Christina Kellogg
Applying molecular techniques and microbiology methods to study marine microbes, particularly the microbial ecology of tropical and deep-sea corals.
Biography
Dr. Kellogg grew up on a charter boat in the U.S. Virgin Islands with the Caribbean Sea as her backyard, so it was no wonder she pursued a career in marine biology. Chris is an environmental microbiologist who applies molecular techniques to characterize and identify microbial communities. After receiving her bachelors of science degree in biology from Georgetown University, Chris pursued a Ph.D. in marine microbiology from the University of South Florida, working on the genetic diversity of environmental viruses. This was followed by postdoctoral research on an NIH-funded fellowship to identify novel drug targets in pathogenic fungi and an internship at Human Genome Sciences. Dr. Kellogg joined the U.S. Geological Survey as a Mendenhall Fellow, characterizing the microbial communities in aerosolized African desert dust, beach sediments, seagrass beds and coral reefs. Currently, she leads an environmental microbiology laboratory at the U.S. Geological Survey specializing in coral microbial ecology. Her research on tropical corals has taken her to the Florida Keys, Caribbean, Hawaii, and American Samoa, leading her friends to say that she specializes in ‘resort microbiology.’ Chris has been working in deepwater coral ecosystems since 2004 and considers herself extremely lucky to have had the privilege of visiting them personally using the Delta and Johnson-Sea-Link submersibles. She has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed papers as well as a number of book chapters and has given invited keynote talks on both her aerosol microbiology and deep-sea coral microbial work. Chris served as a judge for the $2 million dollar Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE competition in 2015 and is currently judging the $7 million dollar Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE. She was elected to the Council Policy Committee (de facto executive board) of the American Society for Microbiology (2012–2016), playing an active role in revamping the communication and governance structures of the organization. Chris is active in shaping the direction of microbiome research in the U.S., having represented DOI on the Federal Microbiome Interagency Working Group and being a part of the National Microbiome Data Collaborative.
Research Interests
Microbial diversity, microbial ecology, long-distance transport of microbes, biogeography, bioprospecting, symbiosis
Project pages
Coral Reef Ecosystem Studies (CREST)
DISCOVRE - Diversity, Systematics and Connectivity of Vulnerable Reef Ecosystems Project
Awards
Rudi Lemberg Travelling Fellowship from the Australian Academy of Science
Science and Products
DISCOVRE: Diversity, Systematics and Connectivity of Vulnerable Reef Ecosystems
DISCOVRE (DIversity, Systematics and COnnectivity of Vulnerable Reef Ecosystems) is an integrated, multidisciplinary, international effort investigating the unique and fragile deep-sea coral environments from the microscopic level to the ecosystem level.
Microbial Processes on Reefs
The microbial community on coral reefs is generally underappreciated given the ubiquity, abundance, complexity, and formative role these prokaryotes serve in the metabolic and chemical processes on reefs. We use microbiological and metagenomic techniques to decipher the roles the microbial community are playing in processes such as coral disease, submarine groundwater discharge, calcification...
Coral Microbial Ecology
The coral microbial ecology group has an active research program identifying and characterizing the microbial associates of both tropical and cold-water (deep-sea) corals and their surrounding habitat. Current projects focus on coral disease dynamics, bacterial diversity, and using metagenomics to elucidate the functional roles of coral microbes.
DISCOVRE - Diversity, Systematics and Connectivity of Vulnerable Reef Ecosystems Project
This project uses amplicon sequencing, and functional microarrays to examine the microbiomes of several deep-sea coral species, with priority given to species that are also of interest to the population genetics group: Desmophyllum dianthus, Lophelia pertusa, Enallopsammiasp. and Acanthogorgia sp. The project also uses metagenomics to survey benthic habitats including coral mounds, cold seeps...
Coral Reef Ecosystem Studies (CREST)
The specific objectives of this project are to identify and describe the processes that are important in determining rates of coral-reef construction. How quickly the skeletons of calcifying organisms accumulate to form massive barrier-reef structure is determined by processes of both construction (how fast organisms grow and reproduce) and destruction (how fast reefs break down by mechanical...
Black-band disease in the Florida Keys
Photos of corals affected by black-band disease in the Florida Keys.
Coral Disease
We investigated coral disease processes and causes by characterizing microbial communities in diseased and healthy representatives of selected coral species both temporally and spatially by employing microarray technology. We tested the diagnostic potential of coral fluorescence for identifying disease-induced physiological stress.
Cold-water coral microbiomes (Paramuricea placomus) from Baltimore Canyon: raw and processed data
The files in this data release are the raw and processed DNA sequence files referenced in the submitted journal article by Kellogg et. al. titled "Bacterial Community Diversity of the Deep-Sea Octocoral Paramuricea placomus." They represent a 16S rRNA gene amplicon survey of the coral's microbiome completed using Roche 454 pyrosequencing with titanium reagents.
Cold-water coral microbiomes (Anthothela spp.) from Baltimore and Norfolk Canyons: raw and processed data
The files in this data release are the raw and processed DNA sequence files referenced in the submitted journal article by Lawler et. al. titled coral-associated bacterial diversity is conserved at the host-genus level in deep-sea Anthothela spp." They represent a 16S rRNA gene amplicon survey of the coral's microbiome completed using Roche 454 pyrosequencing with titanium reagents.
Cold-water coral microbiomes (Astrangia poculata) from Narragansett Bay: sequence data
The files provided in this data release are the DNA sequence files referenced in Goldsmith and others (2019), which represent a 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) gene amplicon survey of Astrangia poculata microbiomes completed using Sanger dideoxy sequencing. The coral samples were collected from Narragansett Bay at Fort Wetherill State Park, Jamestown, Rhode Island in 2015 and 2016 (Sharp...
Cold-water coral microbiomes (Primnoa spp.) from Gulf of Alaska, Baltimore Canyon, and Norfolk Canyon: raw data
The files in this data release are the raw DNA sequence files referenced in the journal article by Goldsmith and others (2018) entitled "Comparison of microbiomes of cold-water corals Primnoa pacifica and Primnoa resedaeformis, with possible link between microbiome composition and host genotype". They represent a 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) gene amplicon survey of the corals’...
Florida Keys Corals: A Photographic Record of Changes from 1959 to 2015
This data release contains time-series photographs taken of corals and coral habitats in the Florida Keys between 1959 and 2015 at Carysfort Reef and Grecian Rocks (a total of six sites). The original intent was to show coral reef recovery after Hurricane Donna devastated the area in 1960. Corals, especially elkhorn and staghorn coral, grew prolifically after the storm until the late 1970s,...
Cold-water coral microbiomes (Lophelia pertusa) from Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean: raw data
The files in this data release are the raw deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequence files referenced in the submitted journal article by Christina A. Kellogg, Dawn B. Goldsmith and Michael A. Gray entitled "Biogeographic comparison of Lophelia-associated bacterial communities in the western Atlantic reveals conserved core microbiome". They represent a 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) gene...
Physicochemical controls on zones of higher coral stress where Black Band Disease occurs at Mākua Reef, Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi
Pervasive and sustained coral diseases contribute to the systemic degradation of reef ecosystems, however, to date an understanding of the physicochemical controls on a coral disease event is still largely lacking. Water circulation and residence times and submarine groundwater discharge all determine the degree to which reef organisms are exposed...
Oberle, Ferdinand; Storlazzi, Curt D.; Cheriton, Olivia; Takesue, Renee K.; Hoover, Daniel J.; Logan, Joshua B.; Runyon, Christina M.; Kellogg, Christina A.; Johnson, Cordell; Swarzenski, Peter W. Microbiomes of stony and soft deep-sea corals share rare core bacteria
Background: Numerous studies have shown that bacteria form stable associations with host corals and have focused on identifying conserved “core microbiomes” of bacterial associates inferred to be serving key roles in the coral holobiont. Because studies tend to focus on only stony corals (order Scleractinia) or soft corals (order Alcyonacea), it...
Kellogg, Christina A. MICROBIAL ASSOCIATIONS OF FOUR SPECIES OF ALGAL SYMBIONT-BEARING5 FORAMINIFERS FROM THE FLORIDA REEF TRACT, USA
While microbiome research is a rapidly expanding field of study, relatively little is known of the microbiomes associ- ated with Foraminifera. This preliminary study investigated microbes associated with four species of Foraminifera, repre- senting two taxonomic orders, which host three kinds of al- gal endosymbionts. A major objective was to...
Martin, Makenna M.; Kellogg, Christina A.; Hallock, Pamela Stability of temperate coral Astrangia poculata microbiome is reflected across different sequencing methodologies
The microbiome of the temperate coral Astrangia poculata was first described in 2017 using next-generation Illumina sequencing to examine the coral’s bacterial and archaeal associates across seasons and among hosts of differing symbiotic status. To assess the impact of methodology on the detectable diversity of the coral’s microbiome, we...
Goldsmith, Dawn B.; Pratte, Zoe A.; Kellogg, Christina A.; Snader, Sara E.; Sharp, Koty H. Comparison of microbiomes of cold-water corals Primnoa pacifica and Primnoa resedaeformis, with possible link between microbiome composition and host genotype
Cold-water corals provide critical habitats for a multitude of marine species, but are understudied relative to tropical corals. Primnoa pacifica is a cold-water coral prevalent throughout Alaskan waters, while another species in the genus, Primnoa resedaeformis, is widely distributed in the Atlantic Ocean. This study examined the...
Goldsmith, Dawn B.; Kellogg, Christina A.; Morrison, Cheryl L.; Gray, Michael A.; Stone, Robert P.; Waller, Rhian G.; Brooke, Sandra D.; Ross, Steve W.
Deepwater Program: Lophelia II, continuing ecological research on deep-sea corals and deep-reef habitats in the Gulf of Mexico
The deep sea is a rich environment composed of diverse habitat types. While deep-sea coral habitats have been discovered within each ocean basin, knowledge about the ecology of these habitats and associated inhabitants continues to grow. This report presents information and results from the Lophelia II project that examined deep-sea coral habitats...
Demopoulos, Amanda W.J.; Ross, Steve W.; Kellogg, Christina A.; Morrison, Cheryl L.; Nizinski, Martha S.; Prouty, Nancy G.; Bourque, Jill R.; Galkiewicz, Julie P.; Gray, Michael A.; Springmann, Marcus J.; Coykendall, D. Katharine; Miller, Andrew; Rhode, Mike; Quattrini, Andrea; Ames, Cheryl L.; Brooke, Sandra D.; McClain-Counts, Jennifer P.; Roark, E. Brendan; Buster, Noreen A.; Phillips, Ryan M.; Frometa, Janessy Chapter 12. Canyons microbiology studies
Off the eastern coast of the United States, several deep canyons cut through the continental shelf, acting like funnels to move sediment from the shelf out to the deep seafloor. Exposed rock outcrops and ledges along the walls of these canyons provide important habitat for deepsea corals and sponges. Although a few scientific expeditions have...
Kellogg, Christina A.; Lawler, Stephanie N.
USGS microbiome research
Microbiomes are the communities of microorganisms (for example, bacteria, viruses, and fungi) that live on, in, and around people, plants, animals, soil, water, and the atmosphere. Microbiomes are active in the functioning of diverse ecosystems, for instance, by influencing water quality, nutrient acquisition and stress tolerance in plants, and...
Kellogg, Christina A.; Hopkins, M. Camille Predation by Acanthurus leucopareius on black-band disease in Kauai, Hawaii
No abstract available.
Kellogg, Christina A.; West, Amy; Runyon, Christina M. Biogeographic comparison of Lophelia-associated bacterial communities in the Western Atlantic reveals conserved core microbiome
Over the last decade, publications on deep-sea corals have tripled. Most attention has been paid to Lophelia pertusa, a globally distributed scleractinian coral that creates critical three-dimensional habitat in the deep ocean. The bacterial community associated with L. pertusa has been previously described by a number of studies at sites in the...
Kellogg, Christina A.; Goldsmith, Dawn B.; Gray, Michael A. Cold-water coral microbiomes (Lophelia pertusa) from Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean: raw data
The files in this data release are the raw DNA sequence files in the submitted journal article by Christina A. Kellogg, Dawn B. Goldsmith, and Michael A. Gray entitled "Biogeographic comparison of Lophelia-associated bacterial communities in the western Atlantic reveals conserved core microbiome." They represent a 16S rRNA gene amplicon survey of...
Kellogg, Christina A.; Goldsmith, Dawn Bacterial community diversity of the deep-sea octocoral Paramuricea placomus
Compared to tropical corals, much less is known about deep-sea coral biology and ecology. Although the microbial communities of some deep-sea corals have been described, this is the first study to characterize the bacterial community associated with the deep-sea octocoral, Paramuricea placomus. Samples from five colonies of P. placomus were...
Kellogg, Christina A.; Ross, Steve W.; Brooke, Sandra D.
USGS Research Microbiologist receives national service award
Christina Kellogg (Research Microbiologist, SPCMSC) was awarded the 2020 American Society for Microbiology’s Award for Service in recognition of outstanding contributions through service to the microbiological community.
USGS scientists participate and accept leadership roles during Coral Disease Technical Workshop
During the annual multi-agency Coral Disease Technical Workshop, which convened to review the status of the Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) outbreak in Florida and determine key goals for research and intervention activities for the coming year, USGS scientists actively participated and took on leadership roles.
New paper reveals microbiomes of stony and soft deep-sea corals share rare core bacteria
Dr. Christina Kellogg (SPCMSC Research Microbiologist) will publish a paper in the journal Microbiome based on a meta-analysis of datasets from 7 species of deep-sea corals.
USGS Researcher attends Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE awards ceremony in Monaco
Dr. Christina Kellogg (Research Microbiologist, SPCMSC) is a member of the judging panel that will award winners of the $7 million dollar Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE during the final award announcement at the Musée Océanographique de Monaco on May 31.
News coverage leads to a master’s degree collaboration with SPCMSC Research Microbiologist
S Gold, a student researching projects for a master’s degree at Western Carolina University, saw the news coverage last fall about the DEEP SEARCH research expedition to a large deep-sea coral area off the South Carolina coast and reached out to SPCMSC Research Microbiologist Christina Kellogg about doing a master’s project involving microbiology and these deep-sea corals.
USGS SPCMSC hosts Shell Ocean Discovery Xprize Judges Summit
Dr. Christina Kellogg (SPCMSC Research Microbiologist) hosted the final 2-day Judges Summit at the USGS office in St. Petersburg during which the winners of the $7-million dollar Shell Ocean Discovery Xprize were chosen. Dr. Kellogg is one of the 7-member international judging panel that determined the top scoring teams.
Deep Sea Exploration and Research of Coral/Canyon/Cold seep Habitats
Christina Kellogg is at sea April 9-30, 2019, as part of the #DeepSearch team on the NOAA ship Ron Brown with the Jason ROV. The team is collecting samples to research deep-sea coral, canyon, and seep environments off of the Southeastern United States.
USGS scientists publish long-read microbiome sequences from temperate coral, providing community resource for probe and primer design
Astrangia poculata, the northern star coral, is a temperate scleractinian coral that has been documented on the Atlantic Coast of the United States from Maine to Florida, as well as the Gulf Coasts of Florida, Louisiana, and Texas.
USGS researcher judges final round of Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE competition in Kalamata, Greece
The Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE, a $7 million global competition being held in Kalamata, Greece, is challenging teams to push the boundaries of ocean technologies by creating solutions that advance the autonomy, scale, speed, depths, and resolution of ocean exploration. Dr. Christina Kellogg (Research Microbiologist, SPCMSC) will be the on-site judge during the week of November 19–24, 2018....
USGS Research Microbiologist presents science and participates in science communication at 2018 ASM Microbe Meeting
Christina Kellogg (SPCMSC Research Microbiologist) will present a poster titled "Metagenomic Analysis of the Microbial Community Associated with the Deep-Sea Coral Lophelia pertusa" and give a 10-min talk about it in a session highlighting key posters at the 2018 American Society for Microbiology MICROBE conference, June 6–11, 2018, in Atlanta, GA.
Federal Interagency Microbiome Strategic Plan Released
As part of the White House’s National Microbiome Initiative, a Microbiome Interagency Working Group (MIWG) was formed in late 2016 with the charge of producing a Federal Strategic Plan for microbiome research.