Email: s.epstein@neu.edu

Phone: 617.373.4048
Fax: 617.373.3724

Location: 420 Mugar Life Sciences
Mail: NU/Biology
         134 Mugar Life Sciences
         360 Huntington Avenue
         Boston, MA 02115 USA

Web Page

Research Description

I am interested in the diversity of microbial life in the ocean, and I came to see microbial communities as exquisitely "designed" living organisms. Specific projects in my lab include the search for novel forms of microbial life, growing and characterization of previously unknown microbes, research on the nature of their interactions in the environment, and ecology, geography, and evolution of selected groups of marine protists.

Epstein, S.S. (2009) Microbial awakenings. Nature 457: 1083. PubMed

Epstein, S.S., (2009) Uncultivated Microorganisms. Series: Microbiology Monographs, Vol. 10; Springer Berlin / Heidelberg, 208. ISBN:978-3-540-85464-7 SpringerLink | Preface

Epstein, S.S. (2009) General Model of Microbial Uncultivability, in Uncultivated Microorganisms, (Ed. S.S. Epstein): . Series: Microbiology Monographs (Series Ed. Alexander Steinbuchel), Vol. 10; Springer Berlin / Heidelberg, 131-150. ISBN:978-3-540-85464-7 SpringerLink | Preface

Stoeck, T., and S. S. Epstein (2009) Crystal Ball-2009: Protists and the rare biosphere. Environmental Microbiology Reports, 1:20-22. Wiley InterScience

Hong, S.-H, Bunge, J., Leslin, C., Jeon, S-O., and S. S. Epstein (2009). Polymerase chain reaction primers miss half of rRNA microbial diversity. ISME Journal. PubMed

Edgcomb, V., Orsi, W., Chesley Leslin, C., Epstein S. S., Bunge, J. Jeon, S.-O., Yakimov, M. M., Behnke, A., and T. Stoeck (2009). Protistan community patterns within the brine and halocline of deep hypersaline anoxic basins in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Extremophiles 13:151–167. PubMed 19057844 | SpringerLink

Lewis, K., Epstein, S. S., Godoy, V. G., and S.-H. Hong (2008). Intact DNA in ancient permafrost. Trends in Microbiol. 16: 92-94. PubMed 18291656

Jeon, S., Bunge, J., Leslin, C., Stoeck, T., Hong, S.-H., and S. S. Epstein (2008) Environmental rRNA inventories miss over half of protistan diversity. BMC Microbiol. 8: 222-234. PDF

Nichols D., Lewis, K., Orjala, J., Mo, S., Ortenberg, R., O'Connor, P., Zhao, C., Vouros, P., Kaeberlein, T., and S. S. Epstein (2008) Short peptide induces an "uncultivable" microorganism to grow in vitro. Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 74: 4889-4897. PDF

Bollmann, A., K.Lewis, and S. S. Epstein (2007). Incubation of Environmental Samples in a Diffusion Chamber Increases the Diversity of Recovered Isolates. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 73: 6386–6390. PDF

Giovannoni, S. J, R. Foster, M. S. Rappé, and S. S. Epstein (2007). New cultivation strategies bring more microbial plankton species into the laboratory. Journal of the Oceanography Society 20: 24-30. PDF

Bunge, J., S. S. Epstein, and D. G. Peterson (2006). Comment on “Computational improvements reveal great bacterial diversity and high metal toxicity in soil”. Science 313: 918c. PubMed 16917045. ScienceMag

Hong S.-H., Bunge J., Jeon, S.-O., and S.S. Epstein. (2006) Predicting microbial species richness. PNAS 103: 117-122

Jeon S.-O., Bunge, J., Stoeck, T., Barger, K. J.-A., Hong, S.-H., and S. S. Epstein (2006). Synthetic statistical approach reveals high richness of microbial eukaryotes in anoxic water column. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 6578-6583. PDF

Stoeck T., Hayward B., Taylor G.T., Varela R., Epstein S.S. (2006) A multiple PCR-primer approach to access the microeukaryotic diversity in environmental samples. Protist 157: 31-43. PubMed

Stoeck, T., W. Fowle, and S.S.Epstein (2003) Methodology of protistan discovery: from rRNA detection to quality SEM images. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 6856–6863.

Hayward, B. H., R. Droste and S.S.Epstein (2003). Interstitial Ciliates: Benthic Microaerophiles or Planktonic Anaerobes? J. Euk. Microbiol. 50: 356-359.

Stoeck, T., G. Taylor, and S.S.Epstein (2003). Novel eukaryotes from a permanently anoxic Cariaco Basin (Caribbean Sea). Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 5656-5663.

Stoeck, T., and S.S.Epstein (2003) Novel eukaryotic lineages inferred from SSU rRNA analyses in oxygen-depleted marine environments. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 2657-2663.

T. Kaeberlein, K. Lewis, S. Epstein (2002). Isolating "uncultivable" microorganisms in pure culture in a simulated natural environment. Science 296: 1127-1129. Abstract | Full Text.

Epstein, S.S. (2001). Microbial interactions. Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, MacMillan.

Bazylinski, D.A., Schlezinger, D.A., Howes, B.L., Frankel, R.B., and Epstein, S.S. (2000). Occurrence and distribution of diverse populations of magnetic protists in a chemically stratified coastal salt pond. Chem. Geol. 169: 319-328.

Epstein, S.S. et al. (1998). Epibiotic bacteria on several ciliates from marine sediments. J. Euk. Microbiol. 45: 64-70.

Epstein, S.S. (1997a). Microbial food webs in marine sediments. I. Trophic interactions and grazing rates in two tidal flat communities. Microb. Ecol. 34: 188-198.

Epstein, S.S. (1997b). Microbial food webs in marine sediments. II. Seasonal changes in trophic interactions in a sandy tidal flat community. Microb. Ecol. 34: 199-209.

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