Emil Ruff

Assistant Scientist

Emil Ruff
Contact Information
Education
Ph.D., Microbial Ecology, University of Bremen/ Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, 2013
Diplom (MSc equiv.), Technical Biology, University of Stuttgart, 2010
MBL Affiliation
Ecosystems Center
Research Area
Ecology
Ecosystems
Genomics
Microbiomes
Lab Website

Emil Ruff is a microbial ecologist at the Ecosystems Center and Bay Paul Center. His research focuses on microbial interactions and population dynamics as drivers of community function. To disentangle microbial food webs, Emil mainly studies ecosystems with reduced complexity, such as natural or laboratory enrichment cultures, microbial blooms or extreme habitats. His work has improved our understanding of the sources and sinks of the greenhouse gas methane in seafloor ecosystems and groundwater aquifers. Currently, he is investigating the effect of bioirrigation on the removal of methane from wetland sediments. He has just received a 2021 Simons Foundation Early Career Investigator in Marine Microbial Ecology and Evolution Award to study mutualistic interactions between anoxygenic phototrophs and sulfur-reducing bacteria. His lab is also involved in projects studying i) the effect of pollutants on the microbiome of sea anemones, ii) the interactions between sulfur-cycling bacteria and cord grass roots in salt marshes, iii) plastics degradation in the deep sea, and iv) microbial degradation of macromolecules in hydrothermal sediments.

Bloom of anoxygenic phototrophs
Bloom of anoxygenic phototrophs - Trunk River lagoon is the only ecosystem known to date in which anoxygenic phototrophic Chlorobiales thrive at the water surface in the presence of substantial dissolved oxygen concentrations. The photo shows Molly Moynihan inmidst the bloom during a sampling campaign. The yellow-green color of the microbes is due to the presence of sulfur and bacteriochlorophylls, pigments that the cells use to harvest light (Photo: Katie Crowley).
News and Research Highlights
Selected Publications

P茅rez Castro S,聽Borton MA,听Regan K,听Hrabe de Angelis I, Wrighton KC, Teske AP, Strous M,听Ruff SE.*聽(2021)听鈥Degradation of biological macromolecules supports uncultured microbial populations in Guaymas Basin hydrothermal sediments.鈥聽The ISME Journal聽(advanced online).听

SouzaFFC, Mathai PP, Pauliquevis T,,听Balsanelli E,听Pedrosa FO, Souza EM, Baura VA, Monteiro RA, Cruz LM, Souza RAF, Andreae MO, Barbosa CGG; Hrabe de Angelis I, S谩nchez-Parra B, P缨hlker C, Weber B,听Ruff SE, Reis RA, Godoi RHM, Sadowsky MJ, Huergo LF.聽(2021) 鈥淚nfluence of Seasonality on the Aerosol Microbiome of the Amazon Rainforest.鈥澛Science of the Total Environment, 760, 144092.聽

Chakraborty, A.;聽Ruff, S. E.; Dong, X.; Ellefson,听E. D.; Li, C.; Brooks, J. M.; Bernard,听B. B.; Hubert,听C. J. R. (2020) 鈥淗ydrocarbon seepage in the deep seabed links subsurface and seafloor biospheres.鈥溌Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 117, 11029-11037.聽

Bhatnagar, S.; Cowley, E. S.; Kopf, S. H.; P茅rez Castro, S.;聽KearneyS.; Dawson, S. C.; Hanselmann, K.;聽Ruff*, S. E.聽(2020) 鈥濵icrobial community dynamics and coexistence in a sulfide-driven phototrophic bloom.鈥溌Environmental Microbiome, 15:3.聽

Ruff*, S. E.; Felden, J.; Gruber-Vodicka, H. R.; Marcon, Y.; Knittel, K.; Ramette, A.; Boetius, A. (2019).听鈥In situ development of a methanotrophic microbiome in deep-sea sediments.鈥澛The ISME Journal,听13, 197-213.聽