Interplay of broccoli/broccoli sprout bioactives with gut microbiota in reducing inflammation in inflammatory bowel diseases
As part of her master’s of science thesis in 2022, Johanna Holman reviewed hundreds of journal articles on anti-inflammatory, health-promoting dietary compounds in broccoli and other vegetables or fruits, and how microbes in the digestive tract can transform inactive precursors from foods into those beneficial compounds. This is part of a broader research collaboration on how glucoraphanin in […]
Soil bacterial community response to cover crops, cover crop termination, and predicted climate conditions in a dryland cropping system.
This is the second paper from Tindall’s master’s work at Montana State University in the Menalled Lab has been accepted for publication! Tindall defended her master’s in August 2021, and has been working at a plant production company in Bozeman since then. Ouverson, T., Boss, D., Eberly, J., Sepiel, T., Menalled, F.D., Ishaq, S.L. 2022. […]
Designing the Microbes and Social Equity Symposium, a Novel Interdisciplinary Virtual Research Conference Based on Achieving Group-Directed Outputs
This collaborative paper on the 2021 Microbes and Social Equity Symposium was invited by the Challenges journal’s editor-in-chief to submit a contribution about the group’s activities, and the together the session organizers, speakers, student assistants, and I wrote about our experiences putting this together. The journal is dedicated to published highly interdisciplinary research which looks […]
Many questions remain unanswered about the role of microbial transmission in epizootic shell disease in American lobsters (Homarus americanus).
Lobsters are an iconic part of Maine culture, from cuisine to interior decorating to way of life. The Gulf of Maine boasts large lobster landings every year, but as the waters here continue to warm at a faster rate than other nearby coastal regions, there are concerns that this boon might eventually pass us by […]
Twenty important research questions in microbial exposure and social equity.
This is the second collaborative paper that the Microbes and Social Equity working group has published together, led by Dr. Jake Robinson and featuring 25 other MSE group researchers in various fields related to microbiomes, social equity, and ecosystems. In developing this paper, we had many conversations about what had been accomplished in research related to microbial […]
Framing the discussion of microorganisms as a facet of social equity
In just a four-week course in 2019 when I was working at the University of Oregon, I introduced 15 undergraduates from the UO Clark Honors College to microorganisms and the myriad ways in which we need them. More than that, we talked about how access to things, like nutritious foods (and especially fiber), pre- and […]
Introducing the Microbes and Social Equity Working Group: considering the microbial components of social, environmental, and health justice.
The Microbes and Social Equity Working Group was founded in early 2020 by Sue Ishaq, as interest grew following her publication in fall of 2019, “Framing the discussion of microorganisms as a facet of social equity in human health.” In summer 2021, MSE group membership blossomed to ~ 90 members from around the globe, and […]
Determination of the microbial community in the rumen and fecal matter of lactating dairy cows fed on reduced-fat dried distillers grains with solubles.
Ruminants, like sheep, goats, cows, deer, moose, etc., have a four-chambered stomach, the largest of which is called the rumen. The rumen houses symbiotic microorganisms which break down plant fibers that the animal can’t digest on its own. It’s estimated that up to 80% of a ruminant’s energy need is met from the volatile fatty acids (also […]
Bacterial transfer from Pristionchus entomophagus nematodes to the invasive ant Myrmica rubra and the potential for colony mortality in coastal Maine.
A collaborative paper on bacterial transfer in insects and the possible ecological impacts of that in the wild has been published in iScience! This work began a decade ago in the labs of Dr. Ellie Groden, recently retired Professor of Entomology in the School of Biology and Ecology at the University of Maine, and later […]
Temporal soil bacterial community responses to cropping systems and crop identity in dryland agroecosystems of the Northern Great Plains.
This project was part of the graduate research for master’s student Tindall Ouverson, and is her first manuscript! Tindall is a Master’s of Science in the Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences at Montana State University. Her graduate advisers are Drs. Fabian Menalled and Tim Seipel. Her research focuses on the response of soil microbial communities to cropping systems and […]
Viable bacterial communities on hospital window components in patient rooms.
The microbial community found in buildings is primarily a reflection of the occupants, and in the case of hospitals, the microbiota may be sourced from patients, staff, or visitors. In addition to leaving microbiota behind, occupants may pick up microorganisms from building surfaces. Most of the time, this continuous exchange of microorganisms between a person […]
Dryland cropping systems, weed communities, and disease status modulate the effect of climate conditions on wheat soil bacterial communities.
In the Northern Great Plains of the United States, cereal crops, such as wheat, are important economic staples. In this area, climate change is forecasted to increase temperature and decrease precipitation during the summer, which is expected to negatively affect crop production and the management of pests (insects and microbes). There are numerous reports on […]
Soil bacterial communities of wheat vary across the growing season and among dryland farming systems.
For my post-doctoral research project in the Menalled lab in 2016/2017, I was investigating the effect of farming system, weed competition, and season, on wheat production and soil bacteria during a growing season in Montana. All of these represent potentially stressful conditions, which can hamper plant growth, as well as whether and how they will interact with […]
Accumulation of di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate from polyvinyl chloride flooring into settled house dust and the effect on the bacterial community.
The chemistry that happens indoors is relevant to human health due to the proximity to human occupants, and risk for exposure because of long periods spent indoors. There is a lot of diversity in chemical compounds present in the built environment, emission from materials, chemical interactions (e.g., adsorption, absorption) with materials, and local environmental conditions […]
Agroecosystem resilience is modified by management system via plant–soil feedbacks
For my post-doctoral research project in the Menalled lab in 2016/2017, I was investigating the effect of farming system, weed competition, disease status, and climate change, on wheat production and soil bacteria during a growing season in Montana. All of these represent potentially stressful conditions, which can hamper plant growth, as well as the amount […]
Pelleted-hay alfalfa feed increases sheep wether weight gain and rumen bacterial richness over loose-hay alfalfa feed.
Ruminants, like sheep, goats, cows, deer, moose, etc., have a four-chambered stomach, the largest of which is called the rumen. The rumen houses symbiotic microorganisms which break down plant fibers that the animal can’t digest on its own. It’s estimated that up to 80% of a ruminant’s energy need is met from the volatile fatty acids (also […]
Zinc amino acid supplementation alters yearling ram rumen bacterial communities but zinc sulfate supplementation does not.
Zinc is an important mineral in your diet; it’s required by many of your enzymes and having too much or too little can cause health problems. We know quite a bit about how important zinc is to sheep, in particular for their growth, immune system, and fertility. We also know that organically- versus inorganically-sourced zinc […]
An investigation into rumen fungal and protozoal diversity in three rumen fractions, during high-fiber or grain-induced sub-acute ruminal acidosis conditions, with or without active dry yeast supplementation.
Ruminal acidosis is a condition in which the pH of the rumen is considerably lower than normal, and if severe enough can cause damage to the stomach and localized symptoms, or systemic illness in cows. Often, these symptoms result from the low pH reducing the ability of microorganisms to ferment fiber, or by killing them outright. […]
Biogeographical Differences in the Influence of Maternal Microbial Sources on the Early Successional Development of the Bovine Neonatal Gastrointestinal tract.
Most studies that examine the microbial diversity of the gastrointestinal tract only look at one or two sample sites, usually the mouth, the rumen in ruminant animals, or the feces. It can be difficult, expensive, invasive, or fatal to get samples from deep inside the intestinal tract; however many studies have pointed out that anatomical […]
Ground Juniperus pinchotii and urea in supplements fed to Rambouillet ewe lambs. Part 2: Ewe lamb rumen microbial communities.
In 2015, while working in the Yeoman Lab, I was invited to perform the sequence analysis on some samples from a previously-run diet study. The study was part of ongoing research by Dr. Travis Whitney at Texas A & M on the use of juniper as a feed additive for sheep. Coupled with the animal health and physiology […]
A living soil inoculum increases soil microbial diversity, crop and weed growth using soil from organic and conventional farms in northeastern Montana.
What began as a simple data analysis project for me in the Yeoman lab turned into a publication, a conference presentation, a post-doc position, and a long-term, multi-project collaboration with the Menalled lab at Montana State University investigating soil microbial communities in agricultural settings and plant-soil feedbacks. This study was part of a larger investigation on […]
High-throughput DNA sequencing of the moose rumen from different geographical locations reveals a core ruminal methanogenic archaeal diversity and a differential ciliate protozoal diversity.
This project expanded upon my work with moose bacteria from three geographic locations, to explore whether there were differences in methanogenic archaea or ciliated protozoa based on location. Archaea are microorganisms in their own Domain, as they are neither Bacteria nor Eukaryota, although they often have similarities to organisms found in the other two domains. […]
Fibrolytic bacteria isolated from the rumen of North American moose (Alces alces) and their potential as a probiotic for ruminants.
In order to investigate the moose rumen bacteria face-to-face, I spent two weeks at the University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway, in the lab of Dr. Monica A. Sundset. There, I learned how to anaerobically isolate and culture bacteria from the digestive tract of reindeer using an anaerobic chamber. The chamber allows you to create an enclosed […]
Dissertation: A Comparative Analysis Of The Moose Rumen Microbiota And The Pursuit Of Improving Fibrolytic Systems
As a Ph.D. student, I worked in the laboratory of Dr. André-Denis Wright in the Department of Animal Science at the University of Vermont. My thesis work investigated the microorganisms (bacteria, archaea, and protozoa) in the digestive tract of the moose from several geographical locations. In addition to identifying bacteria and ciliate protozoa using high-throughput sequencing, […]
Design and validation of four new primers for next-generation sequencing to target the 18S rRNA gene of gastrointestinal ciliate protozoa.
If the research tools you require don’t exist- then you must create them yourself. Such is often the case in working with microbial genomics. In order to adapt sequencing technology to identify rumen ciliate protozoa, we needed to first design primers which to be used for Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) in order to amplify enough […]
High-throughput DNA sequencing of the ruminal bacteria from moose (Alces alces) in Vermont, Alaska, and Norway.
For the second project of my Ph.D., I expanded upon my findings in Vermont moose. Following the collection of samples from moose in Vermont, I was able to obtain samples from moose in Alaska and Norway, as well. The Alaskan moose were part of the Moose Research Station herd in Soldotna, Alaska, where they were […]
Insight into the bacterial gut microbiome of the North American moose (Alces alces).
My first research project as a Ph.D. student was investigating the differences in the rumen and colon bacterial communities in moose from Vermont. To obtain samples, I needed to secure permission from VT Department of Fish and Wildlife, as moose hunting and moose sample collection are tightly regulated; hunting is only permitted for approximately one […]