Sarah J Tucker

🔊 APPLY NOW for our #MarMic #MSc/#PhD program!

Come to #Bremen and take an interdisciplinary approach to #marine #microbiology, #molecularbiology, #biochemistry, #evolution and more.

⏳ Open until Feb 28 2026
➡ marmic.mpg.de

#graduatestudents #marinescience #sciencecareer #IMPRS @maxplanck.de

Merry December folks!

Wanna know your most used and co-dependent geoms this past year?!

I've built "Spotify Wrapped" for {ggplot2} that produces you an interactive story and analytical tools for your geom usage! #rstats

Build your own report by following the docs:
gpcds.com/ggplot2wrapp...

A few py2Dmol updates 🧬

py2dmol.solab.org
Integration with AlphaFoldDB (will auto fetch results). Drag and drop results from AF3-server or ColabFold for interactive experience! (1/4)

ECR connection: Meet Meren when you need to A means for ECRs to get advice from a senior scientist outside of their support network

Starting this week, I set aside one hour each week to meet ECRs outside my group who want to discuss career development, mentorship, or any non-technical professional questions.

Here is a blog that explains my motivation for this and how to schedule a meeting:

merenlab.org/2025/11/16/E...

Always tasted like Skittles to me!!

Diving through the purple sulfur bacteria layer of Fayetteville Green Lake with our ROV last month. This is the most intense density of PSB that I've seen in many years!

Plastic degradation by enzymes from uncultured deep sea microorganisms Abstract. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)-hydrolyzing enzymes (PETases) are a recently discovered enzyme class capable of plastic degradation. PETases are

A wonderful collaboration between my lab and Andy Ellington and Edward Marcotte here at UT.

We obtained lots of thermal stable plastic degrading enzymes from the deep sea (Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California)

A big thank you to @amydwillis.bsky.social and @titus.idyll.org for all your hard work and leadership. It is incredible the education, resources, network, and memories the STAMPS course has provided. There is nothing else like it and it will be missed.

Team villagers >> team werewolves 💗🐺

Why we're using this spelling of Hawaiʻi You may notice a change in how we spell Hawaiʻi and other Native Hawaiian words at The Seattle Times. Here's why.

Kudos to the @seattletimes.com for spelling with diacritical marks used in the Hawaiian language, the ʻokina and the kahakō.

A few years ago, when I asked the NY Times to spell my affiliation as University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, they refused because it went against their style guide.

Are you looking for a #tenuretrack or #openrank job in #biostatistics or #statistics? @fredhutch.org is hiring! Seattle is a wonderful place to grow your career; the bio/stat & science scene here is world-class; and you will work w/ amazing UW Biostat students. Apply!
apply.interfolio.com/176402

Thank you, thats so nice to hear :)

I also want to mention that the new Fig S6 and a few others in the revised supplementary materials were recommendations from our reviewers. We had some great feedback in review. Hopefully the SM will be live on the ISME site soon

Thank you @ilnamkang.bsky.social! The carbon figure is Fig. S6 in the revised manuscript. Strange, it looks like ISME doesn't have the Supplementary Materials up yet. I can send you a copy by email

:) Thank you @bjesseshapiro.bsky.social!

I am very thankful to the co-authors on this paper and on @kc-freel.bsky.social's paper, including @merenbey.bsky.social, Mike Rappé, Steve Giovannoni, @theotherdrfreel.bsky.social, and Uli Stingl.

New isolate genomes and global marine metagenomes resolve ecologically relevant units of SAR11 The bacterial order Pelagibacterales (SAR11) is among the most abundant and widely distributed microbial lineages across the global surface ocean, where it forms an integral component of the marine ca...

This study relied on new SAR11 isolate genomes and taxonomy put forth by Kelle Freel. Together, our studies span different taxonomic and spatial scales to provide complementary evidence that SAR11 diversity segregates into ecologically and genetically cohesive units. doi.org/10.1101/2024...

Our study reveals a polyphyletic distribution of coastal ocean & offshore habitat specialists, where the key genetic features that underlie these habitat preferences appear to have emerged via gene-specific sweeps. 🧹

We then examined the selective pressures on the metabolic traits that associate to distinct coastal or offshore lifestyles of SAR11. We found that they generally experienced high purifying selection, and thus are likely critical to fitness in these distinct environments.

We also observed distinct patterns of molybdenum-dependent enzyme utilization, where some offshore genera have completely lost the capacity to synthesize molybdenum enzymes and other offshore genera have increased reliance on molybdenum enzymes through molybdenum-dependent purine catabolism.

Coastal & offshore genera specialized on different carbon sources. Offshore genera uniquely shared metabolisms that did not rely on glycolysis, while coastal genera uniquely shared metabolisms that did. This hints at fine-scale niche partitioning along the sugar-acid spectrum within SAR11.

We next examined the SAR11 pangenome (focused on former subclades Ia & Ib) to identify metabolic traits associated with coastal and offshore lifestyles. We found subtle metabolic differences between genera, largely limited to a handful of genes involved in organic carbon and nitrogen metabolisms.

We find SAR11 genera partition across coastal and offshore waters of the tropical Pacific. The coastal genera appear in polyphyletic clades suggesting that coastal SAR11 evolved multiple times. Also we find that the habitat preferences of these genera are mostly retained across the global ocean.

Habitat-specificity in SAR11 is associated with a few genes under high selection Abstract. The order Pelagibacterales (SAR11) is the most abundant group of heterotrophic bacteria in the global surface ocean, where individual sublineages

I'm delighted our paper is out: doi.org/10.1093/isme...
With new SAR11 isolate genomes and time-series metagenomes, we reveal coastal and offshore SAR11 ecotypes, identify associated metabolic traits, and pinpoint selective gene sweeps as a likely evolutionary driver to niche partitioning. 🌊🦠

I am recruiting a Ph.D. student in microbial ecology, evolution, and systems biology for fall 2026. Please share!
Details: qevomicrolab.org/Documents/Gr...
Apply by October 1 here: forms.gle/38pPS1Ky84HB...

Very happy to see this one out: doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf192
Here, we assessed the contribution of natural transformation to the acquisition of novel genes. See preprint thread. @molbioevol.bsky.social #microsky #evobio

So much said in one (not so little) word 😆🙏

microbes on the brain, all day, everyday :)

Traffic sign for merging in 50 meters with a Greek μ for meters, followed by an English m for meters, resulting in 50 μ m.

Anyone else read 50 μm on this traffic sign? 🔬 #microsky

Applications are open for SFI's 2026 Complexity Postdoctoral Fellowships

If you’ve recently earned a Ph.D. in any scientific field and want to pursue independent, transdisciplinary research, consider applying.

Deadline: October 1, 2025
Apply here: santafe.edu/sfifellowship

An ecological framework for microbial metabolites in the ocean ecosystem The ocean microbe-metabolite network involves thousands of individual metabolites that encompass a breadth of chemical diversity and biological functions. These microbial metabolites mediate biogeoch....

📣 New C-CoMP Pub. Alert!
Interested in marine microbial metabolites 🌊🦠? If so, check out this new pub., led by Bryndan Durham & Winn Johnson, that emerged from C-CoMP's Labile DOM workshop: An ecological framework for microbial metabolites in the ocean ecosystem.
tinyurl.com/54bu2xm7