Many of you gave me so much encouragement when I posted here earlier about my 10 year long passion project to make a microbial map of the ocean. Pinch me because I can't believe I get to update you that today that research was published in the journal SCIENCE! @science.org

This work wouldn’t have been possible without the leadership of @diamondlab.bsky.social, the incredible teamwork, and support of everyone at @banfieldlab.bsky.social, thank you!

This framework offers a controlled yet ecologically relevant platform for studying microbial dynamics in freshwater systems and unraveling phototroph–heterotroph interactions.

3. Discovery of the potential role of plasmids in mediating cyanobacteria–heterotroph interactions

2. Statistical detection of functional traits enriched in core community members

This enabled three key advances in the study of cyanobacterial communities:

1. Identification of core microbiomes across diverse cyanobacterial strains

🚨 Fresh from the press! We created and analyzed over 100 in vitro cyanobacterial consortia using well-characterized model cyanobacterial hosts to better understand how cyanobacteria recruit and interact with their microbiomes.

Check it out: doi.org/10.1093/isme...