Instrument: Environmental Sample Processor

The MBARI Environmental Sample Processor—the ESP—provides on-site (in situ) collection and analysis of water samples from the subsurface ocean. The instrument is an electromechanical/fluidic system designed to collect discrete water samples, concentrate microorganisms or particles, and automate application of molecular probes and qPCR which identify microorganisms and their gene products. The ESP also archives samples so that further analyses may be done after the instrument is recovered.

Environmental Sample Processor

See references below for methodology used on the ESP:
Greenfield, D.I., R. Marin III, S. Jensen, E. Massion, B. Roman, J. Feldman, C. Scholin (2006). Application of the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) methodology for quantifying Pseudo-nitzschia australis using ribosomal RNA-targeted probes in sandwich and fluorescent in situ hybridization.  Limnology and Oceanography: Methods 4: 426-435.

Greenfield, D., R. Marin III, G.J. Doucette, C. Mikulski, S. Jensen, B. Roman, N. Alvarado, and C.A. Scholin (2008).  Field applications of the second-generation Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) for remote detection of harmful algae: 2006-2007.  Limnology and Oceanography: Methods 6: 667-679.

Marin III, R., and C. Scholin (2010). Sandwich Hybridization.  In: Microscopic and molecular methods for quantitative phytoplankton analysis (Chapter 12), edited by B. Karlson, C. Cusack, and E. Bresnan, E.. IOC Manuals and Guides, no. 55. (IOC/2010/MG/55)  Paris, UNESCO. 110 pp.

Ottesen, E.A., R. Marin III, C.M. Preston, C.R. Young, J.P. Ryan, C.A. Scholin, and E.F. DeLong (2011). Metatranscriptomic analysis of autonomously collected and preserved marine bacterioplankton. The ISME Journal, 5: 1881-1895, doi: 10.1038/ismej.2011.70.

Ottesen, E.A., C.R. Young, J.M. Eppley, J.P. Ryan, F.P. Chavez, C.A. Scholin, and E.F. DeLong (2013). Pattern and synchrony of gene expression among sympatric marine microbial populations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110: E488-E497, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1222099110.

Ottesen, E.A., C.M. Young, S.M. Gifford, J.M. Eppley, R. Marin III, S.C. Schuster, C.A. Scholin, and E.F. DeLong (2014). Multispecies diel transcriptional oscillations in open ocean heterotrophic bacterial assemblages. Science, 345: 207-212, 10.1126/science.1252476.

Preston, C.M., A. Harris, J.P. Ryan, B. Roman, R. Marin III, S. Jensen, C. Everlove, J. Birch, J.M. Dzenitis, D. Pargett, M. Adachi, K. Turk, J.P. Zehr, and C.A. Scholin (2011). Underwater application of quantitative PCR on an ocean mooring. PLoS ONE, 6:e22522, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0022522.

Robidart, J.C., C.M. Preston, R.W. Paerl, K.A. Turk, A.C. Mosier, C.A. Francis, C.A. Scholin, and J.P. Zehr (2011). Seasonal Synechococcus and Thaumarchaeal population dynamics examined with high resolution with remote in situ instrumentation. The ISME Journal, 6: 513-523, doi: 10.1038/ismej.2011.127.

Robidart, J., M.J. Church, J.P. Ryan, F. Ascani, S.T. Wilson, D. Bombar, R. Marin III, K.J. Richards, D.M. Karl, C.A. Scholin, and J.P Zehr (2014). Ecogenomic sensor reveals controls on N2-fixing microorganisms in the North Pacific Ocean. The ISME Journal, 8: 1175-1185, 10.1038/ismej.2013.244.

Saito, M.A., V.V. Bulygin, D.M. Moran, C. Taylor, and C. Scholin (2011). Examination of microbial proteome preservation techniques applicable to autonomous environmental sample collection. Frontiers in Aquatic Microbiology, 2: doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2011.00215.

Scholin, C.. (2010).  What are “ecogenomic sensors?” A review and thoughts for the future. Ocean Science 6: 51-60.

Ussler III, W., C.M. Preston, P. Tavormina, D. Pargett, S. Jensen, B. Roman, R. Marin III, S.R. Shah, P.R. Girguis, J.M. Birch, V.J. Orphan, and C. Scholin (2013). Autonomous application of quantitative PCR in the deep sea: In situ surveys of aerobic methanotrophs using the deep-sea Environmental Sample Processor. Environmental Science and Technology, 47: 9339–9346, doi: 10.1021/es4023199.

Varaljay, V.A, J. Robidart, C.M. Preston, S.M. Gifford, B. Durham, A.S. Burns, J.P. Ryan, R. Marin III, R.P. Kiene, J.P Zehr, C.A. Scholin, M. Moran. 2015. Single-taxon field measurements of bacterial gene regulation controlling DMSP fate. ISME Journal, doi:10.1038/ismej.2015.23|