Viruses are the most abundant and diverse biological entities on the planet. There are about one million viruses per teaspoon of seawater, and 10 million viruses per gram of soil. Yet, most viral diversity is still unknown. A major standing question in the study on microbial communities is the contribution of bacteriophage (viruses that infect bacteria) infections to microbial diversity, metabolism, and community functions. Our goal is to understand, from molecular mechanisms to ecosystem outcomes, the interactions between phage and bacteria in coral-associated microbiomes.
Molecular drivers of phage-bacteria interactions Phages can establish different ecological relationships with the bacteria they infect, from predators to commensals. Our aim to understand the molecular drivers of these diverse interactions in marine microbial communities |
Phage-bacteria-coral symbiosisCorals live in symbiotic partnership with a milieu of bacteria and phage. The different phage replication strategies shape the microbiome of the coral host and modulate the interplay between commensal and pathogenic microbes. |
Phage-mediated coral diseaseLysogenic conversion of bacteria drives the emergence of human and animal pathogens. We are demonstrating that this process also happens in marine ecosystems, and is a threat for coral heath. |
NEWS
New PhD students!Alexandra Stiffler and Bailey Wallace
are joining in the fall Allie and Bailey will be joining the Silveira Lab this coming fall semester as PhD students in the Biology program. Allie graduated with a B.S in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology as well as Genetics from Purdue University, where she studied protein interactions within a unique class of enzymes and their contribution to the virulence of the stomach pathogen H. pylori. Bailey completed her B.S. in Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies at UW-Madison. Since graduating, her work has focused on coral reef ecology and restoration with Mote Marine Laboratory as well as STEM outreach and education.
Congratulations, Allie and Bailey, we can’t wait to see you in Miami! |
New publication3C coral multi-omics
This study led by Mark Little, Emma George and Milou Arts mapped 16S and 18S rDNA metabarcoding, metatranscriptomics, and metabolomic data onto three-dimensional reconstructions of coral colonies to examine microbial diversity, microbial gene expression, and biochemistry on two colonies of the ecologically important, reef-building coral, Orbicella faveolata and their competitors. The study, published in Frontiers in Marine Sciences, showed strong signatures of the macroorganismal hosts and provided insight into the spatial organization of the coral microbiome and their interaction with other reef organisms.
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New PublicationCOVID-19 secondary bacterial infections
COVID-19 patients often suffer from secondary bacterial infections. This study, led by Maria Paz Ventero and published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology, describes the nasopharyngeal microbial communities of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 that developed COVID-19. The dataset revealed revealed several bacterial taxa with differential abundance among COVID-19 cases. This study represents the first step to understand the associations between microbiota composition and the severity of COVID-19.
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