Donnabella Lacap-Bugler

Doctoral advisorStephen Brian PointingAcademic workInstitutionsAuckland University of Technology

Donnabella Castillo Lacap-Bugler (née Lacap) is a Filipino–New Zealand academic microbiologist, and is a full professor at the Auckland University of Technology, specialising in extremophiles, soil microbial ecology, and oral microorganisms.

Lacap-Bugler completed a Bachelor of Science at St Paul University and a Master of Science at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. She went on to do a PhD titled Biodiversity and ecology of geothermal springs in the Philippines at the University of Hong Kong, supervised by Stephen Pointing.^[1][2] Lacap-Bugler then joined the faculty of the Auckland University of Technology in 2015, rising to associate professor in 2019 and full professor in 2023.^[3][4]

Lacap-Bugler is on the editorial board of the journal International Journal of Applied Science – Research and Review.^[5]

Lacap-Bugler's research focus was initially on endophytic fungi on medicinal plants, and the molecular diversity of bacteria living in extreme environments during her postgraduate and postdoctoral work in Hong Kong.^[6] She led research into photosynthetic cyanobacteria in desert ecosystems in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, which may help in identifying traces of bacterial life in other extreme systems such as a Mars.^[7] More recently she has studied the microbial ecology of oral microorganisms, studying the link between oral pathology and systemic disease.^[5]

Lacap-Bugler is an associate investigator in the New Zealand's Biological Heritage National Science Challenge, where her students have researched the microbial communities in soils around kauri trees in the Waitākere Ranges Regional Park, and investigated their physicochemical makeup, looking to see if there are correlations with tree disease.^[8]

• Stephen B Pointing; Yuki Chan; Donnabella C Lacap; Maggie C.Y. Lau Vetter; Joel A Jurgens; Roberta L Farrell (22 October 2009). "Highly specialized microbial diversity in hyper-arid polar desert". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 106 (47): 19964–19969. Bibcode:2009PNAS..10619964P. doi:10.1073/PNAS.0908274106. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 2765924. PMID 19850879. Wikidata Q33511933. (erratum)
• Tancredi Caruso; Yuki Chan; Donnabella C Lacap; Maggie C Y Lau; Christopher P McKay; Stephen B Pointing (3 March 2011). "Stochastic and deterministic processes interact in the assembly of desert microbial communities on a global scale". The ISME Journal. 5 (9): 1406–1413. doi:10.1038/ISMEJ.2011.21. ISSN 1751-7362. PMC 3160679. PMID 21368908. Wikidata Q35178343.
• Kimberley A Warren-Rhodes; Kevin L Rhodes; Stephen B Pointing; et al. (25 July 2006). "Hypolithic cyanobacteria, dry limit of photosynthesis, and microbial ecology in the hyperarid Atacama Desert". Microbial Ecology. 52 (3): 389–398. doi:10.1007/S00248-006-9055-7. ISSN 0095-3628. PMID 16865610. Wikidata Q33251649.
• Justin Bahl; Maggie C Y Lau; Gavin J D Smith; et al. (25 January 2011). "Ancient origins determine global biogeography of hot and cold desert cyanobacteria". Nature Communications. 2: 163. Bibcode:2011NatCo...2..163B. doi:10.1038/NCOMMS1167. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 3105302. PMID 21266963. Wikidata Q28744099.
• Stephen B Pointing; Kimberley A Warren-Rhodes; Donnabella C Lacap; Kevin L Rhodes; Christopher P McKay (1 February 2007). "Hypolithic community shifts occur as a result of liquid water availability along environmental gradients in China's hot and cold hyperarid deserts". Environmental Microbiology. 9 (2): 414–424. doi:10.1111/J.1462-2920.2006.01153.X. ISSN 1462-2912. PMID 17222139. Wikidata Q39361751.
• Yuki Chan; Donnabella C Lacap; Maggie C.Y. Lau Vetter; et al. (11 July 2012). "Hypolithic microbial communities: between a rock and a hard place". Environmental Microbiology. 14 (9): 2272–2282. doi:10.1111/J.1462-2920.2012.02821.X. ISSN 1462-2912. PMID 22779750. Wikidata Q34332240.
• D C Lacap; K D Hyde; E C Y Liew (February 2003). "An evaluation of the fungal 'morphotype' concept based on ribosomal DNA sequences" (PDF). Fungal Diversity. 12: 53–66. ISSN 1560-2745. Wikidata Q110861496. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 April 2021.