August 2017 cover

Finding a distinct methanogen archaeal lineage from hypersaline lakes. Image by D. Y. Sorokin; cover design by Samantha Whitham.

Published Aug 02, 2017

Michael Chao

Project Manager, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health

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A pinch of salt

Methanonatronarchaeia are a distinct class-level lineage of extremely halophilic methanogens, which lack features of classical methanogenesis and have a high intracellular concentration of potassium, suggesting potassium-based osmoprotection.

Refers to "Discovery of extremely halophilic, methyl-reducing euryarchaea provides insights into the evolutionary origin of methanogenesis" by Sorokin et al.

Nature Microbiology 2: 17081 (2017)

Michael Chao

Project Manager, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health

I first developed an interest in bacterial pathogenesis while at Cornell University. I then earned my PhD in Biomedical and Biological Sciences from Harvard University in Eric Rubin’s laboratory, studying cell wall remodelling in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. From 2012-2015, I continued my training as a postdoctoral fellow in Matthew Waldor’s lab at Harvard Medical School, investigating the role of DNA methylation on regulating fundamental cellular processes in Vibrio cholerae.