Courses
Introduction to Astrobiology, Microbes in the Environment, Special Topics in Microbiology

Research Interests
Molecular Geomicrobiology: research in Professor Blank's lab revolves around studying microorganisms and how they co-evolved with the early Earth.

Hyperthermophilic microbes in Silica Depositing Yellowstone Hot Springs: Little is know about the microbes in these springs, however they all form the deepest branches in the tree of life and are the closest known relatives to the last universal common ancestor. The genomes of these organisms are repositories of over 3 billion years of evolutionary and environmental change. Therefore, the study of these organisms, their gene content and their metabolic capabilities has the potential to help us better understand the early evolution of life and how different lineages independently adapted to the presence of oxygen in the atmosphere. Research projects include developing new in situ techniques to identify the metabolic capabilities of novel uncultured organisms using the NanoSIMS Instrument in the Department of Physics. This work is in collaboration with Dr. Christine Floss. Professor Blank is also working on silicification and fossilization of microbes in collaboration with Dr. Sherry Cady at Portland State University, and how geochemical parameters influence ancient and modern microbial ecosystems in collaboration with Dr. Nancy Hinman at the University of Montana.

Phylogenomic Dating: Currently, little is known about the early evolution of life; what types of metabolisms were present, what the chemistry of the environment was like, and how microbes have influenced the changing chemistry of the earth through time. Professor Blank's lab uses whole genome sequences and molecular phylogenetic techniques to resolve ancient evolutionary relationships in the tree of life. This then forms a framework upon which the evolution of metabolic and physiological traits can be studied, and the ancestral traits of major microbial groups inferred. We then use phylogenomic dating methods to identify age constraints and relaxed molecular clock to determine the age of major diversifications in the microbial world. With this information, she can reconstruct what types of microorganisms and what biogeochemical cycles were present on the early Earth.

Selected Publications:

C. E. Blank and P. Sanchez-Baracaldo. Reconstructing the Ecology and Physiology of the Early Cyanobacteria and the Timing of Ecological Innovations in the Context of the Proterozoic Biosphere, submitted.

C. E. Blank. Phylogenomic dating of the divergence of major archaeal taxa and metabolic evolution in
the archaeal domain, Astrobiology, (accepted; in revision).

P. Sanchez-Baracaldo, P.K. Hayes, and C. E. Blank. 2005. Evolution of morphological and habitat
characters in the Cyanobacteria using a compartmentalization approach, Geobiology, 3(3):145-165.

C. E. Blank. 2004. Evolutionary timing of the origins of mesophilic sulfate reduction and oxygenic
photosynthesis: A phylogenomic dating approach. Geobiology 2:1-20.

C. E. Blank, S. L. Cady, and N. R. Pace. 2002. Microbial composition of silica-depositing thermal
springs throughout Yellowstone National Park. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 68(10):5123-5135.