Javier A. Ceja-NavarroAssociate Professor

Published by Stephanie Mayer on

Microbiome, Microbial trophic interactions, Microbial food webs Javier.Ceja-Navarro@nau.edu
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Navarro’s research focuses on the complexity of the host-associated and environmental microbiome, including viruses, bacteria, archaea, fungi, and protists. In his research, Navarro studies the composition of microbial communities, their dynamics in a changing environment, and how microbial activity influences nutrient cycling. The complexity of such studies requires the use of chemical analyses, traditional microbiology tools for the isolation of microbes, and, most importantly, molecular tools such as metabarcoding, metagenomics, and metatranscriptomics. Processing and interpreting the vast amount of data generated by this multi-faceted research requires the use of diverse bioinformatic approaches to identify the associations between environment, microbial associations, and ecosystem functioning.

His teaching goal is to inspire students to become explorers of nature’s complexity, use critical thinking and master the use of tools of traditional and molecular biology. Besides his scientific and pedagogical work, Navarro is committed to reducing the barriers in research for underrepresented students, including people of color, women, and LGBTQ+ individuals.

Lab Website
Full Curriculum Vitae
Selected Publications

Yu, X, Ceja-Navarro, JA, Wu, X. Sublethal toxicity of fluorine-free firefighting foams in the soil invertebrate Caenorhabditis elegans. 2022. Environmental Science & Technology Letters. doi: 10.1021/acs.estlett.2c00219

Ceja-Navarro, JA, Wang, Y, Arellano, A, Ramanculova, L, Yuan, M, Byer, A, Craven, KD, Saha, C., Brodie, EL, Pett-Ridge, J, Firestone, MK. 2021. Protist diversity and network complexity in the rhizosphere of switchgrass are dynamic as plants develop. Microbiome, 9:96. doi:10.1186/s40168-021-01042-9

Silva, PC, Ceja-Navarro, JA, Azevedo, F, Karaoz, U, Brodie, EL, Johansson, B. 2021. A novel D-xylose isomerase from the gut of the wood-feeding patent-leather beetle Odontotaenius disjunctus efficiently expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Scientific Reports, 11: 4766. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-83937-z.

Ceja-Navarro JA, Karaoz U, Bill M, Hao Z, White RA, Arellano A, Ramanculova L, Filley TR, Berry TD, Conrad ME, Blackwell M, Nicora CD, Kim Y-M, Reardon PN, Lipton MS, Adkins JN, Pett-Ridge J, Brodie EL. 2019. Gut anatomical properties and microbial functional assembly promote lignocellulose deconstruction and colony subsistence of a wood-feeding beetle. Nature Microbiology, 4, 864–875. doi: 10.1038/s41564-019-0384-y

Ceja-Navarro JA, Vega FE, Karaoz U, Hao Z, Jenkins S, Lim HC, Kosina P, Infante F, Northen TR, Brodie EL. 2015. Gut microbiota mediate caffeine detoxification in the primary insect pest of coffee. Nature Communications, 6:7618. doi: 10.1038/ncomms8618

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