Gina Chaput

Assistant Professor

Gina Chaput

Contact

Office

Darwin 216

Education:
Ph.D. Microbiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (2019)
B.S. Genetics at the University of New Hampshire Durham (2013)

Research Interests:
Coastal vegetated ecosystems face increasing threats from climate change, pollution, and disease. My research program applies established terrestrial approaches to marine conservation challenges, using an interdisciplinary approach to investigate and manipulate plant microbiomes for enhanced resilience against environmental stressors. Working primarily with Zostera marina (eelgrass) as a model, I extend these principles across seagrass meadows, mangroves, and saltwater marshes. My long-term goal is to identify key microorganisms, genes, or compounds that can be translated into novel biotechnological tools for managing coastal vegetation, ultimately enhancing ecosystem health, productivity, and climate resilience.

Research Program:
My lab pursues three interconnected research goals. First, we identify, isolate, and characterize key members of the Z. marina microbiome using high-throughput culturing and whole-genome sequencing. Second, we use EcoFAB 2.0 microcosm devices combined with metatranscriptomics and metabolomics to uncover the microbial metabolic processes that enhance host resilience to pathogens and environmental stress. Third, we scale these findings to field applications in Northern California, adapting proven terrestrial microbiome manipulation strategies, such as microbial seed inoculants, to marine systems. Students at all levels participate in field sampling, wet-lab experiments, and multi-omics data analysis, gaining experience across the full arc of conservation science.

Course Offerings:
BIOL 240 - Medical Microbiology (Spring semester)
BIOL 497 - Microbial Symbiosis

Selected Publications & Presentations

(13) *Vijayakartik, V., Stachowicz, J., Eisen, J.A., and Chaput, G. Cryopreservative Methods for Storage of Seagrass Wasting Disease Pathogen, Labyrinthula zosterae (in prep: results completed, manuscript partially drafted)

(12) *Pham, E., Stachowicz, J., Eisen, J.A., and Chaput, G. Genome characterization of Phytophthora gemini and Abiotic Strategies to Suppress Eelgrass Seed Disease (in prep: results completed, manuscript partially drafted)

(11) *Fujita, N., Eisen, J.A., and Chaput, G. Draft Genome of Marinomonas sp., an Endophytic Bacterium from Eelgrass Seeds (in revision)

(10) Chaput, G., Hanley, T., Eisen, J.A., Sogin, M., and Hughes, A.R., and Hays, C. Microbiome Characterization of Zostera marina Seeds at Early-Stage Development (in revision)

(9) Chaput, G., Deen, E., *Crystal, S., *Matayoshi, A., *Pham, E., Andeer, P., Northen, T., Eisen, J., Sogin, M., and Stachowicz, J. Microbiome Assembly Zostera marina during early host development: An EcoFAB 2.0 Application for Aquatic Plant-Microbe Interactions (in revision)

(8) Chaput, G., Sogin, M. Talented microbes unlatch peatland carbon. Nat Microbiol 9, 1403–1405 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-024-01711-z (News and Views article)

(7) Chaput, G., Millerick, K., Boak, E. N., and Kroeger, M. Microbial Processes in Groundwater. (2024) Encyclopedia of Treatise on Geochemistry, Third Edition. Amsterdam: Elsevier. ISBN 9780124095489, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-99762-1.00050-4 (invited peer-reviewed book chapter)

(6) Chaput, G., *Ford, J., *DeDiego, L., *Narayanan, A., *Tam, W.Y., *Whalen, M., Huntemann, M., Clum, A., Spunde, A., Pillay, M., Palaniappan, K., Varghese, N., Mikhailova, N., Chen I., Stamatis, D., Reddy, T.B.K., O’Malley, R., Daum, C., Shapiro, N., Ivanova, N., Kyrpides, N.C., Woyke, T., Glavina del Rio, T., and DeAngelis, K. Sodalis ligni strain 159R isolated from an anaerobic lignin degrading consortium. (2022) Microbiology Spectrum. e02346-21.

(5) Chaput, G., Billings, A., *DeDiego, L., Orellana, R., Adkins, J. N., Nicora, C., Chu, R., Simmons, B., and DeAngelis K.M. (2020). Lignin induced iron reduction by novel sp., Tolumonas lignolytica BRL6-1. PloS ONE 15(9), e0233823.

(4) Holmes, D., Ueki, T., Tang, H. Y., Zhou, J., Smith, J., Chaput, G., & Lovley, D. (2019). A Membrane- Bound Cytochrome Enables Methanosarcina acetivorans to Conserve Energy to Support Growth from Extracellular Electron Transfer. MBio 10:(4), e00789-19

(3) Chaput, G., *Ford J., *DeDiego L., *Narayanan A., *Tam W.Y., *Whalen M., Huntemann M., Clum A., Spunde A., Pillay M., Palaniappan K., Varghese N., Mikhailova N., Chen I., Stamatis D., Reddy T.B.K., O’Malley R., Daum C., Shapiro N., Ivanova N., Kyrpides N.C.,Woyke T., Glavina del Rio T., and DeAngelis, K. (2019). Complete Genome Sequence of Serratia quinivorans strain 124R, a Facultative Anaerobe Isolated on Organosolv Lignin as a Sole Carbon Source. Microbiol Resour Announc.

(2) Orellana, R., Chaput, G., Markillie, L. M., Mitchell, H., Gaffrey, M., Orr, G., & DeAngelis, K. M. (2017). Multi-time series RNA-seq analysis of Enterobacter lignolyticus SCF1 during growth in lignin-amended medium. PloS ONE, 12(10), e0186440.

(1) Chaput, G., Charmanski, K., Farag, I. (2012). Sustainable Production of Microalgae Oil Feedstock Using Municipal Wastewater and CO2 Fertilization. International Journal of Engineering. 4(7): 3491-3501.