Jennifer Sneed

I am a research biologist at the Smithsonian Marine Station in Fort Pierce, FL. My research is focused on understanding the roles that microbes play in the ecological interactions of other marine organisms, specifically chemically mediated interactions. I use state-of-the-art microbiology, molecular biology, chemistry, and bioinformatics techniques in combination with field based assays to understand ecological interactions in the marine environment. I am particularly interested in the role of microbial communities in the recruitment processes of invertebrate larvae and assessing how environmental changes will impact these interactions.  I am also interested in understanding the chemical cues involved in structuring host microbiomes and how those microbiomes affect their host’s health and ecology.

• Ph.D. Natural Sciences - Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
• M.S. Biology - University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
• B.S. Biology - Central Missouri State University, Warrensburg, Missouri

Marine Chemical and Microbial Ecology, Host-Microbiome Interactions, Coral Reef Ecology

Journal Article

• Sneed, Jennifer M., Demko, Alyssa M., Miller, Margaret W., Yi, Dongqi, Moore, Bradley S., Agarwal, Vinayak, and Paul, Valerie J. 2024. "Coral settlement induction by tetrabromopyrrole is widespread among Caribbean corals and compound specific." Frontiers in Marine Science, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1298518.
• Mallon, Jennifer E., Demko, Alyssa M., Sneed, Jennifer M., Newman, Lilyana, Dugan, Carle, Altieri, Andrew H., Paul, Valerie J., and Johnson, Maggie D. 2023. "The influence of deoxygenation on Caribbean coral larval settlement and early survival." Frontiers in Marine Science, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1254965.
• Ushijima, Blake, Gunasekera, Sarath P., Meyer, Julie L., Tittl, Jessica, Pitts, Kelly A., Thompson, Sharon, Sneed, Jennifer M., Ding, Yousong, Chen, Manyun, Jay Houk, L., Aeby, Greta S., Häse, Claudia C., and Paul, Valerie J. 2023. "Chemical and genomic characterization of a potential probiotic treatment for stony coral tissue loss disease." Communications Biology, 6, (1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-04590-y.
• Schul, Monica, Mason, Andrea, Ushijima, Blake, and Sneed, Jennifer M. 2022. "Microbiome and Metabolome Contributions to Coral Health and Disease." The Biological bulletin, 243, (1) 76–83. https://doi.org/10.1086/720971.
• Brooker, Rohan M., Seyfferth, Angelia L., Hunter, Alesia, Sneed, Jennifer M., Dixson, Danielle L., and Hay, Mark E. 2020. "Human proximity suppresses fish recruitment by altering mangrove-associated odour cues." Scientific Reports, 10, (1) 21091–21091. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-77722-7.
• Puglisi, Melany P., Sneed, Jennifer M., Ritson-Williams, Raphael, and Young, Ryan. 2019. "Marine chemical ecology in benthic environments." Natural product reports, 36 410–429. https://doi.org/10.1039/c8np00061a.
• Walker, Nia S., Fernández, Rosa, Sneed, Jennifer M., Paul, Valerie J., Giribet, Gonzalo, and Combosch, David. 2019. "Differential Gene Expression during Substrate Probing in Larvae of the Caribbean Coral Porites astreoides." Molecular ecology, 28, (22) 4899–4913. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15265.
• Campbell, Justin E., Sneed, Jennifer M., Johnston, Lane, and Paul, Valerie J. 2017. "Effects of ocean acidification and contact with the brown alga Stypopodium zonale on the settlement and early survival of the coral Porites astreoides." Marine Ecology Progress Series, 577 67–77. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12249.
• Sneed, Jennifer M., Meickle, Theresa, Engene, Niclas, Reed, Sherry, Gunasekera, Sarath, and Paul, Valerie J. 2017. "Bloom dynamics and chemical defenses of benthic cyanobacteria in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida." Harmful Algae, 69, (Supplement C) 75–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hal.2017.10.002.
• Gamal, Abrahim El, Agarwal, Vinayak, Diethelm, Stefan, Rahman, Imran, Schorn, Michelle A., Sneed, Jennifer M., Louie, Gordon V., Whalen, Kristen E., Mincer, Tracy J., Noel, Joseph P., Paul, Valerie J., and Moore, Bradley S. 2016. "Biosynthesis of coral settlement cue tetrabromopyrrole in marine bacteria by a uniquely adapted brominase-thioesterase enzyme pair." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 113, (14) 3797–3802. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1519695113.
• Olsen, Kevin, Sneed, Jennifer M., and Paul, Valerie J. 2016. "Differential larval settlement responses of Porites astreoides and Acropora palmata in the presence of the green alga Halimeda opuntia." Coral Reefs, 35, (2) 521–525. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-015-1394-8.
• Salvador-Reyes, Lilibeth A., Sneed, Jennifer, Paul, Valerie J., and Luesch, Hendrik. 2015. "Amantelides A and B, Polyhydroxylated Macrolides with Differential Broad-Spectrum Cytotoxicity from a Guamanian Marine Cyanobacterium." Journal of Natural Products, 78, (8) 1957–1962. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jnatprod.5b00293.
• Sharp, K. H., Sneed, J. M., Ritchie, K. B., Mcdaniel, L., and Paul, Valerie J. 2015. "Induction of Larval Settlement in the Reef Coral Porites astreoides by a Cultivated Marine Roseobacter Strain." The Biological Bulletin, 228, (2) 98–107. https://doi.org/10.1086/BBLv228n2p98.
• Sneed, Jennifer M., Ritson-Williams, Raphael, and Paul, Valerie J. 2015. "Crustose coralline algal species host distinct bacterial assemblages on their surfaces." The ISME journal, (9) 2527–2536. https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2015.67.
• Soares, Angélica R., Engene, Niclas, Gunasekera, Sarath P., Sneed, Jennifer M., and Paul, Valerie J. 2015. "Carriebowlinol, an Antimicrobial Tetrahydroquinolinol from an Assemblage of Marine Cyanobacteria Containing a Novel Taxon." Journal of natural products, 78, (3) 534–538. https://doi.org/10.1021/np500598x.
• Puglisi, Melany P., Sneed, Jennifer M., Sharp, Koty H., Ritson-Williams, Raphael, and Paul, Valerie J. 2014. "Marine chemical ecology in benthic environments." Natural Product Reports, 31 1510–1533. https://doi.org/10.1039/C4NP00017J.
• Sneed, Jennifer M., Sharp, Koty H., Ritchie, Kimberly B., and Paul, Valerie J. 2014. "The chemical cue tetrabromopyrrole from a biofilm bacterium induces settlement of multiple Caribbean corals." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 281, (1786) 20133086. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.3086.

Book Chapter

• Sneed, Jennifer M. and Puglisi, Melany P. 2018. "The Role of Natural Products in Structuring Microbial Communities of Marine Algae." In Chemical Ecology: The Ecological Impacts of Marine Natural Products. Puglisi, Melany P. and Becerro, Mikel A., editors. Boca Raton: CRC Press. (https://doi.org/10.1201/9780429453465)