In a new study, Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology (EGSB) Division research scientist Lauren Lui presents the first steps of her ambitious plan to catalogue the complete genomes of the microbial life found in the San Francisco Estuary near the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Using the latest sequencing technology, Lui aims to fill in a missing piece of how this sensitive, critical ecosystem is knit together. Ultimately, her work could help scientists formulate a more predictive understanding of how microbes respond to environmental changes.
A central hub of California’s water infrastructure, the Delta is not only ecologically rich, but also supplies freshwater to two-thirds of the state’s population and a $50 billion agricultural industry that serves the entire country. And while life in the Delta has continued to persist amidst almost constant human interference, from intensive manipulation of the area’s natural hydrology and salinity to the arrival of introduced species and high levels of agricultural runoff, the changing climate presents a growing challenge for an already sensitive ecosystem. In 2022, higher temperatures and extended drought created the conditions for a record-breaking toxic algal bloom, which killed thousands of fish and turned the waters of the San Francisco Bay — from Emeryville to Albany — a deep reddish-brown.
There’s strong evidence that microbes have an outsize impact on nutrient cycling, which plays a significant role in triggering harmful algal blooms. But experts currently don’t know which microbial species live in the Delta or exactly how they function.
That’s why Lui, who grew up in Sacramento and has deep familial roots in the area going back six generations, is set on uncovering how the Delta’s microscopic life impacts the ecological health of this area and the quality of California’s drinking water.
“It fascinates me that there are all these little things in the soil and the water that affect us,” Lui said. “We’re trying to understand what is going on out here and how everything is working together to trigger these harmful algal blooms. If we can figure out what the tipping points and levers of the system are, that can inform policy on how to manage our ecosystems.”
Read the full story and explore Lui’s journey conducting her field sampling on the research vessel Sentinel on the Berkeley Lab News Center.
