‼️Job alert‼️ We are hiring MULTIPLE lecturer positions! Candidates that can support our pre-health/vet curriculum teaching microbiology, cell and molecular biology, biodiversity, genetics, and/or anatomy and physiology. Closes November 2! See link below: jobs.uncw.edu/postings/40986

I'm always happy to see our collaborators from the van Kessel and Salomon labs at Vibrio 2028! Looking forward to more years of working on Vibrio coralliilyticus!

Liz Weatherup and myself are at the Vibrio 2026 meeting in Berlin, Germany! We're presenting our work on the coral pathogen Vibrio coralliilyticus and sea star pathogen Vibrio pectenicida. #Vibrio2026

Work hard, play hard! After a successful #ICRS2026, the Ushijima Lab is taking a little break to explore NZ this week!

That's a wrap for #ICRS2026! The Ushijima Lab was well represented and had a great time sharing our research on coral pathogens and probiotics (& our stickers)! Until next time!

Excited to share the results on our probiotics that are able to protect corals from deadly tissue loss lesions caused by Vibrio coralliilyticus! The first of their kind! journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

21 July | Rom 504 | 3:15 PM Postdoc Dr. Erin Papke presents "Putative nitrogen cycling ultrastructure, but not viral-like particles indicate SCTLD health states" that is our lab's latest findings on SCTLD using electron microscopy! #ICRS2026

21 July | Room 515 | 10:50 AM PhD student Colleen Shortal presents "Molecular mechanisms controlling Vibrio coralliilyticus resistance to probiotics" summarizing the first resistance genes to probiotics! #ICRS2026

21 July | Room 504 | 10:30 AM Join us for postdoc Dr. Ruiz for "High-Throughput Discovery and Evaluation of Probiotic Bacteria for Mitigating Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease in San Andrés, Colombia" outlining our new probiotics that protect against disease!

Ariki Hall | Level 3 | NZICC Come by poster session #1 at 5:30 PM NZST to check out PhD student Kiah Gongaware's poster "Symbiotic Synergy: Identifying Microbial Traits That Promote Algal Growth and Coral Health" #ICRS2026

Meeting Room 518 | Level 5 At 3:20 PM NZST I'll be presenting "Advancing Biotechnologies to Expand the Culturable Diversity of Coral-Associated Microbes for Microbiome-Based Interventions" on how we are developing new growth media for improved culture diversity. #ICRS2026

Meeting Room 515 | Level 5 At 2:55 PM NZST, PhD candidate Liz Weatherup is presenting her talk "Pour Some Sugar on Me: How coral mucus carbohydrate composition impacts Vibrio coralliilyticus virulence" #ICRS2016

The Ushijima Lab is heading to #ICRS2026 in Auckand, NZ! Come see our presentations on coral pathogens & probiotics! Or come chat with us about coral microbes!

Had a great time at #ASMicrobe and looking forward to next year in Chicago! Our lab stickers went fast, but I'll be sure to have a larger stock next time!

Last day of #ASMicrobe, with a lot of exciting talks and sessions still to come ! Including one near and dear to my heart: long-term dynamics of environmental microbiomes, where we'll hear all about time-series 'omics datasets across many ecosystems, from rivers to soils to insects (and more) 🎉

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A bacterial CARD–NLR-like immune system controls the release of gene transfer agents - Nature Microbiology

An immunity-like system functions as a lysis control hub to promote gene transfer agent particle release from host bacterial cells, suggesting that bacterial immune systems may be co-opted to promote ...

nature.com

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

An emerging human eye disease is associated with aquatic virus zoonotic infection - Nature Microbiology

Covert mortality nodavirus, a pathogen previously known to cause important losses in shrimp aquaculture, is identified as being a potential causative agent of an emerging and severe ocular disease in ...

nature.com

‪ 🌳 Do you want to contribute to research on how humans perceive forests? Take this quick, anonymous 10-min survey 🌲 👉 www.biodiful.org#/forest This will help us explore how people experience forest biodiversity! Please share on 🦋 & tag @biodiful.bsky.social to reach more participants 🙏💚 🌐🌍🦤🦑🪴🍁🧪

www.cell.com/trends/micro...

Game of microbes: a wildling’s guide

Laboratory mice housed under specific pathogen-free conditions are the standard model in biomedical research. However, frequent germ-free rederivation and barrier housing restrict microbial exposure a...

cell.com

phys.org/news/2026-03...

Bacteria invent another way to turn on genes

In their landmark 1961 paper on the lac operon, Nobel laureates François Jacob and Jacques Monod speculated that RNA might control gene activity in bacteria through base-pairing interactions. But once...

phys.org

#Kimchi-derived #probiotic found to promote binding and excretion of intestinal #nanoplastics ... | #bacteria | #MicroSky | #LacticAcid | #plastics | #Leuconostoc | Via @sciencex.bsky.social

Kimchi-derived probiotic found to promote binding and excretion of intestinal nanoplastics

A lactic acid bacterium isolated from kimchi may help promote the removal of nanoplastics from the body by binding to them in the intestine. Nanoplastics are ultrafine plastic particles measuring…

phys.org

Graduate students: Apply for the 2027 Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship. This paid, year-long program in Washington, D.C. bridges the gap between marine science and federal policy. Submit your application by June 3, 2026, at 5 pm PT dornsife.usc.edu/uscseagrant/...

John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship - USC Sea Grant

USC Dornsife The Urban Ocean Program

dornsife.usc.edu

Highlights of an epic collaboration between my lab, Blue Indigo Foundation, Ecomares, UM Lowell, Croalina, and PIMS! We're testing new probiotic candidates ex situ if they can protect outplants from #SCTLD and if a promising one can protect corals in situ. The experiemts are currently running...

In just 5 days, we set up a massive experiment with >200 corals to test probiotics against SCTLD! With precise control over light, temp, and purified seawater, we’re ready to create solutions! Amazing teamwork between UNCW, Blue Indigo Foundation, Ecomares, UM Lowell, Croalina, and PIMS!

Yesterday was an event! Thanks to the tremendous help from the Blue Indigo and Ecomares personnel! We got a massive experiment set up with ~200 coral outplants and probiotic treatments set up in a single day!

My PhD student Erin Papke also trained our collaborators from The Perry Institute of Marine Science, Ecomares, and The Blue Indigo Foundation on making deployment bags for in situ coral probiotic treatments at San Andrés Island, Columbia. She'll be training them in the field next!

The past two days my PhD student Erin Papke and postdoc Jordan Ruiz have been working with the Blue Indigo Foundation and Ecomares to set up a coral testing AND microbiology lab on San Andrés Island for our mission of developing probiotics against SCTLD and help others to do the same!

eos.org/research-and...

Graduate Students’ NSF Fellowship Applications Are Being “Returned Without Review” - Eos

Graduate students applying for NSF funding have had their applications returned without review—even though their proposed research appears to fall squarely within the fields of study outlined in the p...

eos.org

Check out our recent preprint about our Coral Probiotics Discovery Platform! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...