Wilhelm Lab at the University of Tennessee

Lab alum now Assistant Professor @eechase.bsky.social talking cyanobacteria, water quality and Lake Winnipeg on the CBC.

www.cbc.ca/lite/story/9...

Eutrophic Lake Restoration Requires Multidimensional Approaches to Stressor Management Cultural eutrophication has triggered lake regime shifts and cyanobacterial blooms, causing losses of key ecosystem services (e.g., water supply) and necessitating costly remediation. While nutrient e...

Eutrophic Lake Restoration Requires Multidimensional Approaches to Stressor Management | Environmental Science & Technology pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

Lake Erie has more ice in late January than any winter in the past 23 years | CBC News Great Lakes scientist Mike McKay says he was caught off guard by how much ice coverage was added so quickly. He estimates roughly 20,000 square kilometres of ice was gained over a six-day stretch in J...

Interesting interview with our colleague, GLIER director Mike McKay @uwindsor.bsky.social, about the Great Lakes and ice. 18 years ago, we started collaborating on this question and how ice in Lake Erie reshapes biology. Seems there is still work to do.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

"Soil microbial gene expression over one year of human decomposition". Microbial activity shifted dramatically during human decomposition, altering gene expression tied to stress response, nutrient cycling, and fat breakdown. A collab with @jdebruyn.bsky.social lab.

DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fiaf126

Viruses aren’t all bad: In the ocean, some help fuel the food web – a new study shows how Marine viruses attack cells, but the material that spills out helps fuels marine life around the world.

Ocean viruses get a bad rap from land-based viruses.

A new study shows that in the Atlantic’s Sargasso Sea area, viruses play a key part in help recycle nutrients that support the entire marine food chain.

Great fun as always with our collaborator and friend @joshuasweitz.bsky.social...exploring how viral microbial scale processes shape ocean scale features.

UT Research Shows Viral Impact on Ocean Oxygen - College of Arts and Sciences An international research team unveils how viral lysis of blue-green algae in the Sargasso Sea enhances ecosystem-scale productivity. Newly published interdisciplinary research led by the University o...

Such a great team that included @sullivan-lab.bsky.social , @ab-knox.bsky.social, @jdebruyn.bsky.social, Debbie Lindell and so many amazing staff and students. And yes - still more to come from this project.

artsci.utk.edu/ut-research-...

"Seasonal enhancement of the viral shunt catalyzes a subsurface oxygen maximum in the Sargasso Sea" https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-67002-1

Viruses transform microbes, populations, & ecosystems.

In new work jointly led w/@tn-marine-micro.bsky.social + more, we find a link between enhanced viral infection and productivity 50 meters below the surface in the otherwise nutrient limited Sargasso Sea.

a 🧵

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Epigenome analysis of an algae-infecting giant virus reveals a unique methylation motif catalogue DNA methylation can epigenetically alter gene expression and serve as a mechanism for genomic stabilization. Advancements in long-read sequencing technology have allowed for increased exploration into...

Excited to see @atruch.bsky.social publish his work on giant virus DNA methylation. Kratosvirus quantuckense shows diverse DNA methylation via six methyltransferases, shaping infection and genomic stability in this giant virus.

journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Welcome @xhuang45.bsky.social to Bluesky.

Temperature and light drive physiological and transcriptional responses, modulating infection outcomes in a freshwater diatom–chytrid system Stephanodiscus binderanus is a bloom-forming diatom abundant in winter and persisting into spring in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Climate change impacts these blooms by altering ice cover, turbidity, ...

Nice paper on the other bloom in Lake Erie: diatoms. 👏

aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

What are harmful algal blooms? How do they affect our health? How should I report an exposure? Where can health care providers get more information on what to do? Our Great Lakes Center for Freshwaters and Human Health (NSF/NIH) provides answers with these two short informational videos 👇

Contrasting viral infection strategies for single cell and colonial Microcystis populations consistent with Black Queen dynamics Abstract. Cyanobacterial blooms dominated by Microcystis spp. pose significant ecological challenges, including the release of toxins and disruption of aqu

Taihu metatranscriptomes reveal Microcystis colonies have "Black Queen"-like community dynamics and favor lysogeny, while single cells face more lytic pressure. From @utkmicrobiology.bsky.social with Xuhui Huang, @eechase.bsky.social, @zepernickbn.bsky.social and others.

doi.org/10.1093/isme...

Mead’s Quarry Research Reveals Toxic Algae Drivers - College of Arts and Sciences UT research into a pink algae bloom that closed the popular swimming area at Ijams Nature Center in 2024 is providing insight into how the organisms thrive.  Researchers from the University of Tenness...

Research globally and act locally. Nice to see @zepernickbn.bsky.social @utkmicrobiology.bsky.social getting attention for collaborations with GLCFWHH researchers to address a local algal bloom. Just published in Harmful Algae.

artsci.utk.edu/meads-quarry...

Special section of Journal of Great Lakes Research on Connecting Waters in the #GreatLakes. Open Access: includes a brief historical review of past efforts to focus on these critical areas and Summary of the 15 manuscripts that compose the Section. 🧪
doi.org/10.1016/j.jg...

The ornithine-arginine cycle supported a toxic, metalimnic Planktothrix rubescens bloom Planktothrix rubescens is distinct from other cyanobacterial harmful algal bloom (cHAB) genera: the crimson-red cHAB thrives in the cold, low-light, n…

What happens when an energetic postdoc (@zepernickbn.bsky.social) takes a class to a local quarry to learn to limnology? Science!! (and pets are protected). Nice work by Britt, team and colleagues from the Great Lakes Center for Fresh Waters & Human Health.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Postdoctoral Research Associate at University of Liverpool Looking for a new job opportunity in academia? Check out this job opening for a Postdoctoral Research Associate on jobs.ac.uk!

Seeking a three year postdoc in the field of ocean biogeochemistry and productivity using mechanistic models and synthesis of observations. Note the short fuse for applications. Please help distribute. All nationalities welcome to apply! 🌊

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPG117/p...

Microcystis plasmids: the unexplored portion of the mobilome and the presence of potential phage-like plasmids Abstract. While resequencing Microcystis aeruginosa (PCC7806) and its nontoxigenic mutant (PCC7806 ΔmcyB), we discovered identical unreported plasmids in b

New research indicates that Microcystis plasmids from lab strains and Lake Erie metatranscriptomes are transcriptionally active, ecologically relevant, and may have genetic overlap with phages. From Gwen Stark and colleagues....

academic.oup.com/ismecommun/a...

Still accepting applications for our plant-microbe person.

Sub-daily Bermuda Atlantic Time Series virus sampling reveals taxonomy, host, and functional differences at the population, but not community level Ocean microbes contribute to biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem function, but they do so under top-down pressure imposed by viruses. While viruses are increasingly understood spatially and beginning ...

Well done Alfonso & team! High-frequency sampling of Bermuda Atlantic Time Series waters revealed depth and diel viral dynamics, providing insights into short-term virus-host interactions. @joshuasweitz.bsky.social @sullivan-lab.bsky.social

www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

Its graduate school application time! Positions come with guaranteed stipend, tuition and health care coverage.

Be part of our global network of students, scientists, and ocean advocates.

✅ Bulletin with news, events & opportunities
✅ [UK’s largest marine library
✅ Access to the JMBA
✅ Exclusive training, events & discounts

Find out more - mba.ac.uk/our-membership/

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

New: After a long wait, the GRFP solicitation is live! Deadlines have been extended to early November, so applicants have a bit over a month to submit. www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

🧪The NSF has made changes to the GRFP solicitation and eligibility TODAY that may change your eligibility! PLEASE read through the solicitation if you were planning to apply and speak to your mentors about the merits of applying: www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

It is that time of year again. The Department of Microbiology is accepting applications for its PhD and MSc programs. Come join us!

Come join us in Knoxville. Faculty position looking for those interested in the quantitative aspects of phototroph-microbe interactions.

Very excited for Alex Truchon and his defense today. Giant viruses, algal blooms, DNA methylation and more....

Microbiology and Immunology and the Michael Smith Labs are seeking candidates for an Assistant Professor of Teaching in STEM Public Engagement position.

Learn more and apply at: www.msl.ubc.ca/careers/

#IndigenousinSTEM #BlackInNature #WomenInSTEM #MinoritiesInSTEM #DiversityInSTEM #STEMEducation

How long do the effects of a decomposing animal last? Nine years after decomposing a colony of beavers, aka beaverhenge, we revisit the scene to find out.

Electron micrograph of two phage infecting a host cell side-by-side, with hearts between them

Do you love phage? I have an opening for a postdoc in my lab at the University of South Florida College of Marine Science (@cmarinescience.bsky.social) looking at interactions between marine phage and iron, which is an important limiting trace metal in the oceans (1/5) 🧵#phagesky 🦠🌊