Decline of World's Coral Reefs
Dr. Rebecca Vega-Thurber
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
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Salmon parasite Henneguya salminicola
A New Leader in Microbiology
Testing probiotics for honeybees
Riddles in the cold: Antarctic endemism and microbial succession impact methane cycling in the Southern Ocean
A parasitic bacterium saps energy from corals
DDT Toxic Waste Discovered
An integrative investigation of the role of the gut-brain axis on sex differences in anxiety
Research by Dr. Maude David, OSU Microbiology, indicates that children with autism may have a subtly different set of bacteria in their gut than their non-autistic siblings, according to unpublished data presented virtually on Tuesday at the 2021 Society for Neuroscience Global Connectome.
In Memoriam: Dr. Richard Morita, A Stellar Career. On November 22, 2020 the family of Richard Yukio Morita reached out to tell us that Dick had died at 97 in Corvallis. All of us reacted to the news with great sadness. He was an outstanding scientist who accomplished many firsts in microbiology: the discovery of barophilic bacteria; the discovery of new thermal groups of bacteria, psychrophiles, and the establishment of the concept of starvation-survival in bacteria.
Although almost a quarter of Oregon’s high school graduates were Latinx in 2020 (originating from Mexico, Central and South America, and Hispanic-culture Caribbean), only around 9% of students graduating from OSU with a bachelor’s degree were Latinx in the same year. Similar statistics hold for Black, Native American, and other non-Caucasian groups in Oregon. Kate Field, Microbiology professor and BioResource Research director, has been working to remedy these long-standing imbalances for the last decade. During that time, Field and her[...]
Gut bacteria associated with animal-based diet may mitigate risk of cardiovascular disease: “The connection between TMAO and cardiovascular disease has tended to focus the conversation on how animal-based diets cause negative health consequences,” said Dr. Veronika Kivenson, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral fellow in the College of Science with Microbiology. CHANNEL 8 NEWS VIDEO
Dr. Rebecca Vega Thurber, Microbiology and other scientists at Oregon State University have shown that viral infection is involved in coral bleaching -- the breakdown of the symbiotic relationship between corals and the algae they rely on for energy.
Research by OSU scientists, including Dr. Jerri Bartholomew, on the C. shasta parasite’s role in the Klamath Basin began in the early 1980s in the Williamson and Lower Sprague Rivers, where high populations of worms were detected on the riverbed and high densities of parasite spores in the water. But the disease only seemed to impact non-native rainbow trout, which had been transplanted from another system and, unlike the native trout, hadn’t developed a resistance to C. shasta.
Marine ecologist and associate professor Rebecca Vega Thurber has been appointed the Emile F. Pernot Distinguished Professor in Microbiology by the Colleges of Science and Agricultural Science at Oregon State University. The endowed professorship recognizes Vega Thurber’s distinguished contributions to several fields of microbiology that encompass coral reef ecology, virology, marine disease ecology and metagenomics. Vega Thurber’s lab investigates the microbial and viral ecology of threatened marine species and habitats.
Recent Microbiology Master’s degree recipient, Elizanette ‘Nette’ Lopez, has been awarded a fellowship from the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) to learn at the CDC biorepository in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Nette successfully defended her thesis, “Effects of elevated temperature on Mycobacterium chelonae growth and mycobacteriosis in zebrafish (Danio rerio)” in early July, 2020. Nette came to Oregon State University from Texas. Her interest in science began at a young age with a fascination in the practice of[...]
August 1, 2020: Dr. James Fox, was awarded the 2020 Postdoctoral Excellence Award. In the two years since James joined the Halsey lab he has made significant research contributions, injected new ideas into OSU's postdoctoral association (PDA), and led creative outreach and service activities. James is a member of the NASA-sponsored EXPORTS project and his research uses remotely sensed data to understand the fate of photosynthetic energy in the global oceans.
May 21, 2020: Saving Atlantis, a feature documentary produced by OSU filmmakers tracks coral microbiologist Rebecca Vega Thurber and other OSU researchers, uncovering the causes and seeking solutions for the global decline of coral reef ecosystems, is now streaming on Hulu and Amazon Prime. Saving Atlantis. Coral reefs cover only 0.1 percent of the Earth’s surface, but they’re home to 25 percent of all marine species, and they’re being lost at an alarming rate. Pollution, overfishing and[...]
Sebastian Singleton, a first-year Ph.D. student in the Microbiology Department, has been awarded a fellowship in the OSU-PNNL Distinguished Graduate Research Program. Seb’s project, titled "Dining on plastic refuse: Uncovering mechanisms behind microbial degradation of plastics in municipal solid waste environments" aims to culture and identify plastic colonizing microbiota from terrestrial environments, and study their biochemical interactions with plastics with advanced systems biology technology that is available at PNNL. Working with OSU advisors Giovannoni and Sharpton, and co-advisor Rob Egbert from the[...]
April 2, 2020: A study that included the first-ever winter sampling of phytoplankton in the North Atlantic revealed cells smaller than what scientists expected, meaning commonly used carbon sequestration models may be over-optimistic. The OSU research into the microscopic algae, part of NASA’s North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study, was published today in the International Society for Microbial Ecology Journal. The findings are significant because the spring phytoplankton bloom in the North Atlantic “is probably the largest biological[...]
April 1 2020: Dr. Andrew Thurber: An exhibit that was presented at the Hatfield Marine Science Center, "Deep Sea and Me" communicated the diversity of habitats (such as this methane seep) and societal benefits that Oregonians get from the Deep Sea. Photo courtesy of Ocean Exploraton Trust. The Deep Sea and Me: Using a Science Center Exhibit to Promote Lasting Public Literacy and Elucidate Public Perception of the Deep Sea
February 2020: A group of researchers, including Dr. Jerri Bartholomew and Dr. Stephen Atkinson from OSU, have discovered that a common salmon parasite in the PNW has lost its mitochondrial genome and cannot use oxygen directly. READ FURTHER
Researchers at Oregon State University have proposed a new genus of bacteria that flourishes when coral reefs become polluted, siphoning energy from the corals and making them more susceptible to disease. The NSF-funded study is published in the ISME Journal (Phylogenetic, genomic, and biogeographic characterization of a novel and ubiquitous marine invertebrate-associated Rickettsiales parasite, Candidatus Aquarickettsia rohweri, gen. nov.,sp. nov) and adds fresh insight to the fight to save the Earth's[...]
OSU microbiologist, Dr. Maude David, is part of a 1.94 million grant to look for possible connections between the human microbiome and autism spectrum disorder, a developmental disorder that affects communication and behavior. The study will include Stanford University School of Medicine and Second Genome. Additional Information
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Microbiology; Nash Hall 226
OSU, Corvallis, OR 97331
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