CSI microbiology- what happens postmortem when a mammal dies? Talk by @DirtySci at #CIMM2019

Kim Prather: The microbes in the ocean are being pushed into the atmosphere via sea spray. Their enzymes are more active in the atmosphere when compared to in seawater. These microbes are correlated with weather changes, can they also be affecting disease? #CIMM2019

Rita Colwell: We need to study microbiomes at the strain level and their hosts to better understand diseases associated with the microbiome. Microbiomes can be used as a global health tool. But it’s critical to be able to identify and characterize these sequences. #CIMM2019

Nicole Dubilies- Bathymodiolus mussel symbiots are intracellular and are acquired from the environment throughout their lifetime. These strains can be continuously exchanged so mussels can associate with the strains best adapted for their environment. #CIMM2019

Great to see an all female speaker panel and listen to exciting new work in the microbiome at #CIMM2019. Thank you for making me feel like I belong in science #WomenInSTEM.

@Chemosym @peterse47663885 @rebecca_ansorge At #CIMM2019 @Chemosym: discussing work described in this preprint -

Jessica Metcalf: Days into the decomposition of mice was highly correlated with the microbiome, but soil type was not. Using models, the lab was able to estimate PMI with an accuracy within 2.6 days over 21 days in humans based on 16S and fungal sequences. #CIMM2019.

Food for thought as I participate in the all-women speaker line up at the CMI Intl Microbiome Meeting #CIMM2019

@Chemosym At #CIMM2019 @Chemosym: asks "why study symbioses in the deep sea" - and gives many examples.

@Chemosym At #CIMM2019 @Chemosym: despite lots of microbes in the environment only two types show up inside the gill tissues.

@Chemosym @peterse47663885 @rebecca_ansorge At #CIMM2019 @Chemosym: Miguel Gonzales Porras in her lab is following up this genomic work with geneFISH to look for localization of the methanol oxidation genes.

@Chemosym At #CIMM2019 @Chemosym: deep sea symbioses discovered 41 years ago - majority of biomass in deep sea is based on animal-microbe symbioses.

@Chemosym @peterse47663885 @rebecca_ansorge At #CIMM2019 @Chemosym: right when she gives and example of "serendipity being important in research" the slides crash . .

@Chemosym At #CIMM2019 @Chemosym: focusing talk on Bathymodiolus mussels and their symbioses - showing some 3D tomography by Benedict Geier in her lab.

@Chemosym At #CIMM2019 @Chemosym: symbionts are taken up from the environment and the hosts remain competent to take up symbionts into gill throughout life.

@Chemosym At #CIMM2019 @Chemosym: methane and sulfur oxidizers seem to exist side by side in the gill tissue; they get 'eaten' by phage lysosomal digestion (work of Niko Leisch).

@Chemosym @peterse47663885 @rebecca_ansorge At #CIMM2019 @Chemosym: working on trying to understand whether there are evolutionary benefits to strain level diversity within individual hosts.

@Chemosym @peterse47663885 @rebecca_ansorge At #CIMM2019 @Chemosym: symbiont strains vary in their functional repertoire - genes such as virus defense genes, toxin related genes and metabolic genes.

At #CIMM2019 @Chemosym: at least nine animals, two presets groups separately evolved chemosynthetic symbioses and also at least 15 bacterial groups involved - thus likely strong selective advantage for these symbioses for both host and symbiont.

@Chemosym At #CIMM2019 @Chemosym: focusing rest of talk on sulfur symbionts - and then Jill Petersen @peterse47663885, Rebecca Ansorge @rebecca_ansorge, & Liz Sayavedra did work on diversity at the strain level of these symbionts w/in individual hosts.