Education
B.S. Zoology and Wildlife (concentration in Marine Biology), Auburn University, Auburn,
AL.
M.S. Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL,
Ph.D. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson,
AZ
Post-doctoral Fellow, the Institute for Genome Sciences, University
of Maryland, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
Areas of Expertise
Host-microbe symbioses, microbiome diversity and function,
microbial ecology, bacterial genomics, science communication, science
writing
Biography
Dr. Anne Estes is an integrative biologist interested in the effect of the host diet
and physiology on the genome and evolution of the host’s microbiome. The Estes laboratory
examines the effect of diet and antibiotic perturbation of the dung beetle digestive
system microbiome, an insect essential to human and environmental health. These include:
(a) the interaction between a host’s diet and physiology and the diversity, genome
content, and function of its microbiome and (b) the molecular mechanisms facilitating
the establishment and maintenance of host-bacterial symbioses, especially during disturbance
events such as antibiotic exposure.
Dr. Estes earned her B.S. and MS in Biology at Auburn University. She first began
studying insect-microbial interactions during her doctoral work at the University
of Arizona, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. After completing her doctoral
work, she was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Towson University where she and her
students began working on the dung beetle microbiome. Dr. Estes learned next generation
sequencing, microbiome analysis, and bacterial genomics as a post-doctoral fellow
at the Institute for Genome Sciences.
Peer-Reviewed Research
Estes, A.M., D. J. Hearn, S. Agarwal, E. A. Pierson, J. C. Dunning Hotopp. 2018. Comparative
genomics of the Erwinia and Enterobacter olive fly endosymbionts. Scientific Reports
Estes, A.M., D.J. Hearn, S. Nadendla, E.A. Pierson, J.C. Dunning Hotopp. 2018. Draft Genome of
Erwinia dacicola, a dominant endosymbiont of olive flies. Microbiology Resource Announcements.
Estes, A.M., D.J. Hearn S. Nadendla, E.A. Pierson, J.C. Dunning Hotopp. 2018. Draft Genome Sequence
of Enterobacter sp. Strain OLF, a colonizer of olive flies. Microbiology Resource Announcements.
Estes, A.M., D.F.Segura, A. Jessup, V. Wornoayporn, E.A. Pierson. 2014. Effect of the symbiont
Candidatus Erwinia dacicola on mating success of the olive fly Bactrocera oleae (Diptera:Tephritidae). International Journal of Tropical Insect Science.
Estes, A.M., D.J. Hearn, E.C. Snell-Rood, M. Feindler*, K. Feeser*, T. Abebe*, J.C. Dunning Hotopp,
A.P. Moczek. 2013. Brood ball-mediated transmission of microbiome members in the dung
beetle, Onthophagus taurus (Coleoptera:Scarabaeidae). PLoS One 8(11): e79061. .
Estes, A.M., D.J. Hearn, H.J. Burrack, P. Rempoulakis, E.A. Pierson. 2012. Prevalence of ‘Candidatus Erwinia dacicola’ in wild and laboratory olive fly populations and across developmental
stages. .
Estes, A.M., A. Belcari, A. Economopoulis, A. Jessup, P. Rempoulakis, and D. Nestel. 2012. A basis
for the renewal of SIT for the olive fly, Bactrocera oleae (Rossi). .
Estes, A.M., D.J. Hearn, J. Bronstein, E.A. Pierson. 2009. The olive fly endosymbiont, “Candidatus
Erwinia dacicola,†switches from an intracellular existence to an extracellular existence
during host insect development. Appl. Environ. Micro. 75(22):7097-7106.
Mateos, M., S.J. Castrezana, A.M.Estes, T.A. Markow, N. Moran. 2006. Heritable endosymbionts of Drosophila. Genetics. 174(1): 253-263.
Estes, A.M., S.C. Kempf, and R. P. Henry. 2003. Localization and quantification of carbonic anhydrase
activity in the symbiotic scyphozoan Cassiopea xamachana. Biol. Bull. 204: 278-289.
Moss, A.G., A.M. Estes, L.A. Muellner, and D.D.Morgan. 2001. Protistan epibionts of Mnemiopsis mccraydii (Ctenophora:Tentaculata). .
Estes, A.M., B.Reynolds, and A.G.Moss. 1997. Trichodina ctenophorii, sp. nov., a novel symbiont of ctenophores of the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
.
Estes, A and R.R. Dute. 1994. Valve abnormalities in diatom clones maintained in long-term
culture. .
Courses Taught
General Microbiology BIOL 318/518
Genetics BIOL 309