Microbial Life
Physiology of Lipid-Storing Copepods Along the West Antarctic Peninsula
Ann Tarrant, WHOI Sponsored by: Biology Department
Read MoreOcean Microbes: Novel Study Underscores Microbial Individuality
A single drop of seawater can contain a wide representation of ocean microbes from around the world — revealing novel insights into the ecology, evolution and biotechnology potential of the global microbiome.
Whales may owe their efficient digestion to millions of tiny microbes
A study by NSF-funded researchers at WHOI shows that the microbial communities inside whales may play an important role in the digestion of one of the ocean’s most abundant carbon-rich lipids: wax esters.
Mitochondrial Bioenergetics and Organismal Responses to Environmental Change
Nishad Jayasundara, University of Maine Sponsored by: Biology Department
Read MoreThere will be no Biology Department Seminar today
Oasis in the Desert: Copepod Association Supports a Dynamic Microbial Community in the Oligotrophic North Atlantic Ocean
Katyanne Shoemaker Sponsored by: Biology Department
Read MoreForbes: Arsenic-Breathing Microbes Found In The Open Ocean
Redrawing the Map of Arctic Marine Microbial Diversity
Special Biology Department Seminar
Read MoreMicrobes May Act as Gatekeepers of Earth’s Deep Carbon
Two years ago an international team of scientists visited Costa Rica’s subduction zone, where the ocean floor sinks beneath the…
Read MoreMicrobial Life
Microbial life can be found throughout the ocean, from rocks and sediments beneath the seafloor, across the vast stretches of open water, to intertidal and surf zones.
Read MorePlankton, By Any Other Name
Scientists usually divide plankton into three groups that align with major divisions of life. The plant-like organisms are phytoplankton (from…
Read MoreJunk Food
An estimated eight million tons of plastics enter our oceans each year, yet only one percent can be seen floating…
Read MoreA Lobster Trap for Microbes
What if you wanted to observe what microbes in the ocean are doing? First, you lure them into your field of view.
Read MoreThe Unseen World on Coral Reefs
We have learned that microbial communities on and within us—a microbiome—keep people healthy. Corals reefs also have their own microbiomes that they couldn’t function without.
Read MoreThe Recipe for a Harmful Algal Bloom
Harmful algal blooms can produce toxins that accumulate in shellfish and cause health problems and economic losses. They have increased in strength and frequency worldwide. Can we get advance warnings of when and where they will occur?
Read MoreThe Bacteria on Your Beaches
The widespread use of antibiotics is increasing the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria—perhaps into the ocean, too.
Read MoreMonitoring Bacteria on Whale Skin
Just like with humans, the skin on marine mammals serves as an important line of defense against pathogens in their environment. A new study sheds light on the skin microbiome – a group of microorganisms that live on skin – in healthy humpback whales, which could aid in future efforts to monitor their health.
Read MoreMicrobial communities demonstrate high turnover
mentions Dennis McGillicuddy
Scientists Reveal Secrets of Whales
Using drones to fly into the misty “blows” of exhaling humpback whales, scientists have found for the first time that…
Read MoreIn the Gardens of the Queen
An unprecedented research cruise investigated one of the most beautiful and unexplored coral reefs in the Caribbean and fostered collaboration between U.S. and Cuban scientists.
Read MoreLife Without Guts
Piece and accompanying video highlights the Alvin sub and the discovery of hydrothermal vent life
Study Identifies Whale Blow Microbiome
A new study by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and colleagues identified for the first time an extensive conserved group of bacteria within healthy humpback whales’ blow’the moist breath that whales spray out of their blowholes when they exhale.
Read MoreThe Amazing Acquired Phototroph!
There are autotrophs, such as plants, that can make their own food. There are heterotrophs, such as animals, that consume other organisms. And then there are curious organisms called mixotrophs, which can do both, switching how they get food depending on the conditions in their environment.
Read MoreWhat Happened to Deepwater Horizon Oil?
Officials pumped a huge amount of chemicals into the deep ocean during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in an effort to disperse the oil. A study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences offers evidence that the dispersant may helped microbes break down the oil.
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