Ute Hentschel
@utehentschel.bsky.social
Professor of Marine Microbiology at GEOMAR. A particular interest in marine animal-microbe symbioses.
Check out the brilliant work led by @mturon.bsky.social, @utehentschel.bsky.social, and @anariesgo.bsky.social ! Just another reason why sponges are cool!
Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales@mncn-csic.bsky.social · 3w ago¡Las relaciones entre especies nunca dejarán de sorprendernos! Un equipo del MNCN-@csic.es ha descubierto una esponja marina que se alimenta de sus bacterias durante el periodo reproductivo. 📷 @tylerjcarrier.bsky.social www.mncn.csic.es/es/Comunicac...
ASG Sponges genome note #30: Axinella damicornis. Scuba divers will recognize this yellow, horned sponge in Mediterranean waters but also the North-Eastern Atlantic from Cabo Verde to the British Isles. wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/11-... @moorefound.bsky.social @sangerinstitute.bsky.social
ASG Sponges genome note #29: Phyllospongia foliascens is common to the Indo-Pacific ocean, engages in symbiosis with cyanobacteria (Synechococcus), and displays rich sesterterpenoid chemistry. lnkd.in/e8W6NVdd @moorefound.bsky.social @sangerinstitute.bsky.social @geomarkiel.bsky.social
ASG Sponges genome note#28: Sarcotragus fasciculatus, the "stinker sponge". Well, what can I say about this one? Go, find out yourself: lnkd.in/eRByNSTC by Manuel Maldonado and Lucia Pita @moorefound.bsky.social @geomarkiel.bsky.social @sangerinstitute.bsky.social lnkd.in/ehRap3CW
ASG Sponges genome note #27. Rhabdastrella globostellata from the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Its called the "yellow pot sponge" because of its mustard yellow inside color and its is full of bioactive compounds and diverse microbial communities. lnkd.in/eUe-xVP3
ASG Sponges genome note #26. Theonella swinhoei is a real treasure trove of chemical and microbial diversity. lnkd.in/e3tpwZvW by Micha Ilan, Laura Steindler, Paco Cardenas and Jörn Piel GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel Wellcome Sanger Institute lnkd.in/ehRap3CW
W3 Professorship (tenured) @geomarkiel.bsky.social (GEOMAR, Germany) in Marine Experimental Benthic Ecology www.berufungen.uni-kiel.de/de/dateien/o...
Beneath the kelp forests of the Great Southern Reef, deep sponge gardens form living habitat on the seafloor. These slow-growing animal forests filter water, shelter marine life and hold species science is still working to name.
Development in the sea is tough and can end in starvation. @tylerjcarrier.bsky.social @utehentschel.bsky.social &co show that #SeaUrchin eggs contain a #plastid -derived structure whose light-dependent activity influences metabolism, #development & survival @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4mOAxZh
www.metaorganism-research.com/news/a-mothe...
A mother’s gift: plastid-derived structures help sea urchin development and disperse
– Joint press release by Kiel University and GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel – An international research team led by the CRC 1182 and GEOMAR has discovered for the first time that sea…
metaorganism-research.com
Brilliant new paper by @tylerjcarrier.bsky.social on how plastid-derived structures help sea urchin development and dispersal. 10.1371/journal.pbio.3003705 @plosbiology.org @geomarkiel.bsky.social @moorefound.bsky.social
Tyler J. Carrier@tylerjcarrier.bsky.social · 5mo agoNew paper entitled "Sea urchin eggs contain a plastid-derived structure that contributes to their development" is now out in @plosbiology.org! Here is a summary... journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
And another sponge #genome note from the Aquatic Symbiosis Genomics project! The large #sponge Geodia phlegraei, was sequenced by the Wellcome Sanger Institute. It can be found from Sweden/Norway to Canada in deep-sea boreal waters. wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/11-...
ASG Sponges genome note #24. Xestospongia bergquistia, an IndoPacific giant barrel sponge described by Jane Fromont (1991), named in honour of the New Zealand sponge biologist, Patricia Bergquist, and submitted for genome sequencing by Sandie Degnan. wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/11-...
The world needs more symbioses. Thanks @carmcdhume.bsky.social @symbiosky.bsky.social @microsky.bsky.social
Carmen Denman Hume@carmcdhume.bsky.social · 7mo agoForget complicated 'situationships'; read about symbioses - partnerships found everywhere in nature. I had access to some seriously expert brains @amjadkhalaf.bsky.social, @mmontonerin.bsky.social @utehentschel.bsky.social and others to discuss. Enjoy: sangerinstitute.blog/2026/02/13/n...
📢📢📢Lectureships at Bristol!📢📢📢 We're hiring 3 x lecturers (=assistant professor) in Biological Sciences, across the discipline. Great department, great colleagues, great building, great city Details here: www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...
Oh my, potential sea star wasting in the Baltic!. Exciting and scary at the same time.
Katja Seebass@katjasee.bsky.social · 8mo agoNew preprint: first systematic, year-round field data showing widespread and persistent sea star wasting-type disease in Baltic Asterias rubens. On bioRxiv:
Interested in evolution, microbiota, and development? Then see the symposium in Glasgow below by @Tyler Carrier and Thomas Busch.
Tyler J. Carrier@tylerjcarrier.bsky.social · 8mo agoThomas Bosch and I have organized a symposium on the “Impacts of Microbiota on Animal and Plant Development” that will be part of the Euro EvoDevo meeting in Glasgow this summer. Please register through EED. Thanks to generous sponsors, we have some financial support for early-career scientists.
ASG Sponges genome note #23. The bread-crumb sponge Halichondria panicea is an emerging experimental model. With > 4800 publications, it is the most published species in the phylum Porifera. doi.org/10.12688/wel... @moorefound.bsky.social @sangerinstitute.bsky.social @geomarkiel.bsky.social
ASG Sponges genome note #22. Geodia phlegraei is a deep water sponge of the North Atlantic. The genome is valuable for conservation of marine ecosystems. lnkd.in/eTZVzwYn @paccardenas.bsky.social @moorefound.bsky.social @sangerinstitute.bsky.social @geomarkiel.bsky.social lnkd.in/ehRap3CW
ASG Sponges genome note #21. Aiolochroia crassa from Florida may look like bubble gum ice cream, but it is full of chemistry inside. lnkd.in/eFdscQ3C @moorefound.bsky.social @sangerinstitute.bsky.social @geomarkiel.bsky.social Learn more about the absorbing world of sponges: lnkd.in/ehRap3CW
ASG Sponges genome note #20 on Haliclona indistincta from Ireland. Its name is derived from the paucity of defining characters. doi.org/10.12688/wel... @moorefound.bsky.social @sangerinstitute.bsky.social @geomarkiel.bsky.social Learn more about the absorbing world of sponges: lnkd.in/ehRap3CW
ASG Sponges genome note #19. Geodia parva (Hansen, 1885), the first sponge genome from the Arctic. doi.org/10.12688/wel... @paccardenas.bsky.social @moorefound.bsky.social @sangerinstitute.bsky.social @geomarkiel.bsky.social Learn more about the absorbing world of sponges: lnkd.in/ehRap3CW
ASG Sponges genome note #18. This is really exciting: the first genome of a carnivorous sponge, Lycopodina hypogea, collected from submarine caves in France. lnkd.in/ePHQsUcF @moorefound.bsky.social @sangerinstitute.bsky.social Learn more about the absorbing world of sponges: lnkd.in/ehRap3CW
🌈 Dive into the rainbow! The #I_SEA_RAINBOWS project is officially launched! Studying Oscarella sponges — their colors, diversity & climate resilience @univ-amu.fr. Huge thanks to the @agencerecherche.bsky.social for supporting this adventure! #MarineBiodiversity #ClimateResilience #Sponges
Marine #sponges are generally considered biosynthetic "hotspots" (e.g. Theonella) - but does this always hold true? In our newest study led by @stephenjackson.bsky.social we are looking at Inflatella pellicula's biosynthetic capacity - and our results are surprising doi.org/10.1099/mgen...
New insights into the microbiome of the deep-sea sponge Inflatella pellicula and the secondary metabolic potential of metagenome-assembled genomes and the wider microbiome
Marine sponges are found in all of the world’s oceans, from the surface waters to the deepest abyssal zones. The marine sponge holobiont is a rich source of microbial and chemical diversity. Up to 63 ...
doi.org
Actus Mer/Sea News: Geochemical-mineralogical analysis of ferromanganese oxide precipitated on porifera in the MAGELLAN seamount, western Pacific - @FrontMarineSci http://dlvr.it/SgTlJL
OH WOW! A whole web page DEVOTED to SPONGE SPICULE Imagery ! #porifera #spongeThursday www.spicules.org
#ERGAReads | Integrative #phylogenomics positions sponges at the root of the animal tree 🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🧬 #porifera #sponges #phylogenomics
Integrative phylogenomics positions sponges at the root of the animal tree
Determining whether sponges or ctenophores root the animal tree has important implications for understanding early animal evolution. Here, we examined support for these competing hypotheses by…
science.org
Swab, Wipe, & Rinse. "Our results suggest that early sponges were not biomineralized & that both biosilicification & biocalcification evolved independently multiple times across Porifera." Neat!
Philip Donoghue@phil-donoghue.bsky.social · 9mo agoOur latest: Independent origins of spicules reconcile paleontological and molecular evidence of sponge evolutionary history, led by @meleonora-rossi.bsky.social with help from friends @bristolpalaeo.bsky.social including @anariesgo.bsky.social @evopalaeo.bsky.social Davide Pisani and many others
