🌊 25 years of Argo and ocean observation records! ▸ 50,000 km: the longest journey ▸ 6,000 m: the greatest depth reached ▸ 16 years: the longest operational lifetime ▸ 3 years: the longest continuous mission beneath sea ice Challenge: can you guess which float achieved each records?!

New study by Alexander Henoch (@ahenoch.bsky.social), a PhD student in our group @hifmb.de and @awi.de, shows what it takes to bring gene synteny into microbial pangenomes, and what we learn about the variability landscape of genomes when we do that. See the pre-print here: doi.org/10.64898/202...

The NSF GRFP is now out! There are 2,599 awardees, which is the most ever—and a big shift from last year which initially halved awardees (1,000 awardees + an additional 500). I've thrown together a plot to break down the changes by field. www.research.gov/grfp/Awardee...

Our latest. Led by the very talented @ahoiching.bsky.social Cell cycle dysregulation of globally important SAR11 bacteria resulting from environmental perturbation www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs 🌊

Cell cycle dysregulation of globally important SAR11 bacteria resulting from environmental perturbation - Nature Microbiology

Without key cell cycle control genes, SAR11 cells experience aneuploidy and growth inhibition when exposed to changes in nutrients, carbon sources or temperature stress, a vulnerability that may repre...

nature.com

Troubleshooting common errors in assemblies of long-read metagenomes - @merenbey.bsky.social @banfieldlab.bsky.social go.nature.com/44P7nSm

Troubleshooting common errors in assemblies of long-read metagenomes - Nature Biotechnology

Long-read sequence assemblies from metagenomes contain frequent errors.

go.nature.com

What's NCAR? and 8 ways it has helped you www.forbes.com/sites/marsha...

I am delighted to share that the radEmu manuscript was accepted today to Biometrika 🥳 Sending gratitude to our users and reviewers for their enthusiasm and support!! Huge congrats to @davidandacat.bsky.social and Sarah Teichman on all their hard work and brilliance 😻❗ 1/

So proud to see the 20th anniversary #ArcticReportCard released today! ❄️ This is one of the most dynamic and timely products out of NOAA. Congrats to all the editors and authors!! Full Report here (arctic.noaa.gov/report-card/...) youtu.be/t2PF6uk3tqA

NOAA Arctic Report Card 2025

YouTube video by NOAAPMEL

youtu.be

🧪📍🌊 🦑🍎 Attention students and recent grads! opportunity for #oceanscience interns to sail aboard #EVNautilus next year in a paid position for 3-5 weeks. Whether you’re studying #marinebiology, #geology, or any other type of #oceanography. Learn more and apply by Jan 4 at NautilusLive.org

Nautilus Live | Ocean Exploration Trust

Explore the ocean with us! We seek out new discoveries while conducting scientific exploration of the seafloor and stream live to the world aboard Exploration Vessel Nautilus.

nautiluslive.org

What would a marine microbiome observing system meant to last decades look like? 🌊🦠 We explored this at the recent MMOFF Workshop, which brought together diverse partners to envision the future of marine microbiome observations. merenlab.org/workshops/MM...

Marine Microbial Observatories for the Future: From Samples to Data to Legacy Using Integrated 'Omics Strategies

A workshop for the future

merenlab.org

I am happy to share that our data descriptor on the Hawaiʻi Diel Sampling is now published! 🌊🦠https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-025-06166-3 Every 1.5 hours for 48 hours, we collected ocean microbes from within and adjacent to Kāneʻohe Bay, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi and produced a multi-omics dataset.

A high-resolution diel survey of surface ocean metagenomes, metatranscriptomes, and transfer RNA transcripts - Scientific Data

Scientific Data - A high-resolution diel survey of surface ocean metagenomes, metatranscriptomes, and transfer RNA transcripts

nature.com

🔊 APPLY NOW for our #MarMic #MSc/#PhD program! Come to #Bremen and take an interdisciplinary approach to #marine #microbiology, #molecularbiology, #biochemistry, #evolution and more. ⏳ Open until Feb 28 2026 ➡ marmic.mpg.de #graduatestudents #marinescience #sciencecareer #IMPRS @maxplanck.de

Merry December folks! Wanna know your most used and co-dependent geoms this past year?! I've built "Spotify Wrapped" for {ggplot2} that produces you an interactive story and analytical tools for your geom usage! #rstats Build your own report by following the docs: gpcds.com/ggplot2wrapp...

A few py2Dmol updates 🧬 py2dmol.solab.org Integration with AlphaFoldDB (will auto fetch results). Drag and drop results from AF3-server or ColabFold for interactive experience! (1/4)

Starting this week, I set aside one hour each week to meet ECRs outside my group who want to discuss career development, mentorship, or any non-technical professional questions. Here is a blog that explains my motivation for this and how to schedule a meeting: merenlab.org/2025/11/16/E...

ECR connection: Meet Meren when you need to

A means for ECRs to get advice from a senior scientist outside of their support network

merenlab.org

Diving through the purple sulfur bacteria layer of Fayetteville Green Lake with our ROV last month. This is the most intense density of PSB that I've seen in many years!

A wonderful collaboration between my lab and Andy Ellington and Edward Marcotte here at UT. We obtained lots of thermal stable plastic degrading enzymes from the deep sea (Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California)

Plastic degradation by enzymes from uncultured deep sea microorganisms

Abstract. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)-hydrolyzing enzymes (PETases) are a recently discovered enzyme class capable of plastic degradation. PETases are

academic.oup.com

A big thank you to @amydwillis.bsky.social and @titus.idyll.org for all your hard work and leadership. It is incredible the education, resources, network, and memories the STAMPS course has provided. There is nothing else like it and it will be missed. Team villagers >> team werewolves 💗🐺

Amy D Willis@amydwillis.bsky.social · 9mo ago

With much gratitude to everyone who supported the wonderful #STAMPS summer course at the MBL, I share that STAMPS will not be offered in 2026. 💔😿

Kudos to the @seattletimes.com for spelling with diacritical marks used in the Hawaiian language, the ʻokina and the kahakō. A few years ago, when I asked the NY Times to spell my affiliation as University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, they refused because it went against their style guide.

Why we're using this spelling of Hawaiʻi

You may notice a change in how we spell Hawaiʻi and other Native Hawaiian words at The Seattle Times. Here's why.

seattletimes.com

Are you looking for a #tenuretrack or #openrank job in #biostatistics or #statistics? @fredhutch.org is hiring! Seattle is a wonderful place to grow your career; the bio/stat & science scene here is world-class; and you will work w/ amazing UW Biostat students. Apply! apply.interfolio.com/176402

I'm delighted our paper is out: doi.org/10.1093/isme... With new SAR11 isolate genomes and time-series metagenomes, we reveal coastal and offshore SAR11 ecotypes, identify associated metabolic traits, and pinpoint selective gene sweeps as a likely evolutionary driver to niche partitioning. 🌊🦠

Habitat-specificity in SAR11 is associated with a few genes under high selection

Abstract. The order Pelagibacterales (SAR11) is the most abundant group of heterotrophic bacteria in the global surface ocean, where individual sublineages

doi.org

I am recruiting a Ph.D. student in microbial ecology, evolution, and systems biology for fall 2026. Please share! Details: qevomicrolab.org/Documents/Gr... Apply by October 1 here: forms.gle/38pPS1Ky84HB...

Very happy to see this one out: doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf192 Here, we assessed the contribution of natural transformation to the acquisition of novel genes. See preprint thread. @molbioevol.bsky.social #microsky #evobio

Impact of Natural Transformation on the Acquisition of Novel Genes in Bacteria

Abstract. Natural transformation is the only process of gene exchange under the exclusive control of the recipient bacteria. It has often been considered a

doi.org

Eduardo Rocha@epcrocha.bsky.social · 2y ago

The contribution of natural transformation for the acquisition of novel genes has been notoriously difficult to quantify because it relies on recombination (which is affected by other processes). Here's a first estimate : doi.org/10.1101/2025... (for the very busy: 1-6% of gene gains) #MicroSky

So much said in one (not so little) word 😆🙏

Aidan Wright@aidangcw.bsky.social · 12mo ago

We have a winner! Verschlimmbessern - the German word for making things worse by trying to make them better. It is a compound verb formed from two words: verschlimmern ("to make worse") and verbessern ("to improve") The corresponding noun is die Verschlimmbesserung.

Anyone else read 50 μm on this traffic sign? 🔬 #microsky

Applications are open for SFI's 2026 Complexity Postdoctoral Fellowships If you’ve recently earned a Ph.D. in any scientific field and want to pursue independent, transdisciplinary research, consider applying. Deadline: October 1, 2025 Apply here: santafe.edu/sfifellowship

📣 New C-CoMP Pub. Alert! Interested in marine microbial metabolites 🌊🦠? If so, check out this new pub., led by Bryndan Durham & Winn Johnson, that emerged from C-CoMP's Labile DOM workshop: An ecological framework for microbial metabolites in the ocean ecosystem. tinyurl.com/54bu2xm7

An ecological framework for microbial metabolites in the ocean ecosystem

The ocean microbe-metabolite network involves thousands of individual metabolites that encompass a breadth of chemical diversity and biological functions. These microbial metabolites mediate biogeoch....

aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Its that time again - the list of Ecology/Evolution/Marine Bio Labs recruiting grad students for Fall 2026 is live! PIs enter your position info here: forms.gle/2XTHBP6CZGEn... Prospective students (and PIs not recruiting) share the composite list: docs.google.com/spreadsheets... Please share! 🧪

Ecology/Evolution/Marine Biology labs recruiting for Fall 2026

Please complete this form if you are a PI recruiting graduate students for a Fall 2026 start. If you are NOT recruiting, feel free to share the response sheet with prospective students looking for lab...

forms.gle

A short preprint describing the GlobDB is now on arXiv: arxiv.org/abs/2506.11896 If you find the resource useful, please also check globdb.org for info on how to cite the underlying resources and tools.

Daan Speth@daanspeth.bsky.social · last yr.

I'm happy to announce the latest release of the GlobDB, available at globdb.org. The GlobDB is a database of "species dereplicated" microbial genomes, and as of release 226 contains twice the number of species-representative genomes (306,260) than the latest GTDB release.

Is this the mechanism by which excess substrate inhibits growth in oligotrophs? Very important and cool work by @ahoiching.bsky.social @jcamthrash.bsky.social and others

bioRxiv Microbiology@biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · last yr.

Cell cycle dysregulation of globally important SAR11 bacteria resulting from environmental perturbation https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.06.25.661606v1