Matters Microbial #105: Snails Farming Bacteria in the Deep Sea August 29, 2025

Let's take a deep dive into chemoautotrophy! Today, Dr. Roxanne Beinart, Associate Professor of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss how some marine creatures use bacterial symbioses to provide organic compounds for growth and reproduction.

Host: Mark O. Martin

Guest: Roxanne Beinart

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Spotify

Become a patron of Matters Microbial!

Links for this episode

• An appreciation of the late Dr. Moselio (Elio) Schaechter from his friends at the blog "Small Things Considered."
• A video from This Week in Microbiology appreciating Elio Schaechter.
• A video describing deep sea symbioses.
• A video by the great Dr. Colleen Cavanaugh about chemoautotrophy/chemosynthesis.
• An overview of chemoautotrophic strategies in the ocean.
• An overview of hydrothermal vents.
• A video review of thiotrophic (sulfur based) symbiotic associations.
• A video about hydrothermal vent exploration.
• A review of hydrothermal vent communities.
• Alvinella, the extremophilic bristleworm discussed in this episode (includes videos).
• An article by Dr. Beinart and colleagues, describing how a hydrothermal vent community is disrupted by a volcanic eruption.
• A report on the 2020 submarine volcano eruption discussed in this episode.
• An interesting article about studying deep sea symbioses, coauthored by Dr. Beinart.
• A great video by Dr. Beinart about her research.
• Dr. Beinart's research team website.
• Dr. Beinart's faculty webpage.

Intro music is by Reber Clark

Send your questions and comments to [email protected]