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Reposted by Blake Ushijima, Ph.D.

Emmanuele Severi @emmseveri.bsky.social · 9d

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

#microsky

Polymyxin B lethality requires energy-dependent outer membrane disruption - Nature Microbiology

The antibiotic polymyxin B requires bacterial metabolic activity to cause sufficient damage to the outer membrane to access the inner membrane, which it permeabilizes via an energy-independent mechanism to kill the cell.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Blake Ushijima, Ph.D.

Blue Action Fund @blueactionfund.org · 9d

If you want to make a difference in the marine world 🌊🪸🐟... We are looking for a programme assistant (part time) based in in Berlin #OceanOptimism. ogy.de/6jtx

Programme Assistant (m/f/x) - part time

BLUE ACTION FUND is searching for a:Programme AssistantREPORTS TO: Executive DirectorLOCATION: BerlinSALARY: CompetitiveCLOSING DATE: 2 November 2025START DATE: As soon as possibleCONTRACT: Part time ...

ogy.de

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Reposted by Blake Ushijima, Ph.D.

Meg Daly @megdaly.bsky.social · 10d

The Whitney lab at U FL is an interdisciplinary powerhouse of a scientific community. They're looking for a new faculty colleague in a VERY broad search in Marine Bioscience--link below.

explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...

University of Florida - Details - Assistant/Associate Professor in Marine Bioscience

explore.jobs.ufl.edu

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Reposted by Blake Ushijima, Ph.D.

The Coral Reef Research Hub @coralreefresearch.bsky.social · 11d

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS NOW LIVE! 16th International Coral Reef Symposium

Submit an abstract here: www.icrs2026.nz/call-for-abs...

#coralreefs #symposium #newzealand #icrs #coralresearch #networking #coral #internationalcoralreefsociety #marinescience #marinebiology

Call for abstracts

We are pleased to announce that the Call for Abstracts is now open. Submissions are invited under the approved sessions, each aligned with one of the eight broad Symposium themes.

www.icrs2026.nz

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Reposted by Blake Ushijima, Ph.D.

Salvador Almagro-Moreno @bioetry.bsky.social · 21d

Delighted to announce that The International Meeting on the Biology of Vibrios will be back next year!

Vibrio2026 will be held in Berlin in September 13-16. See you there Vibriologists!

event.fourwaves.com/vibrio2026/p...

Vibrio2026: The International Meeting on the Biology of Vibrios

Fourwaves - Vibrio2026: The International Meeting on the Biology of Vibrios

event.fourwaves.com

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Reposted by Blake Ushijima, Ph.D.

Shelly Gaynor @shellygaynor.bsky.social · 16d

Just a reminder - if you run/recruit or have anything to do with an ecology & evolutionary biology PhD program, check out our database and update your departments salary here: rhettrautsaw.app/shiny/Biolog...

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Blake Ushijima, Ph.D. @vibriosoup.bsky.social · 18d

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

Phages with a broad host range are common across ecosystems - Nature Microbiology

Proximity-ligation-based sequencing from 111 samples and 5 environments reveals that a substantial proportion of phages infect multiple species.

www.nature.com

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Blake Ushijima, Ph.D. @vibriosoup.bsky.social · 18d

people.com/flesh-eating...

5 Dead, Dozens Hospitalized amid Outbreak of Flesh-Eating Bacteria Linked to Beaches and Seafood

Vibrio vulnificus continues to sicken people in Louisiana as the state urges residents to take precautions.

people.com

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Reposted by Blake Ushijima, Ph.D.

AnniZLab: [🦠, 🧬 , ✨] @annizlab.bsky.social · Sep 9

A plasmid golden ratio? 🧬
Plasmid copy number ≈ 2.5% of chromosome size—consistent across bacterial species!
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC... @jerorb.bsky.social
🧪 #microbesky

a Scatter plots showing the correlation between plasmid size (x-axis) and PCN (y-axis) for the analysed genera. Each point represents the median PCN and plasmid size for each PTU, and error bars indicate the standard deviation from the median. Grey lines represent ordinary least squares regression, with the surrounding shaded area indicating 95% confidence intervals. The scaling factor or slope, k, is indicated on each panel. b Distribution of total DNA load per plasmid (x-axis) relative to chromosome size per genus (y-axis). The DNA load of each plasmid is calculated by multiplying the plasmid size by the copy number and then expressed as a proportion relative to the chromosome size. The point inside the box marks the median. The upper and lower hinges correspond to the 25th and 75th percentiles, and whiskers extend to 1.5 times the interquartile range. Only Escherichia and Salmonella significantly differ from All; Kruskal–Wallis test followed by Dunn’s test for pairwise multiple comparisons p < 10−4; effect size = 0.006. c Relative plasmid DNA load observed (%) (x-axis) and expected (y-axis) per cell. The y-axis indicates the expected plasmid DNA load (%) inside a cell when it contains one plasmid (1n), two plasmids (2n), and so on. This expected data has been calculated by generating a sequence from 1 to 9 multiplied by the median of the DNA load per plasmid (2.49%). Each green point represents a single genome, and the black points are the median for each category. Shading indicates interquartile ranges. Pearson’s p value and coefficient are shown for the correlation between expected and observed plasmid DNA.

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Reposted by Blake Ushijima, Ph.D.

Casey terHorst @ecoevolab.bsky.social · Sep 8

The GRFP lives!! (due end of October)
www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

www.nsf.gov

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Reposted by Blake Ushijima, Ph.D.

Seth Bordenstein @symbionticism.bsky.social · Sep 8

🎙️ Job Announcement: Penn State is seeking an ASSISTANT PROFESSOR in MICROBIOLOGY (any subdiscipline) in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Learn more and Join the Microbiome Jubilee: psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/PSU_Ac...

Assistant Professor in Microbiology

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS: CURRENT PENN STATE EMPLOYEE (faculty, staff, technical service, or student), please login to Workday to complete the internal application process. Please do not apply here, a...

psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com

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Blake Ushijima, Ph.D. @vibriosoup.bsky.social · Sep 6

nypost.com/2025/09/03/h...

Deadly ‘kissing bug’ parasite is now in 32 US states — and you might not even know you have it

A kiss might steal your heart — but this one could stop it.

nypost.com

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Blake Ushijima, Ph.D. @vibriosoup.bsky.social · Sep 4

Phage folks, does anyone have suggestions for cheaper alternatives for low melt agarose for phage plaque assays? Much appreciated!

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Blake Ushijima, Ph.D. @vibriosoup.bsky.social · Aug 15

😮 Very interesting...

Blake Ushijima, Ph.D. @vibriosoup.bsky.social · Aug 14

Bleaching and tissue loss coral diseases get all the attention, but there's also growth anomalies. We don't know for sure what causes them. However, our lab is going to be looking at these Acropora growth anomalies (the growths in the middle of the branches) under TEM!

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Blake Ushijima, Ph.D. @vibriosoup.bsky.social · Aug 13

A 9-armmed sea star (Luidia senegalensis) from Florida. Don't worry, "Stuart" is alive and well. We just needed some baseline samples from healthy specimens 🤩

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Blake Ushijima, Ph.D. @vibriosoup.bsky.social · Aug 13

Corals, tunicates, and sea stars oh my! 🧪🔬🧫🌊
UNCW Ph.D. students Erin Papke, Grace Kennedy, and Kiah Gongaware were down at the Smithsonian Marine Station (some for a month!) working on various projects ranging from nitrogen cycling in corals, identifying new sea squirts, and sea star microbiomes!

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Blake Ushijima, Ph.D. @vibriosoup.bsky.social · Aug 7

"Flesh-eating bacteria [vibriosis] cases surge in Southeast, North Carolina reports 59 infections – WSOC TV" share.google/8NgvXmUokUnt...

Flesh-eating bacteria cases surge in Southeast, North Carolina reports 59 infections

This highlights the growing concern over Vibrio cases in the region.

share.google

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Reposted by Blake Ushijima, Ph.D.

Dr. Drew harvell @drewharvell.bsky.social · Aug 5

We don't get color photos and articles in Newsweek very often; we sure appreciate this good science coverage.
www.newsweek.com/starfish-sea...

Death of 5 billion starfish baffled scientists—until now

The mass die-off, which began in 2013, saw sea star populations plunge and reshaped vital marine ecosystems in the U.S. and Canada.

www.newsweek.com

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Reposted by Blake Ushijima, Ph.D.

Nature Portfolio @natureportfolio.nature.com · Aug 4

A study in Nature Ecology & Evolution identifies a bacterial species as a cause of sea star wasting disease, which has been responsible for billions of sea star deaths since 2013 and widespread loss of kelp habitats. go.nature.com/46I4kx2 🌊 🧪

This is figure 2, which shows the disease signs and trajectory of P. helianthoides exposed to SSWD.

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Reposted by Blake Ushijima, Ph.D.

Hakai Institute @hakai.org · Aug 4

After a four-year investigation, a breakthrough study reveals the cause of sea star wasting disease (SSWD). A strain of the bacterium Vibrio pectenicida is the culprit behind the marine epidemic that has killed billions of sea stars since 2013. Read the study: 🔗https://tinyurl.com/4rcb3xpf

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Blake Ushijima, Ph.D. @vibriosoup.bsky.social · Jul 23

www.sciencealert.com/outbreak-of-...

Outbreak of Chikungunya Virus Poses Global Risk, Warns WHO

The World Health Organization warned on Tuesday a major chikungunya virus epidemic risks sweeping around the globe, calling for urgent action to prevent it.

www.sciencealert.com

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Reposted by Blake Ushijima, Ph.D.

Matt Bracken @brackenlab.bsky.social · Jul 6

The mechanisms underlying seastar wasting disease #SSWD remain elusive, & this new preprint helps to fill this knowledge gap using data from a mosaic of infected & uninfected sunflower stars across Southeast Alaska to evaluate immune & microbial disruption. #Pycnopodia #MarineLife #Invertebrate 🦑🌊🧪🌎

bioRxiv Ecology @biorxiv-ecology.bsky.social · Jul 6

Precursors of Sea Star Wasting: Immune and Microbial Disruption During Initial Disease Outbreak in Southeast Alaska https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.05.662347v1

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Reposted by Blake Ushijima, Ph.D.

Tami Lieberman @contaminatedsci.bsky.social · Jun 30

Our paper demonstrating that within-species warfare interactions are ecologically important on human skin is now published in Nature Micro! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Blake Ushijima, Ph.D. @vibriosoup.bsky.social · Jun 30

phys.org/news/2025-06...

Intestinal bacterium allows microbiome-mediated protection against pathogens

The totality of bacteria, viruses and fungi that exist in and on a multicellular organism forms its natural microbiome. The interactions between the body and these microorganisms significantly influen...

phys.org

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