Research Grant USA - PCR Biosystems Applications are now open for the PCRBIO Research Grant, offering a total of £10,000 of PCR reagents to UK-based life science researchers.

Very excited to share that I was selected as a runner-up for the PCRBIO Research Grant! This partnership will help us go deeper into investigating how microplastics impact soil microbial diversity.

pcrbio.com/usa/research...

From deforestation to regeneration: How do land-use changes shape soil microbes and methane-cycling genes in the Eastern Amazon? Land-use change in the Amazon Rainforest impacts soil properties and belowground microbial communities, with far-reaching implications for soil ecosys…

Proud to share my student’s latest paper! We assessed the impacts of forest-to-pasture conversion and forest regeneration in the Amazon on methane-related microbes. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

@jubgontijo.bsky.social @erikaberenguer.bsky.social

Lactobacillus and Limosilactobacillus MAGs from alcoholic fermentation in sugarcane biorefineries | Microbiology Resource Announcements Bioethanol offers environmental benefits over gasoline, and sugarcane-based biorefineries play a pivotal role in national economic development and sustainability (1). Microbial contamination — particu...

Check out our new paper! We recovered and characterized four bacterial MAGs from two Brazilian sugarcane biorefineries to explore the microbial environment during fuel ethanol production and gain new insights into the communities shaping this industrial process: doi.org/10.1128/mra....

Microbial Ecology Applied to Fuel Ethanol Production from Sugarcane Abstract. The production of fuel ethanol in sugarcane biorefineries is a non-aseptic industrial operation, which employs cell recycling and the use of adap

Understanding the microbial ecology of biofuel production is essential to improving yields and sustainability. Yet only a handful of studies examine interactions between yeast and contaminating bacteria. Check out our new mini-review here: doi.org/10.1093/fems...

Illustration promoting the Education and Outreach Network Winter Conference, featuring scientific icons. The event will take place online on 7 November 2025 and is free to attend.

Join us online for the Education and Outreach Network Winter Conference on 7 November 2025. Attendance is free, and registration remains open until 4 November 2025 at 23:59 GMT. Register now: Link in bio

Curious about how anthropogenic actions reshape microbial communities and their role in ecosystems and public health? 🌎

I’m looking for a PhD student to join my lab at AU. Admission would be through our Biomedical & Environmental Health Sciences program, which offers five fully funded fellowships.

A catalog of metagenome-assembled genomes from Amazonian forest and pasture soils | Microbiology Resource Announcements Our group previously recovered 64 bacterial and 5 archaeal metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) from Amazonian forest and pasture soils and evaluated their genomic traits (1). Here, we formally announc...

Assembling MAGs from Amazonian soils is a challenge, but it has become one of our most useful tools to understand these complex communities. Check out our new paper at MRA @asm.org doi.org/10.1128/mra.... in collaboration with @louberrios.bsky.social @jubgontijo.bsky.social @mykophile.bsky.social

Want to engage and « do something » about microplastics in your own environment.

Consider joining the foldscope community that has been mapping novel sources of microplastics around the world.

microcosmos.foldscope.com/post/zCoLNt3...

Interested in grad school at AU? Join the CAS Graduate Enrollment Management team to have your questions about the application process, graduate programs, or life in the DC area answered!

➡️ Drop-In Admissions Advising (Virtual)
📅 October 3, 2025 | 12 p.m.
🔗 More info: bit.ly/3TPOb21

🎉 Registration for the 4th Global Soil Biodiversity Conference is now OPEN 🎉

Early bird registration is open until December 15th ,2025 🦜

Registration page 👇

globalsoilbiodiversity2026.org/registration/

Rethinking microbial carbon use efficiency in soil models.

Hint consider microbial anatomy and physiology

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

Next week I am turning in a complete draft of my second book, “sustainable seafood: a guide for concerned consumers!”

I am seeking expert colleagues willing to give sections within your area of expertise a friendly read.

🦑🌎🧪🦈🐠

Supporting scientists who study and work abroad

Studying or working abroad comes with many challenges but also great opportunities. What can help early-career researchers navigate this journey? Check out my answer (and those of other researchers) in this @science.org piece: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #NextGenSci

Journal plagued with problematic papers, likely from paper mills, pauses submissions The halt will let Taylor & Francis focus on checking Bioengineered’s papers for fraudulent works and paid authorships

Exclusive: A major scientific publisher, Taylor & Francis, said it has paused submissions to its journal Bioengineered so editors there can investigate some 1000 of its papers that bear signs they contain manipulated results or came from paper mills. scim.ag/4kjR4la

🧪CALL FOR APPLICATIONS - 5th call of the 'Excellence by Choice' Postdoctoral Programme in Life Science!

Apply for one of 8 exciting research projects, compete for two fully funded postdoctoral fellowships and contribute to cutting-edge science in Umeå!

Learn more and apply here:
lnkd.in/d_KSm3RV

Our new consensus statement on reducing and reporting contamination in microbiome studies is the cover image of this month's Nature Microbiology: www.nature.com/articles/s41... In the cover photo, you can see our postdoc Sophie Holland in fully PPE sampling the atmosphere of terrestrial Antarctica.

We are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2025 Master the Microbiome Grant!

Congrats to Dr. Andressa M. Venturini, Rahma O. Golicha, Melissa Basso, Dr. Maria Florencia Fernandez, and Dr. Mohd Yusmaidie Aziz!

Read more: www.zymoresearch.com/blogs/blog/m...

July issue of @cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social is now online, with our review by @xinmingxu.bsky.social @neftalyl.bsky.social on Composing a microbial symphony and a matching cover illustration by @lizahaart.bsky.social

#SynCom #PlantMicrobiome #MicrobiomeEcology at #LeidenBiology

A genomic perspective on fungal diversity and evolution Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 30 June 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01195-6In this Review, Mondo and Grigoriev explore the central role of omics approaches to investigate the biology and evolution of fungi and understand phylogeny and how traits evolved over time within the fungal kingdom.

New online! A genomic perspective on fungal diversity and evolution

We had a last minute cancellation for STAMPS -- a phenomenal course on microbiome data analysis. Woods Hole, MA, July 14-24 2025.

If you or *anyone* you know is interested to attend, please email Titus &/or me... and we'll do what we can!!!

Thx for sharing widely! 🤞❤️

We'll be hosting a session on #methane cycling & emissions across ecosystems again this year at #AGU2025! Submit your abstract by July 30 to join us in New Orleans for another year of great methane discussions! @drbenrunkle.bsky.social

agu.confex.com/agu/agu25/pr...

Guidelines for preventing and reporting contamination in low-biomass microbiome studies Nature Microbiology - In this Consensus Statement, the authors outline strategies for processing, analysing and interpreting low-biomass microbiome samples, and provide recommendations to minimize...

Hope this is useful - consensus statement "Guidelines for preventing and reporting contamination in low-biomass microbiome studies" rdcu.be/er3Io

Hey all - check this post if you’re at #ASMicrobe this weekend.

Let’s have a meet up tomorrow for a photo op of microbiologists on @bsky.app who are at #ASMicrobe!

Be there at 3 PM at the main entrance giant ASM sign!

In person meetups are super fun - please be there!

And plz repost!

Catching up with Andressa Venturini, winner of the Master the Microbiome Grant from Zymo Research!

👋

Excited to share I received the Master the Microbiome Grant from @zymoresearch.bsky.social!
Going to #ASMicrobe? I’ll be giving a short talk at their booth on Amazonian forest degradation and its impact on soil microbes — June 21, 2:15 p.m.
Come say hi! 🦠

Community Science Program New Investigator (FY25) Congratulations to our 2025 CSP New Investigator recipients! Andressa M. Venturini American University Amazonian forest degradation: Impacts on soil microorganisms

. @aventurini.bsky.social of @aucollege.bsky.social will investigate how land-use changes and degradation in the Amazon rainforest affect microbial diversity and function, offering insights for bioenergy production. @erikaberenguer.bsky.social

jointgeno.me/CSPNI_FY25 🖥️🧬

NEWS This Brazilian frog might be the first pollinating amphibian known to science

It’s the first time a frog—or any amphibian—has been observed pollinating a plant, researchers reported in 2023.

Learn more on #WorldFrogDay: scim.ag/4kGdvCy

Metabuli-App simplifies (meta)genomic taxonomic analysis. Classify sequences, explore results interactively, create/update DBs & more. Runs on Windows, Linux & Mac.
📄 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
💾 github.com/steineggerla...
Sankey plot available as a own component
💾 github.com/steineggerla...

Biodiversity declines across fragmented forests Assessing the effect of forest fragmentation on biodiversity.

New article out today in @nature.com by Gonçalves-Souza, @nickhaddad.bsky.social, @jon-chase03.bsky.social et al. on forest fragmentation and biodiversity:

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

A must read for anyone interested in this topic. See my summary here:

www.nature.com/articles/d41...