About

Dr. Daniel Distel is a research professor at Northeastern University’s Marine Science Center, where he serves as the Director of the Ocean Genome Legacy Center (OGL). He holds a BS in Biology from Rutgers University and a PhD in Marine Biology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD. His research focuses on the evolution, physiological ecology, genomics, and metabolism of marine bacteria and bacteria-animal symbioses, with particular emphasis on symbioses between bacteria and bivalve mollusks. Dr. Distel has contributed to the discovery of two new species of shipworms, which have unique symbionts, digestive strategies, and habitats. As Director of OGL, he oversees the operation of the nation's first marine-dedicated public access DNA bank and research laboratory, dedicated to exploring and preserving marine biological diversity. His work aligns with the mission of OGL to explore and conserve the threatened biological diversity of the sea, emphasizing the importance of cataloging and preserving oceanic species before they disappear. Dr. Distel's efforts include collecting and making available DNA samples from over 28,000 marine specimens for research worldwide, and advocating for the establishment of Antarctic biorepositories to facilitate marine research. His research and leadership have significantly advanced understanding of marine biodiversity, symbiosis, and genomic conservation.

Research topics

• Biology
• Evolutionary biology
• Political Science
• Computational biology
• Genetics
• Botany
• Ecology
• Bioinformatics
• Zoology

Selected publications

• Description of two new genera and two new species of antipatharian corals in the family Aphanipathidae (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Antipatharia)

  The Catalogue of Life · 2026-02-16

  datasetOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Metabolic potential structures gill symbiont communities in two common shipworm species

  The ISME Journal · 2026-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Shipworms (Bivalvia: Teredinidae) are the most prolific wood consumers in marine environments. These wormlike marine bivalves digest wood using carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) produced by intracellular bacterial endosymbionts housed within their gills. Although several shipworm species are known to host multiple co-occurring symbiont species, the factors that influence symbiont community assembly, including the phylogenetic identity and metabolic capabilities of the symbionts, remain poorly understood. We sequenced gill symbiont metagenomes from multiple specimens of two shipworm species, Teredo bartschi (22 specimens) and Lyrodus pedicellatus (14 specimens), which have sympatric distribution in the wild, and which were reared together in laboratory co-culture. From these metagenomes, we assembled 90 metagenome-assembled genomes representing seven distinct symbiont species. The metagenome of each host specimen contained between one and five symbiont species, with each including at least one nitrogen-fixing symbiont. Six of the seven identified symbiont species were found in both host species, demonstrating a lack of host species specificity in these symbioses. We identified patterns of symbiont occurrence and co-occurrence in these two hosts and used these patterns to constrain the core set of CAZyme and nitrogen-fixation gene classes necessary to support host survival. Our results indicate that, in these two host species, symbiont community composition reflects the symbionts' capabilities for carbohydrate degradation and nitrogen fixation, rather than strict species-specific mechanisms of host and symbiont sorting.

  PublisherDOI

• Corrigendum: Teredinibacter haidensis sp. nov., Teredinibacter purpureus sp. nov. and Teredinibacter franksiae sp. nov., marine, cellulolytic endosymbiotic bacteria isolated from the gills of the wood-boring mollusc Bankia setacea (Bivalvia: Teredinidae) and emended description of the genus Teredinibacter

  INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SYSTEMATIC AND EVOLUTIONARY MICROBIOLOGY · 2026-04-07

  articleSenior author

  Microbiology Society journals contain high-quality research papers and topical review articles. We are a not-for-profit publisher and we support and invest in the microbiology community, to the benefit of everyone. This supports our principal goal to develop, expand and strengthen the networks available to our members so that they can generate new knowledge about microbes and ensure that it is shared with other communities.

  PublisherDOI

• Production of High-Value Antibiotics by <i>Teredinibacter turnerae</i> Using Paper- and Plant-Based Waste Products

  ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering · 2025-06-06 · 1 citations

  article

  Cellulosic materials are commonly used in the production of biofuels and other commodity chemicals. Here, we employ a cellulolytic bacterium to produce high-value antibiotics using paper and plant waste materials as primary feedstocks. Teredinibacter turnerae is an intracellular symbiont of shipworms, marine bivalves of the family Teredinidae, where it contributes cellulases and other carbohydrate-active enzymes that help animals digest wood. T. turnerae is also a prolific producer of antibiotic drug leads proposed to be integral to shipworm ecology. In the presence of waste cellulose as the sole carbon source, T. turnerae robustly produced potent antiparasitic and antibiotic agents. This suggests an inexpensive strategy to harness mixed waste materials for the synthesis of high-value compounds, such as pharmaceuticals.

  PublisherDOI

• Complete genome sequences of two shipworm endosymbiont strains, <i>Teredinibacter turnerae</i> SR01903 and SR02026

  Microbiology Resource Announcements · 2025-05-20 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  ABSTRACT We present the complete genome sequences of two strains of Teredinibacter turnerae , SR01903 and SR02026, shipworm endosymbionts isolated from the gills of Lyrodus pedicellatus and Teredo bartschi , respectively, and derived from Oxford Nanopore sequencing. These sequences will aid in the comparative genomics of shipworm endosymbionts and symbiosis model development.

  PublisherDOI

• Perish the thawed? EDTA reduces DNA degradation during extraction from frozen tissue

  PLoS ONE · 2025-06-03 · 4 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Cryopreservation is the gold standard for preserving high molecular weight (HMW) DNA (>10 kb) in tissue samples. However, frozen tissues are typically thawed either before or during DNA extraction, which can lead to substantial DNA degradation. In this study, we thawed the previously frozen tissues of 10 marine species (five fishes and five invertebrates) in the preservatives EDTA (250 mM, pH 10) or ethanol (EtOH, 95%) and maintained them in their respective preservatives overnight at 4°C before DNA extraction. We then compared the recovery of HMW DNA in these extracts to extracts prepared directly from frozen tissues. To evaluate the effect of these treatments on HMW DNA recovery, we determined the percentage of high molecular weight DNA (%HMW) and yield of HMW DNA normalized by tissue weight (nY) in each DNA extract. The average %HMW values for eight of the 10 species and the average nY values for five of the 10 species were significantly higher in extracts from EDTA-treated tissues compared to extracts from untreated frozen tissues. For all 10 species, we observed no significant decreases in average %HMW or nY values in extracts of EDTA-thawed tissues compared to those extracted directly from frozen tissues. In contrast, EtOH treatment did not significantly improve the average %HMW or nY values in extracts from tissues of nine of the 10 species when compared to extracts prepared directly from frozen tissues. Therefore, investigators may consider EDTA treatment as a simple method for improving HMW DNA recovery from frozen tissues.

  PublisherDOI

• Production of high-value antibiotics by Teredinibacter turnerae using paper- and plant-based waste products

  ChemRxiv · 2025-02-27

  preprintOpen access

  Cellulosic materials are commonly used in the production of biofuels and commodity chemicals. Here, we employ a cellulolytic bacterium to produce high-value antibiotics using paper and plant waste material as primary feedstocks. Teredinibacter turnerae is an intracellular symbiont of shipworms, marine bivalves of the family Teredinidae, where it contributes cellulases and other carbohydrate-active enzymes that help the animals digest wood. T. turnerae is also a prolific producer of antibiotic drug leads proposed to be integral to shipworm ecology. In the presence of waste cellulose as the sole carbon source, T. turnerae robustly produced potent antiparasitic and antibiotic agents. This suggests an inexpensive strategy to harness mixed waste materials for the synthesis of high-value compounds, such as pharmaceuticals.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Perish the thawed? EDTA reduces DNA degradation during extraction from frozen tissue.

  2024-09-13

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  Cryopreservation is the gold standard for preserving high molecular weight (HMW) DNA (&gt;10 kb) in tissue samples. However, frozen tissues are typically thawed either before or during DNA extraction, which can lead to substantial DNA degradation. In this study, we thawed the previously frozen tissues of ten marine species (five fishes and five invertebrates) in the preservatives EDTA (250 mM, pH 10) or ethanol (95%) and maintained them in their respective preservatives for 12 to 24 hours at 4°C before DNA extraction. We then compared the recovery of HMW DNA in these extracts to extracts prepared directly from frozen tissues. To evaluate the effect of these treatments on HMW DNA recovery, we determined the percentage of high molecular weight DNA (%HMW) and yield of HMW DNA normalized by tissue weight (nY) in each DNA extract. The average %HMW values for eight of the ten species and the average nY values for five of the ten species were significantly higher in extracts from EDTA-treated tissues compared to extracts from untreated frozen tissues. For all 10 species, we observed no significant decreases in average %HMW or nY values in extracts of EDTA-thawed tissues compared to those extracted directly from frozen tissues. In contrast, EtOH treatment did not significantly improve the average %HMW or nY values in extracts from tissues of nine of the ten species when compared to extracts prepared directly from frozen tissues. Therefore, investigators may consider EDTA treatment as a simple method for improving HMW DNA recovery from frozen tissues.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Wooden steps to shallow depths: A new bathymodiolin mussel, Vadumodiolus teredinicola, inhabits shipworm burrows in an ancient submarine forest

  Deep Sea Research Part I Oceanographic Research Papers · 2024-01-02 · 6 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Large mussels of the mytilid subfamily Bathymodiolinae are common inhabitants of deep-sea hydrothermal vents and cold seeps, where gill-borne symbionts allow them to utilize energy-rich compounds such as hydrogen sulfide and methane to support abundant growth. This subfamily also includes smaller symbiont-bearing mussels found on deep-sea wood and organic deposits. Phylogenetic analyses suggest that wood association is ancestral to bathymodiolin evolution. This observation led to the “wooden steps” hypothesis, which proposed that wood and other large organic deposits have acted as evolutionary steppingstones, introducing the progenitors of the modern vent and seep Bathymodiolinae to their remote environments. Although this hypothesis implies an evolutionary trajectory from shallow to deep water, no bathymodiolin species that grows and reproduces at depths less than 100 m has yet been formally described. Here we describe a new bathymodiolin genus and species, Vadumodiolus teredinicola, found growing and reproducing at a depth of 18 m in uninhabited shipworm burrows in the remnants of an ancient submerged bald cypress forest off the coast of Alabama. These results demonstrate that the bathymodiolin radiation has not been limited to deep water and that specific association with wood has led to the successful invasion of both deep and shallow marine environments.

  PublisherDOI

• Closing the genome of <i>Teredinibacter turnerae</i> T7902 by long-read nanopore sequencing

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2024-07-30

  preprintOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract We present the complete closed circular genome sequence derived from Oxford Nanopore sequencing of the shipworm endosymbiont Teredinibacter turnerae T7902 (DSM 15152, ATCC 39867), originally isolated from the shipworm Lyrodus pedicellatus (1). This sequence will aid in the comparative genomics of shipworm endosymbionts and the understanding of host-symbiont evolution.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Lignocellulose degradation by shipworms and their bacterial endosymbionts

  NSF · $47k · 2014–2014

• Identity, function, and transport of lignocellulose-active enzymes in wood-eating (xylotrophic) bivalves (shipworms)

  NSF · $875k · 2014–2019

• Lignocellulose degradation by shipworms and their bacterial endosymbionts

  NSF · $446k · 2010–2014

• Identity, function, and transport of lignocellulose-active enzymes in wood-eating (xylotrophic) bivalves (shipworms)

  NSF · $591k · 2013–2014

• Collaborative Research: Functional and genomic analysis of polysymbiosis in the wood-boring bivalve Lyrodus pedicellatus

  NSF · $352k · 2004–2007

Frequent coauthors

• Margo G. Haygood

  University of Utah

  26 shared

• Marvin A. Altamia

  Northeastern University

  25 shared

• J. Reuben Shipway

  University of Plymouth

  22 shared

• Horst Felbeck

  Scripps Institution of Oceanography

  20 shared

• Gisela P. Concepción

  17 shared

• Martin F. Polz

  University of Vienna

  13 shared

• Mark A. Powell

  Mote Marine Laboratory

  12 shared

• Christoph Bock

  12 shared

Labs

• Ocean Genome Legacy CenterPI

Education

• B.S., Biology

  Rutgers University

• Ph.D., Marine Biology

  Scripps Institution of Oceanography