Raquel Ibáñez Peral
BSc (Hons)

PhD Student

 

Contact Details: Phone: + 61 2 9850 6285 Fax: + 61 2 9850 8248 Email: ribanez@els.mq.edu.au

 

I am originally from Valladolid ( Spain). In 2001 I finished my honours degree in Biology with a specialisation in Biotechnology and Microbiology at the University of Navarra ( Spain). I spent the last semester of my degree studying in the Department of Science at the University of Tromso ( Norway) thanks to a European mobility scholarship.

In my opinion astrobiology is one of the most fascinating areas of science. It focuses on the study of the origin and evolution of life on Earth in relation to the possibility of life existing elsewhere in the universe. One method to study the origin of life is by seeking out regions of contemporary Earth that are similar to what is inferred to have existed when life first began. These regions are usually in what we currently consider extreme environments. For microbiologists it is always amazing to find out what kind of microorganisms are thriving in such environments. The link between microbiology and astrobiology is answering questions such as what types of microbes are there? And how and why can they thrive and survive in such hostile atmospheres?

Our main interest is the investigation into extremophilic microorganisms within sulphur-rich hydrothermal systems. For this reason, we collected water and soil samples from New Zealand’s most active volcano ( White Island) which represents an ideal location for understanding the biotransformations and the physiological roles that microorganisms perform in the biosphere.

White Island, 2005

I am using a diverse range of cultivation and isolation methods to enrich representative bacterial populations from White Island. The “unculturable” microorganisms are being identified using molecular methods (16S rDNA) and the cultivable ones by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) . From this information, a novel technique is being developed which will allow multiplexed high-throughput analysis for rapid detection and quantification of microorganisms from the environment. Quantum dots (QDs) are inorganic semiconductor nanoparticles made up of crystals about 10-20 nm in diameter. QDs conjugated with specific oligonucleotide probes will label the DNA of extremophiles thriving in the environment, thus facilitate their detection. Development of the technique will provide a rapid and efficient tool not only for the identification of the microbial populations but also it will assist in the isolation of the desirable microorganims by flow cytometry when coupled with suitable antibodies for family-specific cell surface proteins.

Sampling with Dr. Roberto Anitori, 2005

 

Supervisors:

• Main Supervisor: Prof. Peter L. Bergquist. Biotechnology Research Institute, Macquarie University
• Associate Supervisor: Prof. Malcolm R. Walter. Australian Centre for Astrobiology, Macquarie University
• Adjunct Supervisor: Dr. Belinda Ferrari. Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, Macquarie University

Education:

• Granted with a Federation of European Microbiological Society young scientist meeting grant, 2005.
• Granted with an iMURS scholarship, Macquarie University, August 2003. Thesis title: "Real Time Analysis of Biodiversity in Extreme Environments".
• Honours degree in Biology, Universidad de Navarra, Spain, 2001.
• International student, Department of Science, University of Tromso, Norway, 2001.
• Work experience, Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of Baja California, Mexico, 2000. August 2000 : Intensive marine biogeography course at the University of Baja California.

Articles, conferences and phd activities:

• Ferrari, B., Stoner, K., Ibanez-Peral, R., Bergquist, P. (2005). Applying Fluorescence Technologies to Environmental Waste Water Samples. ASM 2005, Canberra, Australia.
• Butterworth, P., Ibanez-Peral, R., Walter, M., Bergquist, P., Morgan, Hugh., Anitori, R. (2005). Sulfur-metabolizing Thermophiles in the White Island Hydrothermal Systems. Poster presentation. Thermophiles 05, Sep 18 – 22, Gold Coast, Australia.
• Ibanez-Peral, R., Ferrari, B., Gibbs, M., Walter, M., Bergquist, P. (2005). Quantum dots, Smart Nanocrystals in the Study of Thermophile Microbial Diversity. Poster presentation. Thermophiles 05, Sep 18 – 22, Gold Coast, Australia.
• Ferrari, B., Ibanez, R., Gengos, M., Bergquist P.L. (2005). Novel Pathogen Detection Strategies for the Environment. Poster presentation. Analysis of Microbial Cell at the Single Cell Level Conference , May 26-29, Semmering, Austria
• Ibanez, R., Ferrari, B., and Bergquist, P.L. (2005). Appyling Quantum dots to Environmental Microbiology. Poster presentation. Analysis of Microbial Cell at the Single Cell Level Conference, May 26-29, Semmering, Austria
• Febrary 2005: Fieldtrip to White Island, New Zealand
• Ibanez, R. ,Bergquist, P.L., Walter, M.R., Ferrari, B. (2004) Real Time Analysis of Biodiversity in Extreme Environments. Australian Society for Microbiology, Annual Scientific Conference, Sept 26 – Oct 1, Sydney, Australia.
• Attended to the Nanotech 2004 Conference, Boston, USA
• Finalist in the Becton Dickenson Student Award competition, University of New South Wales, 2004
• Attended to the Astrobiology Symposium in Madrid ( Spain), December 2001.
• Attended to the Artic environment Symposium in Oulu ( Finland), May 2001.
• Attended to the 1 st National Congress of Biotechnology of Baja California ( Mexico), September 2000.

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Last Updated: Jan 30 2006