Scott R. Santos

PhD

Scott R. Santos.

Scott R. Santos

PhD

Scott R. Santos

PhD

Research Interests

Microbial symbioses, microbial community structure and function, evolutionary biology, biodiversity and conservation, marine and freshwater ecology, bioinformatics.

Education

  • BS with Distinction, Zoology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1996
  • PhD, Biological Sciences, University at Buffalo, 2002
  • Postdoctoral Researcher, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, University of Arizona, 2004

Office Hours

Wednesday,  11:00 AM - 1:00 PM or by appointment

Research Summary

Research in The Santos Lab utilizes a variety of molecular tools, computational approaches and field- and laboratory-based studies to examine the ecology, evolution, genetics, physiology, and symbiosis biology of a range of terrestrial and aquatic (both freshwater and marine) organisms, including host- and environmentally-associated microbiomes.

Microbiomes, representing the collective bacteria, archaea, protist, fungi and virus community living on or in individual organisms or in particular environments, are now recognized as having significant impacts on the development, health, and disease status of hosts or in ecosystem function. Since understanding phenomena like the mechanistic basis between individuals’ genotypes and phenotypes or nutrient cycling and energy flow through environments requires consideration at multiple levels of biological complexity, this should include interactions with, and the organization of, microbiomes.

Selected Publications

  • See complete list (2000 - current) on Google Scholar.
  • Carpenter, A., W.B. Bryant, S.R. Santos, R.J. Clem. (2021) Aedes aegypti mosquitoes infected with midgut-attenuated Sindbis virus exhibit reduced disseminated infection. Journal of Virology. 95:e00136-21.
  • Glass, J.R., S.R. Santos, J.S.K. Kauwe, B.D. Pickett, T.J. Near. (2021) Phylogeography of two marine predators, giant trevally (Caranx ignobilis) and bluefin trevally (Caranx melampygus), across the Indo-Pacific. Bulletin of Marine Science. 97:257-280. (Featured Article).
  • Santana-Pereira, A., M. Sandoval-Powers, S. Monsma, J. Zhou, S.R. Santos, D. Mead, M. Liles. (2020) Discovery of novel biosynthetic gene cluster diversity from a soil metagenomic library. Frontiers in Microbiology. 11:585398.
  • Hoffman, S.K., K.W. Seitz, J.C. Havird, D.A. Weese, S.R. Santos. (2020) Invited SICB Symposium Contribution: Phenotypic comparability from genotypic variability among physically structured microbial consortia. Integrative and Comparative Biology. 60:288-303.
  • Weaver, R.J., B.K. Gonzalez; S.R. Santos, J.C. Havird. (2020) Red coloration in an anchialine shrimp: molecular mechanisms, genetic variation, and candidate genes. The Biological Bulletin. 238:119-130. (Featured Cover Article).
  • Havird, J.C., E. Meyer, Y. Fujita, R.C. Vaught, R.P. Henry, S.R. Santos. (2019) Disparate responses to salinity across species and organizational levels in anchialine shrimps. Journal of Experimental Biology. 222:jeb211920.
  • LaJeunesse, T.C., J.E. Parkinson, P.W. Gabrielson, J.H. Jeong, J.D. Reimer, C.R. Voolstra, S.R. Santos. (2018) Systematic revision of the Symbiodiniaceae highlights the antiquity and diversity of coral endosymbionts. Current Biology. 28:2570-2580. Recommendation on F1000Prime.
  • Santos, S.R., M.A. Coffroth. (2018) Protist Citation Classics: Revisiting "Genetic Diversity of Symbiotic Dinoflagellates in the Genus Symbiodinium". Protist. 169:784-787.
  • Thornhill, D.J., E.J. Howells, D.C. Wham, T.D. Steury, S.R. Santos. (2017) Invited Reviews and Syntheses: Population genetics of reef coral endosymbionts (Symbiodinium, Dinophyceae). Molecular Ecology. 26:2640-2659.
  • Havird, J.C., S.R. Santos. (2016) Invited SICB Symposium Contribution: Developmental transcriptomics of the Hawaiian anchialine shrimp Halocaridina rubra Holthuis, 1963 (Crustacea: Atyidae). Integrative and Comparative Biology. 56:1170-1182. (Featured Cover Article).
  • Santos, S.R. (2016) Chapter 23: From one to many: the population genetics of cnidarian-Symbiodinium symbioses. Book chapter in Springer volume "The Cnidaria, past, present and future. The world of Medusa and her sisters" Eds. Goffredo, S. & Dubinsky, Z. pg. 359-373.
  • Havird, J.C., R.C. Vaught, D.A. Weese, S.R. Santos. (2015) Reproduction and development in Halocaridina rubra Holthuis, 1963 (Crustacea: Atyidae) clarifies larval ecology in the Hawaiian anchialine ecosystem. The Biological Bulletin. 229:134-142.
  • Vaught, R.C., J.C. Havird, S.R. Santos. (2014) Genetic lineage and environmental conditions as drivers of chromatosome variation in the anchialine shrimp Halocaridina rubra Holthuis 1963 (Atyidae:Decapoda). Journal of Crustacean Biology. 34:647-657.
  • Havird, J.C., S.R. Santos, R.P. Henry. (2014) Osmoregulation in the Hawaiian anchialine shrimp Halocaridina rubra (Crustacea: Atyidae): expression of ion transporters, mitochondria-rich cell proliferation, and hemolymph osmolality during salinity transfers. Journal of Experimental Biology. 217:2309-2320.
  • Thornhill, D.J., Y. Xiang, D.T. Pettay, M. Zhong, S.R. Santos. (2013) Population genetic data of a model symbiotic cnidarian system reveal remarkable symbiotic specificity and vectored introductions across ocean basins. Molecular Ecology 22:4499-4515. (Featured Perspectives Article).
  • Weese, D.A., Y. Fujita, S.R. Santos. (2013) Multiple colonizations lead to cryptic biodiversity in an island ecosystem: comparative phylogeography of anchialine shrimp species in the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan. The Biological Bulletin 225:24-41. (Featured Cover Article) Editor's Pick Sept. 2013.
  • Santos, S.R., D.A. Weese. (2011) Invited Contribution: Rocks and Clocks: Linking geologic history and rates of genetic differentiation in anchialine organisms. Hydrobiologia. 677:54-63.