teaching Prize

Dr. Goffredi’s funding has come from the National Science Foundation, and she has published in journals such as Frontiers in Microbiology, Environmental Microbiology and Science. Her B.S. is in Biology/Marine Science from the Univ. of San Diego and her Ph.D. is in Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology from UC Santa Barbara.

Courses

General Zoology (Bio115).

An introduction to the diversity, comparative anatomy, physiology, and ecology of animals. Emphasis is placed on taxonomy, adaptations to the environment, and the evolutionary relationships between animal phyla. Together we build an understanding of animal life on this planet. Students learn to appreciate specific features in animal architecture, trends in the evolution of body design that are shared among animal groups, and the general making of animal diversity. Students gain the knowledge and curiosity to recognize that different animals are adapted to different circumstances with unique capabilities.

Microbial Diversity (Bio325).

An introduction to the world of microbes, including viruses, archaea, and bacteria, and their role in shaping and sustaining life on Earth. Emphasis will be placed on structure, metabolism, physiological and biochemical adaptations to unusual environments, phylogenetic analysis, biotechnology, microbial ecology and biological interactions, including plant and animal symbioses. Students will develop an appreciation for the ubiquity and necessity of microbes and will no longer consider experiences with disease as solely significant.  Rather, students will be able to discuss the ways in which microbes, through their enormous metabolic and genetic diversity, make our planet inhabitable. In the lab, students will consider and examine microbial growth and function and will select familiar environments from which to investigate microbial life.

Microbial Symbiosis (Bio350).

Symbioses are intimate associations involving two or more species. Symbiotic associations are widespread in nature and we can expect to find them in every type of ecological niche. This course will cover the diversity of symbiotic interactions that exist between both microbes and fungi and various eukaryotic hosts, including plants, animals, and protists, as well as other microorganisms. Topics will range from molecular to ecological, including the specific molecular communication between partners, the evolution of unusual host structures, novel physiological and biochemical capabilities, and the unique ecological advantages that many symbioses confer. This course will also include writing, presenting, and reviewing of published work on various symbioses.

Publications (2010-2017)

(*) indicates Oxy undergraduate authors, (^) indicates Oxy masters student authors

Aronson, H.S.*, A.J. Zellmer, Goffredi, S.K, (2017). The specific and exclusive microbiome of the deep-sea bone-eating snail, Rubyspira osteovora. FEMS Microbiology Ecology. 93(3): fiw250.

Pasulka, A.L., S.K. Goffredi, P.L. Tavormina, K.S. Dawson, L.A. Levin, G.W. Rouse, Victoria J. Orphan. (2017). Colonial tube-dwelling ciliates influence methane cycling and microbial diversity within methane seep ecosystems. Frontiers in Marine Science - Aquatic Microbiology. 3:276. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2016.00276.

Klann, J.*, A. McHenry*. C. Montelongo*, Goffredi, S.K, (2016). Decomposition of plant-sourced carbon compounds by heterotrophic Betaproteobacteria isolated from the tank of a tropical Costa Rican bromeliad. MicrobiologyOpen. doi:10.1002/mbo3.344.

Goffredi, S.K., G. Jang, M. Haroom. (2015) Transcriptomics in the tropics: Total RNA-based profiling of Costa Rican bromeliad-associated communities. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal. 13: 18-23.

Rahman, N.A., D.H. Parks, D.L. Willner, A.L. Engelbrektson, S.K. Goffredi, F. Warnecke, R.H. Scheffrahn and P. Hugenholtz. (in press). A molecular survey of Australian and North American termite genera indicates that co-evolution is the primary force shaping termite gut microbiomes. Microbiome. 3:5 doi:10.1186/s40168-015-0067-8.

Bistolas, K.I.S.*, R. Sakamoto*. J.A.M. Fernandes, Goffredi, S.K, (2014). Symbiont polyphyly, co-evolution, and necessity in pentatomid stinkbugs from Costa Rica. Frontiers in Microbology. 5:349 doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2014.00349

Larson, H.K., Goffredi, S.K., Parra, E.L., Vargas, O., Pinto, A., McGlynn, T.P. (2014). Distribution and dietary regulation of an associated facultative Rhizobiales-related bacterium in the omnivorous Giant Tropical Ant, Paraponera clavata.Naturwissenschaften. 101(5): 397-406.

Goffredi, S.K, W.J. Jones, A. Gregory*, N. Morella*, R. Sakamoto*. (2014). Ontogenetic variation in epibiont community structure in the deep-sea yeti crab, Kiwa hirsuta: Convergence among crustaceans. Molecular Ecology.23:1457-1472.

Goffredi, S.K, H. Yi, Q. Zhang, J. Klann*, I. Struve*, R.C. Virjenhoek, C. Brown. (2014). Genomic versatility and functional variation between two dominant heterotrophic symbionts of deep-sea Osedax worms. The ISME Journal. 8: 908-924.

Goffredi S.K., N. Morella*, M. Pulcrano*. (2012). Affiliations between bacteria and marine fish leeches (Piscicolidae), with emphasis on a new deep-sea species from Monterey Canyon, CA. Environmental Microbiology. 14:2429-2444.

Levin LA, Orphan VJ, Rouse GW, Rathburn AE, Ussler W III, Cook GS, Goffredi S.K., et al. (2012). A hydrothermal seep on the Costa Rica margin: middle ground in a continuum of reducing ecosystems. Proc. R. Soc. B. 279: 2580-2588.

Martin^, A.M. and S.K. Goffredi. (2012). “Pliocardia” krylovata, a new species of vesicomyid clam from cold seeps along the Costa Rica Margin. Journal of the Marine Biological Association UK. 92:1127-1137.

Goffredi S.K., G. Jang*, W. T. Woodside* and W. Ussler III..(2011). Bromeliad catchments as habitats for methanogenesis in tropical rainforest canopies. Frontiers in Microbiology. 2:256. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2011.00256.

Martin^, A.M. G. M. Martin, R. Butler, and S.K. Goffredi. (2011). Synthesis of keyhole limpet hemocyanin by the rhogocytes of Megathura crenulata. Invertebrate Biology. 130: 302-312.

Rouse, G.W., S.K. Goffredi, S. B. Johnson, and R. C. Vrijenhoek (2011) Not whale-fall specialists, Osedax worms also consume fishbones. Biol. Lett. 7:736-739.

Goffredi S.K., A.H. Kantor*, W.T. Woodside* (2011). Aquatic microbial habitats within a neotropical rainforest: bromeliads and pH-associated trends in bacterial diversity. Microbial Ecology, 61: 529-542.

Goffredi S.K. (2010). Indigenous ectosymbiotic bacteria associated with diverse hydrothermal vent invertebrates.Environ. Microbiol. Reports. 2: 479-488.