Today, Dr. Sue Ishaq of the University of Maine joins the #QualityQuorum to tell us about the relationship between what we eat and our microbes, as well as making microbiology more inclusive to everyone.

Host: Mark O. Martin

Guest: Sue Ishaq

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• An explanation of Charles Darwin’s quotation about having a bad day. 
• The laboratory website of Dr. Michael Baym, who sent me that quotation as a metal plate for my lab.  Much appreciated!
• An article about broccoli metabolism.
• An introductory article for the public about broccoli consumption and IBD.
• A 2023 article from Dr. Ishaq’s group suggesting a relationship between consuming broccoli sprouts and reduction of inflammatory bowel disease in mice.
• A 2023 article https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/msystems.00532-23 from Dr. Ishaq’s group relating the consumption of steamed broccoli sprouts to reduction of inflammation in mice.
• A very readable introduction to the concept of microbiology and social equity.
• A link to a number of essential articles relating microbiology and social equity—microbiology should be for EVERYONE.
• The faculty website of Dr. Ishaq at the University of Maine.
• The WONDERFUL laboratory website of Dr. Ishaq.

Intro music is by Reber Clark

Send your questions and comments to [email protected]

Today, Dr. Cameron Thrash of the University of Southern California will discuss marine microbiology, an extremely…ubiquitous…microbe (with a name every #Micronaut should know!), conducting research at sea, and his path in science.

Host: Mark O. Martin

Guest: Cameron Thrash

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• Here is an essay describing the Great Plating Anomaly and a criticism of that approach.
• A wonderful video (scan forward to 27 minutes in for the relevant part) about the discovery of SAR11.
• An interview with Dr. Stephen Giovannoni about marine microbiology.
• An introductory overview of Pelagibacter ubique and a more thorough review.
• How the genome of Pelagibacter and other small microbes have been “darwinnowed” over time by evolution.
• A review article about Pelagibacter and regulation.
• Here and here are two examples of Dr. Thrash’s CURE approach with undergraduates.
• Here is Cameron Thrash’s faculty website.
• Here is Cameron Thrash’s really quite awesome laboratory website.
• For indispensable links to myriad fascinating articles about microbiology, check out Cameron Thrash on X (formerly Twitter) (@jcamthrash) and BlueSky (@jcamthrash .bsky.social)

Intro music is by Reber Clark

Send your questions and comments to [email protected]

Today, Dr. Danielle Campbell (and former #DocMartian!), a postdoctoral scholar of the Baldridge group at Washington University in St. Louis, will share her research into the relationship between bacteriophage and the gut microbiome…as well as chat about her path in science.

Host: Mark O. Martin

Guest: Danielle Campbell

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• Here is a link to a wonderful review article by Dr. Campbell describing the role that the microbiome can have on viral infections.
• Here is a link to a a publication describing the Salyersviridae, as described by Dr. Campbell.
• I wrote an essay about Abigail Salyers here.
• Here and here can be found more biographical information about Dr. Salyer’s contribution to microbiology, and the remarkable life she led.
• A description of the career changing Microbial Diversity Course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.  
• A link to the Baldrige Laboratory at Washington University of St. Louis, where Dr. Campbell is a postdoctoral scholar.

Intro music is by Reber Clark

Send your questions and comments to [email protected]

Today, Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Julia van Kessel of Indiana University will chat with us about how groups of bacteria can sense one another and carry out behavior as a collective…including some kinds of disease!

Host: Mark O. Martin

Guest: Julia van Kessel

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• An introduction to the horrific disease leprosy, caused by the quite strange organism Mycobacterium leprae.
• An overview of the Hansen Institute in Ethiopia.
• A solid overview of quorum sensing.
• A very interesting review article about quorum sensing.
• A video that two of my Bio350 Micronauts (including a former guest of our podcast, Dr. Ruth Isenberg) put together some years ago to illustrate the idea of quorum sensing.
• A very clear overview of quorum sensing by the highly energetic and brilliant Dr. Bonnie Bassler, one of the giants of this field.
• A #LuxArt show I organized a few years ago at Carleton College, where I encouraged students to create art by “painting” with luminous bacteria on Petri dishes.  It is a true merger of art and science.
• Using Chromobacterium to “look” for quorum sensing molecules.  I made this imperfect video to illustrate the concept.
• My old friend Vibrio harveyi, which Dr. van Kessel uses in her laboratory.
• Vibrio coralliilyticus, which causes coral diseases.
• If you are interested in learning about how some bacteria have what seems to be a molecular switchblade knife—the Type 6 Secretory System— to use against other bacteria or other organisms, the link above is a fine place to start.  In addition, a Bio350 student of mine made a lovely Claymation video of the process some years ago.
• Here is Dr. van Kessel’s faculty website at Indiana University in Bloomington.
• Here is the laboratory website—with excellent graphics and videos—of Dr. van Kessel’s group.

Intro music is by Reber Clark

Send your questions and comments to [email protected]

Today, the impressive Dr. Arturo Casadevall of Johns Hopkins University will joint #MattersMicrobial to discuss his path in science, how fungi need more study, that some fungi are literally cool, and others a looming threat. 

Host: Mark O. Martin

Guest: Arturo Casadevall

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• A wonderful remembrance (by multiple authors) of Lynn Margulis, and essays by Elio Schaechter (a friend of Margulis’) and James Lake (a colleague).  
• The wonderful Tiny Earth program that uses a CURE type approach to allow students to search for new antibiotic producing microbes.  Also, a fine publication describing this worldwide program.
• An overview of the diverse and dizzying fungal world all around us.
• A publication describing how fungi dominated after every mass extinction.
• Giant fungi existed in Earth’s past.
• Dr. Casadevall group’s article on how fungi are cooler than the environment around them, including the “mycorefrigerator.”
• Evidence that high body temperatures defend against fungal disease.  Dr. Casadevall wrote an article suggesting that fungal diseases might have helped lead to the extinction of dinosaurs.
• Dr. Casadevall explores the possibility of fungal adaptation to higher temperatures in our warming world.  
• Dr. Casadevall’s essay about problems with the term “pathogen.”
• Drs Casadevall and Fang’s new book titled “Thinking About Science.”
• A short biography of Dr. Casadevall as well as his Wikipedia page.
• Dr. Casadevall’s faculty website

Intro music is by Reber Clark

Send your questions and comments to [email protected]

Today my former undergraduate student Lauren Augusta, currently in a PhD program in Microbiology at the University of Indiana, joins the podcast to chat about how she chose her career path in the microbial sciences, and her future path.

Host: Mark O. Martin

Guest: Lauren Augusta

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• The program for creating the maze on this session’s thumbnail image is here.
• Here is the website for Micropia, the microbiology museum in Amsterdam in the Netherlands.  SO WORTH YOUR TIME.  I wish that I worked there!
• Here is a description of Micropia’s “tardigrade chair” which is kind of a tourist destination!
• Lauren Augusta, today’s guest on the podcast, did a wonderful video advertisement for my institution, the University of Puget Sound.
• An introduction for beginning micronauts about Agrobacterium, and why you should care about this natural genetic engineer, as well as a more advanced review.  Plus another fine review from Dr. Clay Fuqua and coworkers.  
• Lovely overviews of the global signaling molecule of bacteria that Lauren studies, cyclic-di-GMP, can be found here, here, and here.  
• The Microbiology Department website at the University of Indiana where Lauren is working on her Ph.D.
• The faculty webpage of Lauren’s Ph.D. supervisor, Dr. Clay Fuqua.

Intro music is by Reber Clark

Send your questions and comments to [email protected]

Today Dr. Christina Kellogg of the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center in St. Petersburg Florida chats with the podcast about her many diverse adventures in marine microbial ecology! It’s quite a high energy microbial journey!

Host: Mark O. Martin

Guest: Chris Kellogg

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• The recycled metal artwork of Brian Mock has a website here.
• Interested in how bacterial respiration can generate electricity?  See this interesting review paper.  And with the holidays approaching, you might even make a microbial fuel cell of your own here!
• An video introduction to coral reefs
• A fine review essay on coral reefs and bacterial diseases.
• Very much worth your time:  a video (including Dr. Kellogg) describing coral microbiology.
• Video from Dr. Kellogg #1:  A Deep Sea Coral Expedition.
• Video from Dr. Kellogg #2:  Coral Disease Projet in Kauai.
• Video from Dr. Kellogg #3:  DEEP Sea Exploration to Advance Research on Coral/Canyon/Cold Seep Habitats.
• Dr. Kellogg’s website is here

Intro music is by Reber Clark

Send your questions and comments to [email protected]

Today Dr. Suzanne Devkota of the Cedars-Sinai Division of Gastronterology and Director of the Cedars Sinai Human Microbiome Research Institute will tell us about the role that our diet plays in the gut microbiome, and how that can impact health.  So it really is true:  you ARE what you(r microbes) eat!

Host: Mark O. Martin

Guest: Suzanne Devkota

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• An overview for beginning micronauts on diet and the human microbiome, from the Harvard School of Public Health.
• A good review article for more experienced micronauts.
• A really informative and engaging  talk by Dr. Devkota about diet and the microbiome.
• An article by Dr. Devkota about using the microbiome to explore health issues.
• Another article by Dr. Devkota reviewing how dietary changes can impact the microbiome.
• Dr. Devkota’s faculty website.
• Dr. Devkota’s excellent laboratory website.
• In addition, Dr. Devkota sent along two links:  one to an overview of the microbiome institute at Cedars-Sinai, and one about how the Western diet impacts the human microbiome.  

Intro music is by Reber Clark

Send your questions and comments to [email protected]

Today Dr. Steffanie Strathdee, Associate Dean of Global Health Sciences at UC San Diego and Co-Director at the Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics, will chat with us about how bacteriophages—viruses that attack bacteria—changed her life and are becoming part of our future.

Host: Mark O. Martin

Guest: Steffanie Strathdee

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Spotify

Become a patron of Matters Microbial!

• A fun video about bacteriophages.

• A pretty solid overview about bacteriophages.

• An article about the history of bacteriophages.

• An article about a truly prophetic  book—“Arrowsmith”--- from 1925, by Sinclair Lewis, about using bacteriophages to fight disease.

• A wonderful TED talk about the rise of antibiotic resistant pathogens by Maryn McKenna.

• A nice overview of ESKAPE pathogens and antimicrobial resistance. 

• A link to a recent talk given by Dr. Strathdee.

• A link to Dr. Strathdee’s recent book, “The Perfect Predator.”

• A super recent and quite wonderful review article about phage therapy by Dr. Strathdee.

• The SEAPHAGES program (which I always wanted to be part of!!)

• Ry Young’s laboratory website.

• Dr. Strathdee’s faculty website.

• Dr. Strathdee’s Wikipedia page!

• A link to the website of the Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics (IPATH).

Intro music is by Reber Clark

Send your questions and comments to [email protected]