This is from 7 years ago (merenlab.org/2019/02/24/f...). We are talking about the same things today. We will be talking about the same things 7 years from now. There is no one to blame for this apart from ourselves. I find it very depressing.

New publication out @natcomms.nature.com! We identify novel viruses that actively infect highly productive chemoautotrophs, and reveal key trophic interactions and virus-host dynamics that impact microbial carbon cycling in aphotic environments.

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

Ecosystem health shapes viral ecology in peatland soils - Nature Microbiology Metagenomics shows that viral diversity and community structure are shaped by geography and ecosystem health status, positioning viruses as unexpected players in peatland restoration.

Our paper "Ecosystem health shapes viral ecology in peatland soils" is out in Nature Microbiology!

We show that peatland health strongly structures viral communities, shaping virus–host networks, and carbon and nutrient cycling. Please share.

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

#phagesky #Microsky

New episode of #MattersMicrobial for 2026! This time, Dr. Alaina Weinheimer joins the #QualityQuorum to chat about marine jumbophages and related matters. Please spread the #GoodMicrobialWord? @microbe.tv @univpugetsound @ASMicrobiology

youtu.be/5j4qy1hgoUY?...

Luo Lab - Microbial Ecology - join Lab members will have access to state-of-the art wet lab, and computing, and sequencing resources, including in-house sequencing for both short and long reads (Illumina NextSeq and Nanopore GridION). ...

Our lab has an opening for a fully funded postdoc position! Start date is flexible; ideally summer 2026. Apply by Feb 20th for full consideration. For more about the lab and how to apply:

sites.google.com/uncc.edu/mic...

Comparison of short-read and long-read metagenome assemblies in a natural soil community highlights systematic bias in recovery of high-diversity populations Abstract. Comparisons of long-read and short-read (meta)genome assemblies typically show that short-read sequence assemblies are less error-prone, but stru

🧬🦠🚨 Another new paper alert, this time led by @maureenbug.bsky.social ! In collaboration with the Emerson lab and
@titus.idyll.org lab (@taylorreiter.bsky.social), both at UC Davis. Asking the question: what are we missing in short-read metagenome assembly, and why ?

doi.org/10.1093/narg...

Cryo-EM resolves the structure of the archaeal dsDNA virus HFTV1 from head to tail This structure of an archaeal tailed virus (arTV) provides detailed insights into arTV assembly and infection mechanisms.

Out in Science Advances: Our #cryoEM structure of HFTV1, a virus infecting the halophile #archaea. *First full atomic structure (containing all structural proteins) of any tailed virus!* Congrats and thanks to all co-authors and our fantastic collaborators! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

The Pursuit of Life Where It Seems Unimaginable | Quanta Magazine A decade ago, Karen Lloyd discovered single-celled microbes living beneath the seafloor. Now she studies how they can survive in Earth’s crust, possibly for hundreds or thousands of years, and push li...

Great new article about the cool stuff we're finding (improbably) alive deep inside Earth's crust! Nice work, @laurapoppick.bsky.social at @quantamagazine.bsky.social www.quantamagazine.org/the-pursuit-...

Very proud of the work from lab members and collaborators that coincidentally came out today www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... and www.nature.com/articles/s41.... A bacterial and viral pathogen associated with mass mortality in seastars and oysters. @kevinzhong2006.bsky.social @rhizalyssa.bsky.social

Melbournevirus encodes a shorter H2B-H2A doublet histone variant that forms structurally distinct nucleosome structures Nature Communications - Melbournevirus encodes a conserved shorter H2B-H2A doublet variant. Here the authors report a cryo-EM structure of a nucleosome-like particle reconstituted with viral H4-H3...

our paper is online! rdcu.be/exXBX . Who would have thought that some #giantviruses not only have #histones, but even histone variants that make weird #nucleosomes (pdb 9CVT). Fantastic work from Ale Villalta and Chelsea Toner, with Hugo Bisio @molbiolgv.bsky.social and Chantal Abergel

Luo Lab - Microbial Ecology - join The Luo Lab is accepting applications for funded Postdoc and PhD opportunities. Details below. Lab members will have access to state-of-the art wet lab, and computing, and sequencing resources, inclu...

Funded postdoc + PhD opportunities in marine microbial ecology! Please share with folks that might be interested.

Start date is flexible (fall 2025 to summer 2026)

More about the lab + applying (Postdoc rolling, PhD apps due Oct/Jan):
sites.google.com/uncc.edu/mic...

PhD opportunity in marine virus eco-evo dynamics

Joint CNRS–UBC program: @cnrsbiologie.bsky.social × @ubcoceans.bsky.social

📍 Banyuls-sur-Mer, France (LBBM UMR8176)
🗓️ Start: Oct 2025 | Duration: 3 years
🔍 Skills: Modelling, Bioinformatics, Marine Virology

🔗 Apply: emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/Docto...

Vertical transport and spatiotemporal dynamics of giant viruses in the North Pacific subtropical gyre Abstract. Nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses, or “giant viruses,” are prevalent in marine environments, infecting diverse eukaryotic lineages and influenc

My first PhD paper is out in @isme-microbes.bsky.social
We found that giant viruses are associated with carbon export to the deep ocean, supporting the viral shuttle hypothesis.

Thanks to @oceanmicrobes.bsky.social for supervising the study!

academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...

Vertical transport and spatiotemporal dynamics of giant viruses in the North Pacific subtropical gyre Abstract. Nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses, or “giant viruses,” are prevalent in marine environments, infecting diverse eukaryotic lineages and influenc

Lab’s first publication as #newPI @isme-microbes.bsky.social 😃

We observed evidence supporting the viral shuttle hypothesis in giant viruses. We also observed convergent evolution amongst giant viruses and bacteriophages to light-energy and nutrient limitation.

academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...

Terrific PhD science opportunity in the world of marine viral ecology and evolution with a stellar team in S. France working with Marcelino Suzuki, David Demory, and Sheree Yau.

Applications due July 8.

👇

New from the Carter Lab!

Led by @bhuwanabbot.bsky.social, we sequenced almost twice as many complete genomes as were available for the endofungal Mycetohabitans genus.

Unsurprisingly, they are a little weird, giving us insight into endosymbiotic genome changes 🧬 🦠
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Awesome! Congratulations to the team!

Happy to have contributed to this great article: #Protist genomics: key to understanding eukaryotic evolution. Congrats Alexandra Schoenle et al. #ProtistsOnSky
authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...

Nice work @giantvirus.bsky.social !

Vertical transport and spatiotemporal dynamics of giant viruses in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre Abstract. Nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses, or “giant viruses,” are prevalent in marine environments, infecting diverse eukaryotic lineages and influenc

Vertical transport and spatiotemporal dynamics of giant viruses in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre | The ISME Journal | Oxford Academic academic.oup.com/ismej/advance-article/do...

Virus-mediated recycling of chemoautotrophic biomass Aquatic environments absorb ~2.5 gigatonnes of atmospheric carbon each year, more than the carbon stored in the atmosphere, soils, and all biomass combined. Primary producers transform this dissolved ...

Lab's first preprint! #newPI

We show that viruses are active agents that recycle carbon fixed by productive chemoautotrophs, shaping our understanding of carbon cycling in redox-active ecosystems.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

@julesdeep.bsky.social @gtrubl.bsky.social @mepjoe.bsky.social

NIOZ - Postdoc position (45 months):“Marine phytoplankton – virus interactions and loss rates from small to ocean scale” The Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry (MMB; principal investigator and PHYVIR project coordinator Prof. Dr. Corina Brussaard) of NIOZ is looking for a talented and dedicated Postdo

Another position within the PHYVIR project 😁.
Are you looking for an interesting Postdoc (45 month!) on marine viral ecology? Check out the ad below.
workingat.nioz.nl/o/postdoc-po...

Viral activity in lake analogs of anoxic early Earth oceans - Microbiome Background Meromictic lakes, with their stratified water columns, are modern analogs for ancient euxinic (anoxic and sulfidic) oceans, where anaerobic sulfur-oxidizing purple and green sulfur bacteria...

Viral activity in lake analogs of anoxic early Earth oceans microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.... #jcampubs

Cryptic infection of a giant virus in a unicellular green alga Latency is a common strategy in a wide range of viral lineages, but its prevalence in giant viruses remains unknown. Here we describe a 617 kbp integrated giant viral element in the model green alga C...

Latest findings on cryptic infection of giant viruses published in @ScienceMagazine. We discovered a large virus hiding within a green algal genome producing virions.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...