🦠 A freshwater virus is challenging one of biology’s oldest assumptions WI members Dr. Jozef Nissimov, Dr. Kirsten Müller and PhD candidate Isaac Meza-Padilla, have found a virus carrying the largest known set of ribosomal protein genes ever identified in a virus. uwaterloo.ca/water-instit...

Freshwater virus challenges biology’s rules | Water Institute | University of Waterloo

Freshwater virus challenges biology’s rules

uwaterloo.ca

Virus infection of a #bloom, together with limiting #eutrophication can help in mitigating the effects of harmful algal #blooms (HABs). But what if nutrient reduction selects for virus resistance? And are all cells in a #HAB the same? Answers are in our latest preprint: doi.org/10.64898/202...

Speaking in front of nearly a 1000 people is not easy, yet my PhD student, Isaac nailed it! Congratulations for an amazing talk at one of the most prestigious international meetings in our field: Viruses of Microbes (#VoM2026). If you haven't checked our paper yet, here it is: lnkd.in/d2ZMX2iU

Happy to share the latest work by my student Isaac at @uwaterloo.ca on #ribosomal #proteins in #phages published in The ISME J. The work is an excellent example of what happens when self-driven curious students are allowed the freedom to run forward with their own ideas uwaterloo.ca/science/news...

What is a virus? | Science | University of Waterloo

Dr. Jozef Nissimov and his team have uncovered a genome of a cyanophage (a virus that infects cyanobacteria) that defies conventional distinctions between viruses and cells.

uwaterloo.ca

Great loss for the science of genomics today. I still remember clearly his guest lecture and meeting with us students at @plymuni.bsky.social back in 2009 and his brief stop with the Sorcerer II to sample waters from the English Channel alongside scientists (including junior me) from @pml.ac.uk. RIP

J. Craig Venter Institute@jcvi.org · 4mo ago

It is with great sadness that we announce J. Craig Venter has died. 🧪🧬 www.jcvi.org/media-center...

Amazing work @giantvirus.bsky.social Congratulations to you and your team.

Monir Moniruzzaman@giantvirus.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Excited to share our lab's new paper in Current Biology featuring MS student Sydney Schultz's work. We show that a polar alga carries large amount of giant viral DNA in its genome, and many of the viral genes respond to stress - with implications for host adaptation. www.cell.com/current-biol...

Come join #LaurierBiology! We're recruiting 3 tenure-track faculty positions! Integrative Organismal Zoologist! careers.wlu.ca/job/Waterloo... Microbial Systems Biologist! careers.wlu.ca/job/Waterloo... Computational Ecology/Modeling Biologist! careers.wlu.ca/job/Waterloo... DEADLINE MARCH 22nd!

Prospective PhD applicants to my research group are invited to apply through the below program. Send me a CV and a short cover letter (including research interests) and make sure that you are eligible. Please spread the word to colleagues & students. uwaterloo.ca/future-gradu...

Congratulations to @trevorcharles.bsky.social and my student Delaney Nash for a successful PhD defense. Dr. Nash is my first graduating PhD. I am extremely proud of what she did (a very diverse thesis, ranging from RSV and Influenza to algal viruses). Dr. Nash will excel in everything she does next.

Another great social for our lab tonight at the #hockey. We didn't win but still...Lots to celebrate this year. From successful comprehensive examinations to publications and exciting ongoing projects. 2026 here we come!

I am happy to announce the launch of my lab's website: www.enverg.ca After more than 5 years, I finally got the time to put something together. Its basic, but hopefully will grow over the upcoming months and years.

ENVERG

Our approach to research

enverg.ca

(1/9) Latest preprint from our lab at @uwaterloo.ca conceived predominantly by our very talented #PhD #student Isaac Meza-Padilla: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

#algae matters. This is why: uwaterloo.ca/news/science...

Inside Canada’s largest freshwater algal culture collection | Waterloo News

Algae may call to mind discoloured pool water or the green film floating to the top of your rain barrel, but they’re much more than a summertime nuisance. Algae have applications from carbon sequestra...

uwaterloo.ca

Latest work from my lab at @uwaterloo.ca by PhD student Isaac Meza-Padilla on using #Alphafold for #proteome modelling in #cyanophages: doi.org/10.1016/j.cs...

Join the creators of @alltooclearfilm.bsky.social for a historic real-time dive to Superior Shoal, a towering underwater mountain in the heart of Lake Superior. Explore the Freshwater Everest on Sunday, September 14 at 3 PM ET. Learn more: inspiredplanet.ca/live

It was an honour meeting and talking to, and snorkeling with the pioneer marine biologist, oceanographer, aquanaut and National Geographic explorer Sylvia Earle at the @psaalgae.bsky.social meeting in #PuertoRico. An incredible ambassador for #Science and the #Ocean. A truly inspiring individual.

Join marine researchers @UBC (ubcoceans.ubc.ca). CERC in Ocean Ecological Modeling (research.ubc.ca/media/file/c...). $8M to work at the intersection of oceanography, fisheries, ecology, biodiversity, etc, in the context of environmental change, ecosystems, biogeochemistry & living marine resources.

Fantastic efforts from my @uwaterloo.ca graduate students at this year's Canadian Society for Microbiology meeting in #Montreal. What a great event and an amazing city!

Reminder: Nobel-prize winning PCR (1983), used in basically all genetic tech today, was only possible because of extremophile bacterium discovered in 1964 in Yellowstone funded by a small ~$80k NSF grant with no obvious application at the time. #science 🧪 www.richmondscientific.com/how-a-discov...

How a discovery in Yellowstone National Park led to the development of PCR - Richmond Scientific

A discovery in Yellowstone National Park led to the development of PCR, the gold-standard COVID-19 tests used to fight the global pandemic.

richmondscientific.com

Great to be on the #water again today for some #microbial sampling in lake #belwood. What a way to start the #summer.

Out in Science! Zakem et al. mechanistically modeled global marine prokaryotic functional diversity, grounded with field data. Shifts in community composition drive respiration and thus biological C storage. This facilitates C cycle projections in a warming ocean www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Functional biogeography of marine microbial heterotrophs

Heterotrophic bacteria and archaea (“heteroprokaryotes”) drive global carbon cycling, but how to quantitatively organize their functional complexity remains unclear. We generated a global-scale unders...

science.org

Congratulations to all our co-authors on publishing this great work, led by our own @uwaterloo.ca gradate student Delaney Nash. rdcu.be/emvgP

When viruses infect toxic algal blooms, they can trigger the release of high levels of harmful microcystin-LR, leaving clear water that may still pose risks to health and ecosystems. doi.org/g9h7s9

Clear waters, hidden toxins: Viruses that combat algal blooms may actually increase risks for people and ecosystems

New laboratory research shows that when viruses attack a species that forms toxic algal blooms, those thick, blue-green slicks that choke waterways and that threaten ecosystems, drinking water, and public health, what results might be even worse than before the infection.

phys.org

Many data sets held by NOAA are being "retired" in may, including datasets relevant to ocean sciences and climate. If you have need for these data, or are an archivist, it would be good to download this now. PLEASE SHARE WIDELY. www.nesdis.noaa.gov/about/docume...

What happens when you do a deep-dive on a classic technique that returns strange results? You might find the technique does not work - at least in your system. 🤔 Kudos to Robbie, Lena et al. On mitomycin-c for inducing lysogens in a harmful cyanobacterial bloom. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Mitomycin C eliminates cyanobacterial transcription without detectable prophage induction in a Microcystis-dominated harmful algal bloom in Lake Erie | Microbiology Spectrum

Harmful algal blooms dominated by Microcystis spp. occur throughout the world’s freshwater ecosystems, leading to detrimental effects on ecosystem services that are well documented. After decades of r...

journals.asm.org

Had the privilege of teaching #marine #biology this year @uwaterloo.ca, the same subject I studied as a BSc student 2 decades ago @plymuni.bsky.social During the course I had wonderful recollections of my own #professors I had at the time and the diversity of subjects they passionately covered...