Charles R. Fisher

My greatest personal involvement is currently in our studies of the physiology and ecology of the symbiont-containing fauna, in situ characterizations of their growth rates and microhabitats, and investigations of nutritional interactions among the many animals which inhabit or visit the vents and seeps we study. I oversee the projects of the graduate and undergraduate students working in my lab and get real pleasure from the students who take our research "one step further" and use our weekly meetings to explain to me what they are now thinking and working on. In addition to the excitement of generating new ideas and proving or disproving old ones, I enjoy conceiving and producing new tools and techniques for deep-sea research and then diving to the ocean floor to use them to increase our understanding of the chemoautotrophic communities of the deep-sea.

Education

• B.S. Michigan State University, 1976
• M. A., University of California, Santa Barbara, 1981
• Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara, 1985

Research Interests

My research interests encompass the physiology and ecology of symbiotic autotrophic marine microbes and their invertebrate hosts. These types of symbiotic associations are extremely important in the world's oceans, where symbiont dependent species are often the primary ecosystem-structuring organisms in both shallow tropical environments, such as coral reefs, and in the deep sea where biomass may be limiting. The importance of the symbioses between algae and tropical invertebrates (such as corals, clams, and anemones) has long been recognized, and has been studied by biologists for over 100 years. However, it wasn't until after the discovery of the deep-sea hydrothermal vents in 1977 that associations between chemoautotrophic bacteria and marine invertebrates were known (or for the most part even imagined). In these symbiotic associations, the bacterial symbionts oxidize reduced sulfur compounds as an energy source, fix carbon dioxide into organic carbon compounds (like green plants), and supply the bulk nutritional needs of their hosts. Often the hosts do not even have a mouth, gut, or anus.

Although chemoautotrophic symbiosis were first discovered in the animals found around the rather exotic environments of deep-sea hydrothermal vents, we now realize that this type of association is wide-spread in the marine environment. In the last ten years chemoautotrophic symbionts have been found in hundreds of different animals inhabiting such diverse environments as mudflats, mangrove swamps, and sewage outflows, as well as in a variety of deep-sea cold-seep and hydrothermal vent sites.

Because many of the associations I study are found in the deep-sea, much of my research begins with oceanographic expeditions conducted in conjunction with research submarines such as the deep submergence vehicles Alvin and Johnson Sea Link. My laboratory is currently involved in research projects at hydrothermal vents sites on the East Pacific Rise and hydrocarbon-seep sites in the Gulf of Mexico. Ecological studies designed to elucidate the relations between the animals, distribution and venting hydrothermal fluid, or reduced chemicals in interstitial waters, are conducted using submersibles. Physiological investigations (such as determination of condition, growth rate, or symbiont complement) of the animals and their symbionts are conducted in conjunction with the ecological studies in order to provide further insight into the physiological ecology of these symbiotic associations.

Another major thrust of my research has been to investigate interactions between the symbiont and host, the role of the host in providing the needs of their symbionts, and the input of the symbionts into the host's nutrition. These studies are both mechanistic and quantitative in nature, and use approaches ranging from molecular to organismal. Many chemoautotrophic symbionts require hydrogen sulfide as an energy source. Hydrogen sulfide is an extremely toxic substance at concentrations as low as a few micromolar, and the animals that harbor these symbionts often live in environments where sulfide levels reach several hundred micromolar. Obviously, they must be specially adapted to the chemoautotrophic lifestyle. Not only must they tolerate this toxic chemical, but they must also transport it to their symbionts, which are housed inside cells within the host's tissues. The specific adaptations differ in different animal groups (as do the specific requirements of the symbionts of different animal groups), and my research has been directed at understanding a variety of the "strategies" employed in chemoautotrophic symbioses.

In addition to studies that can be conducted only while at sea, my laboratory works extensively with a few model species that are collected from relatively shallow environments (from 1 to 1000 meters) and can be maintained alive in the laboratory without the use of specialized pressure gear. These species (one of which contains methanotrophic symbionts) are used in detailed investigations of interactions between the hosts and symbionts.

The discovery and subsequent study of chemoautotrophic symbioses and communities has caught the interest of both the general public and the scientific community, and new associations, and communities are constantly being discovered and reported. The unique mode of life represented by these animals has provided new insights into a variety of basic biological, geochemical, and oceanographic phenomena. The recent realization of the pandemic distribution of these symbioses means that we can no longer view them as biological oddities found only in isolated, remote sites, but must realize their central role to many communities in all of the world's oceans.

Current Grants:

• Principal Investigator NSF OCE-0002729: Cooperative Research: Studies on the physiological ecology of hydrothermal vent chemoautotrophic symbioses. This three-year grant began September 1, 2000 and includes 10 dive Alvin cruises to the EPR in 2001 and 2002. This grant was extended tp fall 2004 with 3 Alvin dives in 2003.

• Co-Principal Investigator NOAA NURP (NURC-Alaska): Physiological and molecular ecology of a north-east Pacific hydrothermal vent ecosystem engineer. This three-year grant began in may 2001 and includes submersible or ROV support in 2001, 2002 and 2003 for work on the Juan de Fuca ridge.

• Principal Investigator NSF OCE 0117050: A coupled modeling and empirical approach to the study of the life history and physiological ecology of cold seep vestimentiferans and communities. This four-year grant began on August 15, 2001 and supports the mother ship for 20 dive JSL cruises in 2002, 2003, and 2004.

• Principal Investigator NSF OCE: The RIDGE 2000 office, 2001 - 2004. This grant began October 15, 2001 and supports the Ridge 2000 office at PSU until 2004.

• Principal Investigator NOAA NURP (NURC-UNCW): Structure of cold seep communities in the Gulf of Mexico: Temporal change and biogeographic diversity. This two-year grant began April 15, 2002 and helps support the JSL and Alvin costs for cruises in the Gulf of Mexico in 2003.

• Principal Investigator NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration: A collaborative proposal for the exploration and discovery of chemosynthetic ecosystems in the deep Gulf of Mexico. This two-year grant provides submersible support (JSL costs) for 5 cruises in 2002 and 2003 in the Gulf of Mexico.

• Principal Investigator NSF OCE 003403953: Collaborative Research: Site evaluations and background studies of interactions among fluid chemistry, physiology, and community ecology for Ridge 2000 Lau Basin Integrated Studies. This two-and-a-half-year grant began in August 2003 and supports two Jason ROV cruises.

• Co-Principal Investigator NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration: Enhanced exploration of the lower slope extreme environments in the Gulf of Mexico. This one-year grant started in June 2003 and helps support Alvin dives in the Gulf of Mexico.

• Co-Principal Investigator Mineral Management Service (MMS). Characterization of northern Gulf of Mexico deepwater hard bottom communities with emphasis on Lophelia coral. This ia a three grant starting 10/2003.

 

Selected Publications

1. Fisher, C. R., W. K. Fitt, and R. K. Trench., 1985. Photosynthesis and respiration in Tridacna gigas as a function of irradiance and size. Biol. Bull. 169: 230-245.
2. Childress, J. J., C. R. Fisher, J. M. Brooks, M. C. Kennicutt II, R. Bidigare, and A. E. Anderson., 1986. A methanotrophic marine molluscan symbiosis: Mussels fueled by gas. Science 233: 1306-1308.
3. Fisher, C. R. and J. J. Childress., 1986. Translocation of fixed carbon from the symbiotic bacteria to host tissues in the gutless bivalve, Solemya reidi. Mar. Biol. 93: 59-68.
4. Brooks, J. M., M. C. Kennicutt, C. R. Fisher, S. K. Mako, K. Cole, J. J. Childress, R. R. Bidigare and R. Vetter., 1987. Deep-Sea hydrocarbon seep communities; Evidence of energy and nutritional carbon sources. Science 238: 1138-1142.
5. Fisher, C. R., J. J. Childress, R. S. Oremland and R. R. Bidigare., 1987. The importance of methane and thiosulfate in the metabolism of the symbionts of two deep-sea mussels. Mar. Biol. 96:59-71.
6. Cary, S. C., C. R. Fisher, and H. Felbeck., 1988. Mussel growth supported by methane as sole carbon and energy source. Science 240: 78-80.
7. Fisher, C. R., J. J. Childress, A. J. Arp, J. M. Brooks, D. Distil, J. A. Favuzzi, H. Felbeck, R. Hessler, K.S. Johnson, M.C. Kennicutt II, S. A. Macko, A. Newton, M. A. Powell, G. N. Somero, and T. Soto., 1988. Microhabitat variation in the hydrothermal-vent mussel, Bathymodiolus thermophilus at the Rose Garden vent on the Galapagos Rift. Deep-Sea Res. 35: 1769-1792.
8. Fisher, C. R., J. J. Childress, A. J. Arp, J. M. Brooks, D. Distil, J. A. Dugan, H. Felbeck, L. Fritz, R. Hessler, K.S. Johnson, M.C. Kennicutt II, R. Lutz, S. A. Macko, A. Newton, M. A. Powell, G. N. Somero, and T. Soto., 1988. Variation in the hydrothermal-vent clam, Calyptogena magnifica at the Rose Garden vent on the Galapagos spreading center. Deep-Sea Res. 35: 1745-1758.
9. Fisher, C. R., J. J. Childress, A. J. Arp, J. M. Brooks, D. Distil, J. A. Favuzzi, S. A. Macko, A. Newton, M. A. Powell, G. N. Somero, and T. Soto., 1988. Physiology, morphology, and composition of Riftia pachyptila at Rose Garden in 1985. Deep-Sea Res. 35: 1811-1832.
10. Fisher, C. R., J. J. Childress and N. K. Sanders., 1988. The role of vestimentiferan hemoglobin in providing an environment suitable for chemoautotrophic sulfide oxidizing endosymbionts. Symbiosis 5: 229-246.
11. Fisher, C.R., J.J. Childress and E. Minnich., 1989. Autotrophic carbon assimilation by the chemoautotrophic symbionts of Riftia pachyptila. Bio. Bull. 177: 372-385.
12. Fisher, C. R., M. C. Kennicutt II, and J. M. Brooks., 1990. Stable carbon isotopic evidence for carbon limitation in hydrothermal vent vestimentiferans. Science 247: 1094-1096.
13. Fisher, C. R., 1990. Chemoautotrophic and methanotrophic symbioses in marine invertebrates. Reviews in Aquatic Science 2: 399-436.
14. Childress, J. J. and C. R. Fisher. 1992. The biology of hydrothermal vent animals: Physiology, biochemistry and autotrophic symbioses. Oceanogr. Mar. Biol. Annu. Rev. 30: 337-441.
15. Fisher, C. R. and J. J. Childress. 1992. Organic carbon transfer from methanotrophic symbionts to the host hydrocarbon-seep mussel. Symbiosis 12: 221-235.
16. Fisher, C. R. 1993. Oxidation of methane by deep sea mytilids in the Gulf of Mexico. In: Biogeochemistry of Global Change: Radiatively Active Trace Gases. R. S. Oremland ed., Chapman and Hall Inc., New York. 606-618.
17. Fisher, C. R., J. M. Brooks, J. Vodenichar, J. Zande, J. J. Childress, and R. A. Burke Jr. 1993. The co-occurrence of methanotrophic and chemoautotrophic sulfur-oxidizing bacterial symbionts in a deep-sea mussel. Mar. Ecol. 14: 277-289.
18. Fisher, C. R., J. J. Childress, S. A. Macko, and J. M. Brooks., 1994. Nutritional interactions at Galapagos hydrothermal vents: Inferences from stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 103: 45-55.
19. Scott, K. M., C. R. Fisher, J. S. Vodenichar, E. Nix and E. Minnich., 1994. Effects of inorganic carbon concentrations, pH, and temperature on autotrophic carbon fixation by the chemoautotrophic symbionts of Riftia pachyptila. Phys. Zool. 67: 617-638.
20. Scott, K. M., and C. R. Fisher., 1995. Physiological ecology of sulfide metabolism in hydrothermal vent and cold seep vesicomyid clams and vestimentiferan tube worms. Am. Zool. 35: 102-111.
21. Nelson, D. C., and C. R. Fisher., 1995. Chemoautotrophic and methanotrophic endosymbiotic bacteria at vents and seeps. In; Microbiology of Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent Habitats. D. M. Karl ed., CRC Press, Boca Raton. p. 125-167.
22. Nix, E., C. R. Fisher, K. M. Scott, and J. Vodenichar., 1995. Physiological ecology of a mussel with methanotrophic symbionts at three hydrocarbon seep sites in the Gulf of Mexico. Mar. Biol. 122: 605-617.
23. Fisher, C. R. 1995. Toward an appreciation of hydrothermal-vent animals: their environment, physiological ecology, and tissue stable isotope values. In; Seafloor Hydrothermal Systems: Physical, Chemical, Biological, and Geochemical Interactions, S. E. Humphris, R. A. Zierenberg, L. S. Mullineaux, and R. E. Thomson eds. Geophysical Monographs Series 91: 297-316.
24. Vacelet, J., N. Boury-Esnault, A. Fiala-Medioni, and C. R. Fisher. 1995. A methanotrophic carnivorous sponge. Nature 377: 296.
25. Fisher, C. R. 1996. Ecophysiology of primary production at deep-sea vents and seeps. In: Deep-sea and extreme shallow-water habitats: affinities and adaptations. R. Uiblein, J. Ott, and M. Stachowtish (eds.) Biosystematics and Ecology Series 11: 311-334.
26. MacDonald, I. R. and C. R. Fisher. 1996. Life without light. Nat. Geo . Oct:313-323.
27. Vacelet, J., A. Fiala-Médioni, C. R. Fisher, and N. Boury-Esnault. 1996. Symbiosis between methane-oxidizing bacteria and a deep-sea carnivorous cladorhizid sponge. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 145: 77-85
28. Fisher, C. R., I. Urcuyo, M. A. Simpkins, and E. Nix. 1997. Life in the slow lane: growth and longevity of cold-seep vestimentiferans. Mar. Ecol. 18: 83-94.
29. Streams, M. and C. R. Fisher, 1997. Incorporation of methane by methanotrophic symbionts and symbiont digestion by their host mussel. Mar. Biol. 129: 465-476.
30. Martineu, P., S. K. Juniper, C. R. Fisher, and G. J. Massoth, 1997. Sulfide-binding in the body fluids of hydrothermal vent alvinellid polychaetes. Phys. Zool. 70: 578-588.
31. Smith, E., Williams, F. M., and C. R. Fisher, 1997. Effects of intrapopulation variability on parameter estimates for the von Bertalanffy growth equation. Can. J. of Fish. Aqua. Sci. 54: 2025-2032.
32. Fisher, C. R. 1998. Temperature and sulfide tolerance of hydrothermal vent fauna. Cah. Biol. Mar. 39: 283-286.
33. Scott, K. M., M. Bright, and C. R.Fisher. 1998. The burden of independence: Inorganic carbon utilization strategies of the sulfur chemoautotrophic hydrothermal vent isolate Thiomicrospira crunogena and the symbionts of hydrothermal vent and cold seep vestimentiferans. Cah. Biol. Mar. 39: 379-382.
34. Urcuyo, I.A., G. Massoth, I.R. MacDonald and C.R. Fisher. 1998. In situ growth of the vestimentifera Ridgeia piscesae living in highly diffuse flow environments in the main Endeavour Segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Cah. Biol. Mar. 39: 267-270.
35. Julian, D. F. Gaill, E. Wood, A. J. Arp, and C. R. Fisher. 1999. Roots as a site of hydrogen sulfide uptake in the hydrocarbon seep vestimentiferan Lamellibrachia sp. J. Exp. Biol. 202: 2245-2257.
36. Scott, K. M., M. Bright, S. A. Macko, and C. R. Fisher. 1999. Carbon dioxide use by chemoautotrophic endosymbionts of hydrothermal vent vestimentiferans: affinities for carbon dioxide, absence of carboxysomes, and d¹³C values. Mar. Biol. 135: 25-34.
37. Smith, E. B., K. M. Scott, E. R. Nix, C. Korte, and C. R. Fisher. 2000. Growth and condition of seep mussels (Bathymodiolus childressi) at a Gulf of Mexico Brine Pool. Ecology. 81; 2392-2403.
38. Pruski, A. M., A. Fiala-Médioni, C. R. Fisher, and J. C. Colomines. 2000. Free amino compound composition of symbiotic invertebrates from the Gulf of Mexico hydrocarbon seeps. Mar. Biol . 136: 411-420.
39. Bright, M., H. Keckeis, C. R. Fisher. 2000. An autoradiographic examination of carbon fixation, transfer and utilization in the Riftia pachyptila symbiosis. Mar. Biol .136: 621-632.
40. Fisher, C. R., I. R. MacDonald, R. Sassen, C. M. Young, S. Macko, S. Hourdez, R. Carney, S. Joy, and E. McMullin. 2000. Methane ice worms: Hesiocaeca methanicola colonizing fossil fuel reserves. Naturwissenschaften 87 (4): 184-187.
41. Bergquist, D. C., F. M. Williams, and C. R. Fisher. 2000. Longevity record for deep-sea invertebrate. Nature 403: 499-500.
42. Mullineaux, L. S., C. R. Fisher, C. H. Peterson, and S. Schaeffer. 2000. Tubeworm succession at hydrothermal vents: possible use of biogenic cues to reduce habitat selection error. Oecologica. 123: 275-284.
43. Nelson, K. and C. R. Fisher. 2000. Speciation of the bacterial symbionts of deep-sea vestimentiferan tube worms. Symbiosis 28: 1-15.
44. Johnson, H. P., M. Hutnak, R. P. Dziak, C. G. Fox, I. Urcuyo, J. P. Cowen, J. Nabelek, and C. R. Fisher. 2000. Earthquake-induced changes in a hydrothermal system at the Endeavour Segment: Juan de Fuca Ridge. Nature 407: 174-177.
45. McMullin, E., D. C. Bergquist, and C. R. Fisher. 2000. Metazoans in extreme environments: adaptations of hydrothermal vent and hydrocarbon seep fauna. Grav. Space Biol. Bull. 13: 13-24.
46. Hourdez, S., J. Lamontagne, P. Peterson, R. E. Weber, and C. R. Fisher. 2000. Hemoglobin from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent copepod. Biol. Bull. 199: 95-99.
47. Chevaldonné, P., C. R. Fisher, J. J. Childress, D. Desbruyères, D. Jollivet, F. Zal, and A. Toulmond. 2000. Thermotolerance and the "Pompeii worms". Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 208: 293-295.
48. Hourdez, S., Frederick, L. A., Schernecke, A., and C. R. Fisher. 2001. Functional respiratory anatomy of a deep sea orbiniid polychaete from the Brine Pool NR-1 in the Gulf of Mexico. Invert. Biol. 120: 29-40.
49. Johnson, H. P., R. P. Dziak, C. R. Fisher, C. G. Fox, and M. J. Pruis. 2001. EarthquakesÕ impact on hydrothermal systems may be far-reaching. EOS. 82: 233-236.
50. Freytag, J. K., P. Girguis, D. C. Bergquist, J. P. Andras, J. J. Childress, and C. R. Fisher. 2001. Sulfide acquisition by roots of seep tubeworms sustains net chemoautotrophy. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 98: 13408-13413.
51. Gardiner, S. L., E. McMullin, and C. R. Fisher. 2001. Seepiophila jonesi, a new genus and species of vestimentiferan tube worm (Annelida: Pogonophora) from hydrocarbon seep communities in the Gulf of Mexico. Proc. Bio. Soc. Wash. 114; 694-707.
52. MacAvoy, S. E., R. S. Carney, C. R. Fisher and S. A. Macko. 2002. Use of chemosynthetic biomass by large, mobile, benthic predators in the Gulf of Mexico. Mar. Ecol. Prog.Ser. 225: 65-78.
53. Micheli, F., C. H. Peterson, L. S. Mullineaux, C. R. Fisher, S. W. Mills, G. Sancho, G. A. Johnson, and H. S. Lenihan. 2002. Species interactions at deep-sea hydrothermal vents: predation structures communities in an extreme environment. In Press Ecol. Mono.; May, 2002.
54. Bergquist, D. C., I. A. Urcuyo, and C. R. Fisher. Establishment and persistence of seep vestimentiferan aggregations from the upper Louisiana slope of the Gulf of Mexico. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser 241: 89-98.
55. Hourdez, S., R. E. Weber, B. N. Green, J. M. Kenney, and C. R. Fisher. 2002. Respiratory adaptations in a deep-sea Orbiniid polychaete from Gulf of Mexico Brine Pool NR-1: Metabolic rates and hemoglobin structure-function. J. Exp. Biol. 205: 1669-1681.
56. Govenar, B., D. C. Bergquist, I. A. Urcuyo, J. T. Eckner and C. R. Fisher. 2002. Epifaunal assemblages from a Juan de Fuca Ridge sulfide edifice: Structurally different and functionally similar. Cah. Biol. Mar. 43: 247-252.
57. Carney, S. L., J. R. Peoples, C. R. Fisher, and S. W. Schaeffer. 2002. AFLP analyses of genomic DNA reveal no differentiation between two phenotypes of the vestimentiferan tubeworm, Ridgeia piscesae. Cah. Biol. Mar. 43: 363-366.
58. McMullin, E.R., S. Hourdez, S. W. Schaeffer, and C. R. Fisher. 2003. Phylogenetics and biogeography of deep sea vestimentiferan tubeworms and their bacterial symbionts. Symbiosis. 34: 1-41.
59. Bergquist, D.C., J. Andras T. McNelis, S. Howlett, M.J. van Horn and C.R. Fisher Succession in upper Louisiana slope cold seep vestimentiferan aggregations: the importance of spatial variability. In Press, Mar. Ecol.
60. Bergquist, D. C., T. Ward, E. E. Cordes, T. McNelis, R. Kosoff, S. Hourdez, R. Carney, and C. R. Fisher. 2003. Community structure of vestimentiferan-generated habitat islands from upper Louisiana slope cold seeps. J. Exp. Mar. Bio. Ecol. 289: 197-222.
61. Cordes, E. E., D. C. Bergquist, K. Shea, and C. R. Fisher. 2003. High hydrogen sulfide demand of long-lived vestimentiferan tube worm aggregations modifies the chemical environment at deep-sea hydrocarbon seeps. Ecology Letters 6: 212-219.
62. Urcuyo, I. A., G. Massoth, D. Julian, and C. R. Fisher. Habitat, growth and physiological ecology of a basaltic community of Ridgeia piscesae. In Press. Deep Sea Res.
63. Childress, J. J., C. R. Fisher, H. Felbeck, and P. Girguis. On the edge of a deep biosphere: Real animals in extreme environments. In Press Geophys. Monographs.
64. Bergquist, D.C., C. Fleckenstein, E. Smith, C.R. Fisher. Physiological plasticity in the mussel Bathymodiolus childressi inhabiting patchy cold seep environments. Accepted pending revision. Limn. Ocean.
65. Urcuyo, I. A., D. C. Bergquist, R. MacDonald, M. VanHorn, and C. R. Fisher. The impact of environment on the growth and condition of the tubeworm Ridgeia piscesae in diffuse vent flow habitats of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Accepted 8/03. Mar. Eco. Prog. Ser.

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