MSU MGI

The researcher's gloved hands hold tools in a small container.

Sarah looks into a plastic vial as she pipettes liquid into it.

Sarah holds up a plastic vial.

The vials sit in a styrofoam container full of ice.

The hope is that by understanding the mechanisms that cause bleaching, we can learn how to prevent it.

Her research is investigating a particular protein to understand its role in the process.

This image shows three galaxy corals suspended in the tank.

She explained that when coral bleaches, it's because algae is being ejected from inside the animal (did you know corals are animals?).

Sarah VanDiepenbos stands at her bench holding a pipette.

Why are coral reefs bleaching, and what can we do to stop it?

Sarah VanDiepenbos ( @sarahscientist.bsky.social ) is an MGI doctoral student working in Rob Quinn's lab, and she's trying to answer that question.

Pei-Chung Lee stands at the front of a crowded lecture hall in front of a screen with his title slide "Host-Pathogen War - The Hippo Awakens". It's made to look like a star wars poster with a hippo dress up like a jedi.

Thank you to Pei-Chung Lee of Wayne State University for delivering a fantastic MGI research seminar - the last one of the semester.

Dr. Lee was hosted by @shames-lab.bsky.social.

The first two images above show cultured HPV+ head & neck cancer cell lines, stained for DNA(blue), HuR(green), & actin(red). The last three images show head & neck squamous cell carcinoma tumors, stained for DNA(blue), HuR(green), & pancytokeratin (red; a cancer cell marker).

This image shows head & neck squamous cell carcinoma tumors, stained for DNA(blue), HuR(green), & pancytokeratin (red; a cancer cell marker).

This image shows head & neck squamous cell carcinoma tumors, stained for DNA(blue), HuR(green), & pancytokeratin (red; a cancer cell marker).

This image shows head & neck squamous cell carcinoma tumors, stained for DNA(blue), HuR(green), & pancytokeratin (red; a cancer cell marker).

Scientists don't fully understand why chemokines ramp up in these cancers, but Garber is looking into a protein called HuR, which he shows plays a key role in boosting the chemokine levels in these cancers.

This image shows cultured HPV+ head and neck cancer cell lines, stained for DNA (blue), HuR (green), and actin (red).

This image shows cultured HPV+ head and neck cancer cell lines, stained for DNA (blue), HuR (green), and actin (red).

He shared that as these cancers progress, inflammatory signaling molecules called chemokines become more active and that this is linked to a higher chance of the cancer spreading and a greater risk of death.

MGI grad student John Garber smiles at the camera. He is standing in front of a window.

How do HPV+ head and neck cancers spread? MGI doctoral student John Garber of the Pyeon lab (@dpyeon.bsky.social) is looking into that question, and he told us about his research at this week's Work in Progress Seminar.

This image shows a scatter plot showing that the purity of the cells is around 90% or higher. The text underneath reads "Allowing us to obtain pure samples of each cell type for further, functional study."

Learn more about the research here: tinyurl.com/4m32wrbj

This image shows a graph and images of cells. The text underneath reads "imaging flow cytometry allows us to identify light "signatures" unique to each cell type.

An image showing an illustrated daphnia with the bacterial life cycle. The text underneath reads "The bacterial population (P. ramosa) inside the host includes different types of cells that likely have different roles."

An image of two daphnia. It is labeled that one of them is uninfected and the other is infected.

These are animals of the species Daphnia magna. The one on the right is infected with Pasteuria ramosa.

MGI Assistant Professor Nina Wale sits for a headshot. She is smiling at the camera.

Some bacteria can't be grown in a lab. So how do we study it?

MGI Asst Prof Nina Wale @ninawale.bsky.social and her team have found a way using a new flow cytometry technique involving light signatures instead of labels. This could change how we understand microbial life.

Published in @mSphereJ.

Two pictures show Rich Lenski standing with Eric Hegg while holding his award and a headshot of Sean Crosson. There is a green circle with a spartan helmet and the letters "MGI" in the bottom right corner.

Congratulations to MGI Professors Sean Crosson and Rich Lenski @relenski.bsky.social for winning awards from the College of Natural Science!

Read more here: tinyurl.com/mpf2hzfv

A green and white flyer with a picture of Dr. Alex Wessel congratulating him on successfully defending his doctoral dissertation.

Congratulations to MGI's newest Ph.D. graduate, Dr. Alex Wessel!

tinyurl.com/yh3dzc72

MGI doctoral student Julia Kelliher smiles at the camera. There is a plant behind her.

🔬MGI doctoral student Julia Kelliher served as lead author on a global effort involving 248 experts from 28 countries to write guidelines standardizing environmental microbiome research. Published today in Nature Microbiology. @natmicrobiol.nature.com

🔗https://tinyurl.com/yh3dzc72

Rosemary Northcote examines a sample in a 96-well plate.

Specifically, her work is centered around the enzyme RNase E, which is a protein commonly found in many bacterial species, and how disruptions to RNase E can cause the bacteria to be more sensitive to different stressors, like antibiotic treatment.

TSAB agar with spots of saline and bacteria.

Northcote's research focuses on how bacteria called Brucella regulate the stability of RNA, which plays an important role in how bacteria respond to stress.

A petri dish with bioluminescing bacteria and "cheater" bacteria.

In return, the bacteria receive abundant nutrients inside the squid. Boucaud focuses on why some bacteria cooperate by producing light while others “cheat” by growing faster, and how the squid’s biology keeps these cheaters in check.

A baby hawaiian bobtail squid emerges from its egg.

A baby hawaiian bobtail squid next to the egg it just emerged from.

A hawaiian bobtail squid.

Boucaud studies how juvenile Hawaiian bobtail squids form a lifelong partnership with bioluminescent bacteria. The bacteria help the squid glow, camouflaging it against moonlight and reducing its shadow on the ocean floor, which gives them an advantage against predators.

Camille Boucaud and Rosemary Northcote work at their lab benches.

Today's Work in Progress Seminars were given by doctoral students Camille Boucaud of the Heath-Heckman Lab (@drheathheckman.bsky.social) and Rosemary Northcote of the Crosson Lab.

Join us next Monday at noon in 1425 BPS to hear from our graduate students!

Associate Professor Sarah Lebeis, right, talks to lab manager Keara Grady in her lab at Michigan State University, where she studies the complex interactions of plants and the communities of microbes that inhabit their root systems.

🌱🔬 Exciting news from the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center! MGI assoc prof Sarah Lebeis has been appointed science director, leading groundbreaking research into the plant microbiome.

🔗https://tinyurl.com/48eynzvr

Sophia Liberto stands in a large field next to a tree. She has lab gloves on and appears to be holding a test tube. She is smiling. The sky is cloudy, but there is abundant sunshine.

This image is a hand-drawn comic strip showing the methods that she uses from collecting samples to conducting genomic analysis of the bacteria.

This image is a hand-drawn cartoon depicting host-microbe interactions.

Sophia Liberto, an MGI PhD student in the Hulin lab, gave a WiPS seminar about her work studying the genetic makeup of a bacteria that causes a canker disease in trees in the Prunus species. She hand-draws her research illustrations, combining her loves of art & science.

Dr. Ingo Braasch gestures while giving the MGI research talk.

Thank you to MSU Integrative Biology Assoc Professor Ingo Braasch (@fishevodevogeno.bsky.social) for giving today's MGI research seminar!

Joel Marty presents his WiPS talk.

Le Zhan presents her WiPS talk.

This week's Work in Progress seminars were presented by Joel Marty of the Kaminski Lab and Le Zhan of the Wang Lab. Thank you!

Join us each Monday at noon in 1425 BPS to hear our graduate students present their current research.