Wikipedia

Danny Ionescu

Danny Ionescu (Hebrew: דני יונסקו) is an aquatic microbial ecologist currently affiliated with the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries.[1] His primary research focus centers around the biology of giant bacteria[2][3] and microbial life in the Dead Sea.

Danny Ionescu
Born (1976-07-02) 2 July 1976 (age 48)
Bucharest, Romania
NationalityIsraeli, German
Alma materSchool of Marine Sciences (B.Sc.)
Hebrew University of Jerusalem (PhD)
Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
SpouseMina Bizic
Children2
Scientific career
FieldsMicrobiology, Environmental science
InstitutionsMax Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries
Thesis Cyanobacterial Biogeography and Nitrogen Fixation: Lessons from environmental and model organisms  (2009)

Education and career

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Between 2000 and 2003, Ionescu earned a BSc degree in Marine Sciences and Marine Environmental Sciences from the School of Marine Sciences at the Ruppin Academic Center in Israel.[1]

His academic journey continued with a master's degree between 2003 and 2005, conducted under the guidance of Prof. Aharon Oren at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in collaboration with Prof. Karlheinz Altendorf and Dr. Andre Lipski at the University of Osnabrueck in Germany. His Master's thesis, titled "Characterization of an endoevaporitic microbial community in the Eilat salterns by fatty acid analysis and stable isotope labeling",[4] reflected his research focus during this period.

Ph.D. and postdoctoral research

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In 2005, Ionescu embarked on a Ph.D. degree at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, as part of the peace project "Bridging the Rift",[5][6][7][8] in collaboration with Prof. Muna Hindiyeh[9] and Prof. Mohhamad Wedyan.[10] His doctoral thesis was titled "Cyanobacterial Biogeography and Nitrogen Fixation: Lessons from environmental and model organisms".[11]

During his first postdoctoral research, starting in 2009, at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Ionescu led the first scientific diving exploration of the Dead Sea.[12]

 
Four photographs of a series of underwater fresh water springs found in the Dead Sea, approximately 1.8 km west of Mitzpe Shalem, in 2010 by Danny Ionescu

The expedition revealed abundant microbial life forms in and around underwater freshwater springs.[13][14][15][16] The underwater scenery of the Dead Sea as documented by Ionescu and Dr. Christian Lott of the Hydra Institute was featured in several documentary movies.[17]

His work at the Max Planck Institute included studies on the interaction between minerals and microbial cells, conducted Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory in Sweden[18] and on the island of Kiritimati,[19] as part of the collaborative researcher group FOR571.[20]

In 2014, Ionescu joined the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), where his research focused on the genomics and ecology of giant bacteria, specifically the genus Achromatium. Notably, in 2017, Ionescu discovered that the multiple chromosomes harbored by these large bacteria are not identical,[21][22][23] highlighting their adaptability to different environments.[24][25][26]

In 2021, Ionescu has received the independent research grant from the German Research Foundation (DFG) to further explore these topics.[27]

Academic contributions

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Ionescu has made significant contributions to the field of aquatic microbial ecology. A comprehensive list of his publications can be found on his ORCID[28] and Google Scholar[29] pages.

Additionally, Ionescu actively participates in the scientific community. He serves on the Managing Board of the open access research platform PCI Genomics[30] and contributes as a recommender for PCI Microbiology.[31] Moreover, he holds positions as an Associate Editor for Frontiers in Microbiology[32] and editorial board member of Scientific Reports.[33]

Personal life

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Born in Bucharest, Romania, in 1976, Ionescu and his family immigrated to Israel in 1984. He is married to Dr. Mina Bizic, also a scientist, and the couple has two children.[34] Ionescu's brother, Ariel Ionescu,[35] is a Neurobiologist, and his brother-in-law, David Bizic, is an opera singer.[36]

Ionescu is a certified SSI Gold level diving instructor[37][38]

References

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  1. ^ a b http://www.igb-berlin.de. Danny Ionescu | IGB. [online] Available at: https://www.igb-berlin.de/en/profile/danny-ionescu [Accessed 1 Feb. 2024]
  2. ^ Ionescu, Danny & Bizic, Mina. (2019). Giant Bacteria. 10.1002/9780470015902.a0020371.pub2.
  3. ^ Ionescu, Danny; Volland, Jean-Marie; Contarini, Paul-Emile; Gros, Olivier. "Genomic Mysteries of Giant Bacteria: Insights and Implications". Genome Biology and Evolution. 15 (9). doi:10.1093/gbe/evad163. ISSN 1759-6653. PMC 10519445. PMID 37708391.
  4. ^ Ionescu, Danny; Lipski, André; Altendorf, Karlheinz; Oren, Aharon (2007-02-01). "Characterization of the endoevaporitic microbial communities in a hypersaline gypsum crust by fatty acid analysis". Hydrobiologia. 576 (1): 15–26. doi:10.1007/s10750-006-0289-7. ISSN 1573-5117.
  5. ^ "Home". www.cs.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  6. ^ "Bridging the Rift at the Dead Sea | Breuerpress International". www.breuerpress.com (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  7. ^ "New Science Center to Bridge the Rift". Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  8. ^ "Cornell and Stanford to work with Israel and Jordan on Bridging the Rift research center to include world's first databank for all living systems | Cornell Chronicle". news.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  9. ^ "Prof. Muna Hindiyeh". Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  10. ^ "The Hashemite University Faculty Staff Website". staff.hu.edu.jo. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  11. ^ The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2011) IONESCU, DANNY - PhD Thesis. Available at: http://www.research-students.huji.ac.il/en/ionescu-0 (Accessed: 01 February 2024). Cyanobacterial Biogeography and Nitrogen Fixation: Lessons form Environmental and Model Organisms
  12. ^ First Scientific Diving Expedition at the Dead Sea. 2011-09-21. Retrieved 2024-09-04 – via YouTube.
  13. ^ "21.09.2011 Springs of Life in the Dead Sea". www.mpi-bremen.de. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  14. ^ "New Life-Forms Found at Bottom of Dead Sea". Science. 2011-09-30. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  15. ^ American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. "Dead Sea researchers discover freshwater springs and numerous micro-organisms." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 27 September 2011. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110927112546.htm>.
  16. ^ Ionescu, Danny; Siebert, Christian; Polerecky, Lubos; Munwes, Yaniv Y.; Lott, Christian; Häusler, Stefan; Bižić-Ionescu, Mina; Quast, Christian; Peplies, Jörg; Glöckner, Frank Oliver; Ramette, Alban; Rödiger, Tino; Dittmar, Thorsten; Oren, Aharon; Geyer, Stefan; Stärk, Hans-Joachim; Sauter, Martin; Licha, Tobias; Laronne, Jonathan B.; De Beer, Dirk (2012). "Microbial and Chemical Characterization of Underwater Fresh Water Springs in the Dead Sea". PLOS ONE. 7 (6): e38319. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...738319I. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0038319. PMC 3367964. PMID 22679498.
  17. ^ Watch extreme! - from Valley Deep to mountain high online (no date) Prime Video. Available at: https://www.primevideo.com/detail/Extreme---From-Valley-Deep-to-Mountain-High/0KEO7MIWB3USSG9HPIGE0YWYRO (Accessed: 01 February 2024).
  18. ^ Ionescu, D. et al. (2015) ‘Diversity of iron oxidizing and reducing bacteria in flow reactors in the ÄSPÖ Hard Rock Laboratory’, Geomicrobiology Journal, 32(3–4), pp. 207–220. doi:10.1080/01490451.2014.884196.
  19. ^ Ionescu, D.; Spitzer, S.; Reimer, A.; Schneider, D.; Daniel, R.; Reitner, J.; de Beer, D.; Arp, G. "Calcium dynamics in microbialite‐forming exopolymer‐rich mats on the atoll of K iritimati, R epublic of K iribati, C entral P acific". Geobiology. 13 (2): 170–180. doi:10.1111/gbi.12120. ISSN 1472-4677.
  20. ^ "DFG - GEPRIS - FOR 571: Geobiology of Organo- and Biofilms: Coupling of the Geosphere and the Biosphere by Microbial Processes". gepris.dfg.de. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  21. ^ "Riesenbakterium enthält Erbgut für eine ganze Bevölkerung". Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  22. ^ "A Lakeside Tale". Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  23. ^ Ionescu, Danny; Bizic-Ionescu, Mina; De Maio, Nicola; Cypionka, Heribert; Grossart, Hans-Peter (2017-09-06). "Community-like genome in single cells of the sulfur bacterium Achromatium oxaliferum". Nature Communications. 8 (1): 455. doi:10.1038/s41467-017-00342-9. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 5587575. PMID 28878209.
  24. ^ "Giant aquatic bacterium is a master of adaptation". igb-berlin.de. 2020-11-19. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  25. ^ Ionescu, Danny; Zoccarato, Luca; Schorn, Sina (2022-01-28). "When it comes to the giant bacterium Achromatium, everything is everywhere". TheScienceBreaker. doi:10.25250/thescbr.brk613. ISSN 2571-9262.
  26. ^ "Heterozygous, Polyploid, Giant Bacterium, Achromatium, Possesses an Identical Functional Inventory Worldwide across Drastically Different Ecosystems". academic.oup.com. doi:10.1093/molbev/msaa273. PMC 7947748. PMID 33169788. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  27. ^ "DFG - GEPRIS - Eco-evolution and cellular functionality of the heterozygous bacterial genus Achromatium". gepris.dfg.de. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  28. ^ "ORCID".
  29. ^ https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=z-XVkFMAAAAJ
  30. ^ "PCI Genomics". genomics.peercommunityin.org. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  31. ^ "PCI Microbiol". microbiol.peercommunityin.org. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  32. ^ "Danny Ionescu". Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  33. ^ http://www.nature.com. Editors | Scientific Reports. [online] Available at: https://www.nature.com/srep/about/editors#microbiology [Accessed 1 Feb. 2024].
  34. ^ vimeo.com. #02 - Aquatic ecologist Dr. Mina Bizic (IGB): exploring life in water and dealing with dual careers in science. [online] Available at: https://vimeo.com/470103616 [Accessed 1 Feb. 2024].
  35. ^ "ARIEL LOENESCU". The HBP Curriculum - HBP Student Learning Needs. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  36. ^ https://www.facebook.com/danny.ionescu/about_family_and_relationships
  37. ^ SSI Certificate Gold 500 Diver. My.divessi.com. (n.d.). https://my.divessi.com/code/thickbox/ccard_db_query.php?ccard_uid=797001Y4292798091053-IL
  38. ^ Blackburn, Nicky, and Karin Kloosterman. “Dead Sea Divers Discover New Forms of Life.” ISRAEL21c, 12 Sept. 2012, www.israel21c.org/dead-sea-divers-discover-new-forms-of-life. Accessed 4 Feb. 2024.
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