Tag: lobster

Upcoming presentations at the 2023 Ecological Society of America annual meeting!

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Ecological Society of America meeting, Aug 6 – 11, 2023, Portland, Oregon

Scallop microbes and sustainable aquaculture: host-microbe dynamics situated in environmental and social context.

Presentation ID: 1372900

Session Information

Session Title: Microbes as Tools to Solve Ecological Problems for All
Session Type: Inspire Session
Date: Thursday August 10, 2023
Session Time: 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM Pacific Time

Authors: Suzanne L. Ishaq1

Affiliations: 1 University of Maine, School of Food and Agriculture, Orono, ME 04469 USA

Atlantic sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) is the second largest fishery in Maine, primarily through wild harvest. Farming is a promising way to meet year-round market demands, create jobs, and reduce ecological impacts of harvest, but relies on wild-caught juveniles as larval survival in hatcheries is low for unknown reasons. My collaborative research group explores the role of larval and tank microbiomes in hatcheries compared to wild scallop veligers. In addition to basic and applied microbiome research, the research team meets with industry partners weekly to discuss results, trends, generate real-world-problem-driven project designs, and collaborate on research, education, and student training.

Bacterial community trends associated with sea scallop, Placopecten magellanicus, larvae in a hatchery system.

Poster ID:  1475974
Poster Title: “Bacterial community trends associated with sea scallop, Placopecten magellanicus, larvae in a hatchery system.”

Session Information

Agriculture
Session Date: Tuesday August 8, 2023 
Session Time: 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM Pacific Time

Authors: Suzanne L. Ishaq1*, Sarah Hosler1, Adwoa Dankwa1, Damian C. Brady2, Erin Grey3, Phoebe Jekielek4, Kyle Pepperman5, Jennifer Perry1, Rachel Lasley-Rasher6, Brian Beal3,7, Timothy J. Bowden1

Affiliations: 1 School of Food & Agriculture, University of Maine, Orono ME 04469. 2 School of Marine Sciences, Darling Marine Center, University of Maine. 3 School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, Orono ME 04469. 4 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern Maine, Portland ME 04103. 5 Downeast Institute, Beals, ME 04611. 6  Ecology and Environmental Sciences, University of Maine, Orono ME 04473. 7 Division of Environmental & Biological Sciences, University of Maine at Machias, Machias, ME 04654

Atlantic sea scallops, Placopecten magellanicus, are the most economically important marine bivalves along the northeastern coast of North America, and wild-caught adults and juvenile spat are increasingly being cultured in aquaculture facilities and coastal farms. While adults can be induced to spawn successfully in hatcheries, the last two weeks of the larval maturation phase are plagued by large mortality events, making production unfeasible. Research into other scallop- and aquacultured-species point to animal loss from bacterial infections or from altered functionality of host-associated microbiota. There are no previous studies of the bacterial communities from biofilms growing in scallop hatchery tanks, nor even host-microbial studies with this species of sea scallops. We identified bacterial communities in veliger-stage wild larvae, hatchery larvae, and tank biofilms, using the V3-V4 region of the 16S rDNA gene, via Illumina MiSeq sequencing. Hatchery larvae had lower bacterial richness (number of bacteria taxa present) than the wild larvae and tank biofilms, and hatchery larvae had a similar bacterial community (which taxa were present) to both wild larvae and tank biofilms. Bacterial richness was not significantly different between tanks which had been occupied by larvae for 48 hours, and those which had just been drained, scrubbed clean, and refilled with filtered seawater. Static-water-flow compared to continuous-water-flow (flow-through) did not generate different levels of bacterial richness overall, and only an equivocal difference when accounting for time as a smoothing feature in the model (GAM, p = 0.04). Bacterial richness and community similarity between tank samples fluctuated over the trial in repeated patterns of rise and fall, which showed some correlation to lunar cycle  where richness is high when the moon is about 50% and richness is low during new and full moon phases. This may be a proxy for the effects of spring tides and trends in seawater bacteria and phages which are propagated into hatchery tanks. The number of days since the full moon was significantly correlated with bacterial community richness in tanks (GAM, p < 0.01): low during the full moon, peaking ~ 21 days after the full moon, and decreasing again at the next full moon.  These results along with future work, will inform hatcheries on methods that will increase larval survival in these facilities, for example, implementing additional filtering or avoiding seawater collection during spring tides, to reduce certain bacterial taxa of concern or promoting a more diverse microbial community which would compete against pathogens.

Upcoming presentations at the American Society for Nutrition conference

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The Ishaq Lab will be presenting at a few research conferences this summer, with a few more in the works for the fall.

Broccoli sprouts in a tray

American Society for Nutrition meeting, July 22-25, 2023, Boston, Massachusetts

Steamed broccoli sprouts alleviate gut inflammation and retain gut microbiota against DSS-induced dysbiosis.

Poster, abstract P20-022-23, July 23

Authors: Johanna M. Holman*1, Lola Holcomb2, Louisa Colucci3, Dorien Baudewyns4, Joe Balkan5, Grace Chen6, Peter L. Moses7,8, Gary M. Mawe7, Tao Zhang9, Yanyan Li1, Suzanne L. Ishaq1

Affiliations: 1 School of Food and Agriculture, University of Maine, 2 Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, University of Maine, 3 Department of Biology, Husson University, 5 Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Tufts University, 6 Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, 7 Departments of Neurological Sciences and of Medicine, Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont, 8 Finch Therapeutics, 9 School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, SUNY Binghamton University.

Objectives: Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) are devastating conditions of the gastrointestinal tract with limited treatments, and dietary intervention may be effective, affordable, and safe for managing symptoms. Ongoing research has identified inactive compounds in broccoli sprouts, like glucoraphanin, and that mammalian gut microbiota play a role in metabolizing it to the anti-inflammatory sulforaphane. The objectives were to identify biogeographic location of participating microbiota and correlate that to health outcomes. 

Methods: We fed specific pathogen free C57BL/6 mice either a control diet or a 10% steamed broccoli sprout diet, and gave a three-cycle regimen of 2.5% dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) in drinking water over a 40-day experiment to simulate chronic, relapsing ulcerative colitis. We monitored body weight, fecal characteristics, fecal lipocalin, and sequenced bacterial communities from the contents and mucosa in the jejunum, cecum, and colon. 

Results: Mice fed the broccoli sprout diet while receiving DSS performed better than mice fed the control diet while receiving DSS for all disease parameters, including significantly more weight gain (2-way ANOVA, p < 0.05), lower Disease Activity Index scores (2-way ANOVA, p < 0.001), and higher bacterial richness in all gut locations (linear regression model, p < 0.01 for all locations measured). Bacterial communities were assorted by gut location except in the mice receiving the control diet and DSS treatment (Beta-diversity, ANOVA, p < 0.05 for each). Importantly, our results suggested that broccoli sprout feeding completely abrogated the effects of DSS on gut microbiota, as bacterial communities were similar between mice receiving broccoli sprouts with and without DSS. 

Conclusions: Spatially resolved microbial communities provide greater insight when investigating host-microbe interactions. Here, we show that a 10% broccoli sprout diet protects mice from the negative effects of dextran sodium sulfate induced colitis, that colitis erases biogeographical patterns of bacterial communities in the gut, and that the cecum is not likely to be a significant contributor to colonic bacteria of interest in the DSS mouse model of ulcerative colitis. 

Funding Sources: This work was funded by the NIH, USDA, NSF NRT, and UMaine GSBSE.

 

Early life exposure to broccoli sprouts confers stronger protection against enterocolitis development in an immunological mouse model of inflammatory bowel disease.

Poster, abstract P20-021-23, July 23

Authors: Lola Holcomb*1, Johanna Holman2, Molly Hurd3, Brigitte Lavoie3, Louisa Colucci4, Gary M. Mawe3, Peter L. Moses3,5, Emma Perry6, Allesandra Stratigakis7, Tao Zhang7, Grace Chen8, Suzanne L. Ishaq1, Yanyan Li1

1 Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, University of Maine, 2 School of Food and Agriculture, University of Maine, 3 Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont, 4 Department of Biology, Husson University, 5 Finch Therapeutics, 6 Electron Microscopy Laboratory, University of Maine, 7 School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, SUNY Binghamton University, 8 Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School.

Objectives: Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) are chronic conditions characterized by inflammation of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract that burden daily life, result in complications, and disrupt the gut microbiome. Many studies on diet and IBD in mice use an ulcerative colitis model, despite the availability of an immune-modulated Crohn’s Disease model. The objective of this study was to establish IL-10 deficient mice as a model for studying the role of dietary broccoli and broccoli bioactives in reducing inflammation, modifying the immune response, and supporting GI tract microbial systems. 

Methods: Interleukin-10-knockout (IL-10-ko) mice on a C57BL/6 background, beginning at age 4 or 7 weeks, were fed either a control diet or one containing 10% raw broccoli sprouts. Diets began 7 days prior to inoculation with Helicobacter hepaticus, which triggers Crohn’s-like symptoms in these immune-impaired mice, and ran for 2 additional weeks. 

Results: Broccoli sprouts decreased (p < 0.05), fecal lipocalin (LCN2), a biomarker for intestinal inflammation, and fecal blood, diarrhea, and overall Disease Activity Index. Sprouts increased gut microbiota richness, especially in younger mice (p < 0.004), and recruited different communities in the gut (B-diversity, ANOVA, p < 0.001), especially in the colon (B-diversity, ANOVA, p = 0.03). The control group had greater prevalence and abundance of otherwise commensal bacteria which trigger inflammation in the IL-10-ko mice. Helicobacter was within the top-5 most prevalent core genera for the control group, but was not within the top-5 for the broccoli group. Disease parameters and microbiota changes were more significant in younger mice receiving broccoli.

Conclusions : A diet containing 10% raw broccoli sprouts may be protective against negative disease characteristics of Helicobacter-induced enterocolitis in IL-10-ko mice, and younger age is the most significant factor (relative to diet and anatomical location) in driving gut bacterial community richness and similarity. The broccoli diet contributes to prevalence and abundance of bacterial genera that potentially metabolize dietary compounds to anti-inflammatory metabolites in the gut, are bacteriostatic against pathogens, and may ease disease severity.

Funding Sources: This work was funded by the NIH, USDA, NSF NRT, and UMaine GSBSE.

Establishing Growth Curve Assays for Bacterial Glucosinolate Metabolism: A Study Protocol

Poster, abstract P22-030-23, July 23

Marissa Kinney*1, Ryan Wijayanayake1, Johanna Holman1, Timothy Hunt2, Benjamin Hunt 2, Tao Zhang3, Grace Chen4, Yanyan Li1 , Suzanne L. Ishaq1

1School of Food and Agriculture, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, USA 04469; 2 School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, USA 04469; 3 School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, SUNY Binghamton University, Johnson City, New York, USA 13790; 4 Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 48109 

Objective: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) cause dysfunction of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and can result in hospitalization, suffering and disruption to overall health. Recent work has demonstrated the anti-inflammatory capacity of a broccoli sprout-diet in artificially-induced GI inflammation in pathogen free C57BL/6 mice. Microbiota samples obtained from the GI tract of these mice will be used to study the presence and activity of broccoli glucosinolate hydrolysis to create microbial-sourced bioactives, to further understand the relationship between broccoli-diets and inflammation reduction. It is imperative to validate or replicate qPCR protocols which have been established for glucosinolate metabolism in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (B. theta), in other bacterial species. Additionally, this project will focus on developing new growth curve assays for glucosinolate metabolism, as these methods are lacking in published literature. 

Methods: Pathogen free C57BL/6 mice were given dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) into their drinking water to create a disease profile similar in development and morphology to human ulcerative colitis (UC), a type of IBD. DSS and a steamed broccoli sprout diet were administered. Samples were taken from the digesta, jejunum, cecum, and colon of mice fed broccoli diets. About 806 bacterial isolates will be grown up/cultured anaerobically on minimal/selective media containing glucosinolate-related compounds (glucoraphanin, sinigrin) to determine hydrolysis activity via spectroscopy to measure optical density of growth in competent isolates. Successful isolates will be further analyzed with LC/MS to confirm production of bioactive products, and with qPCR using the B. theta positive control genome to help identify gene targets (α-1,6-mannanase, glycosyl hydrolase, nicotinamide-dependent oxidoreductase, and transcriptional regulator protein) for glucosinolate conversion in isolates. 

Results  N/A

Conclusions: In the initial study from which these samples are sourced, mice fed a broccoli diet had less inflammation than those fed a control diet and DSS, and had higher bacterial diversity in their gut. We expect that bacteria isolated from the GI of broccoli-fed mice will contain more glucosinolate-metabolizing genes.

Funding: NIH (Li and Ishaq) and USDA (Li). 

Broadening Perspectives by Situating Nutrition Education in Broader Social Contexts: A Study Protocol

Poster, abstract number 1490287, July 23

Authors: Ashley Toney*1, Patricia Wolf*2, Sue Ishaq*3

Affiliations: 1Dept. of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences, Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, 2 Department of Nutrition Science, Purdue University, 3 School of Food and Agriculture, University of Maine

Objectives: The Microbes and Social Equity (MSE) Working Group connects microbiology with social equity research, education, policy, and practice to understand the interplay of microorganisms, individuals, societies, and ecosystems. Given the complexity and nuance of evidence-based nutrition delivery, MSE sought to provide a conceptual structure. The goals are 1) convene diverse researchers, educators, learners, and practitioners, 2) publish and present evidence-based information within socio-cultural contexts, and 3) teach audiences to define ways for integrating equity into their work.

Methods: MSE hosted a 14-week speaker series in 2021, 2022, and 2023, with researchers from various disciplines (e.g., nutrition, gut microbes, food security). The series lead into a 5-day symposium of speakers and guided discussions to generate co-written documents identifying research needs and resources. We use targeted and non-targeted event promotion to attract audiences, and reach/impact is evaluated through registration, attendance, social media views, or attendee feedback. The series provides learning sessions that build concepts over time, guiding attendees past the conceptual roadblock of being new to interdisciplinary research and grappling with grand challenges. This extended period to learn stimulates participation in activity-based collaboration during symposia, even from new members or students. 2023 symposium attendees will be surveyed on their impressions on the event, how it impacted their perspective on experimental design, whether attendees started with the series and followed up with the symposium, and whether having the preface of the series aided in being able to create actionable outputs in a guided co-working session.

Results: n/a

Conclusions: Benefits include nuanced knowledge/perspective sharing, establishing and nurturing interdisciplinary collaboration, and sparking conversations on critical topics in policy, sustainability, host and microbial metabolism, etc. In the last 3 years, MSE published 4 papers together, with ~ 50 independent papers from members. Event recordings are used as curriculum in nutrition, microbiology, and pre-med biology.

Funding Sources: NIH/NIDDK, Allen Foundation (Ishaq); National Dairy Council (Toney)

New perspective paper published on microbial transmission and lobsters.

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A cookie in the shape of a lobster with icing to make it look like a pirate.

A collaborative perspective article was just published in Frontiers in Microbiology, which discusses epizootic shell disease in American lobsters, the role of microbes, and the movement of microbes in an aquatic environment. Because this is a perspective article, it is more of a thought exercise than my other publications, which either report findings or review other published literature, but it was intriguing to think about animal health in the context of rapidly-changing environmental conditions and microbial communities.

I previously presented some of the microbial community data related to the larger project from which this perspective piece came about, and this research team will continue to work on analyzing data from several experiments to develop into a research article later this year.

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Epizootic shell disease is becoming more prevalent on lobsters in the Gulf of Maine as waters get warmer each year.
A steamed lobster on a plate.

This larger, collaborative project on lobster shell disease and warming ocean waters was begun by researchers at the Aquaculture Research Institute: Debbie Bouchard, Heather Hamlin, Jean MacRae, Scarlett Tudor, and later Sarah Turner as a grad student. I was invited to participate in the data analysis aspect two years ago.

At the time, Grace Lee was a rising senior at Bowdoin College, and accepted to my lab for the UMaine REU summer 2020 session, which was canceled. Instead, I hired Grace to perform DNA sequence analysis remotely, by independently learning data analysis following the teaching materials I had generated for my sequencing class.  I invited Joelle Kilchenmann to this piece after a series of conversations about microbes and social equity, because her graduate work in Joshua Stoll’s lab focuses on lobster fishing communities in Maine and understanding the challenges they face.

Ishaq, S.L., Turner, S.M., Tudor, M.S.,  MacRae, J.D., Hamlin, H., Kilchenmann, J., Lee1, G., Bouchard, D. 2022. Many questions remain unanswered about the role of microbial transmission in epizootic shell disease in American lobsters (Homarus americanus). Frontiers in Microbiology 13: 824950.

This was an invited contribution to a special collection: The Role of Dispersal and Transmission in Structuring Microbial Communities

Abstract: Despite decades of research on lobster species’ biology, ecology, and microbiology, there are still unresolved questions about the microbial communities which associate in or on lobsters under healthy or diseased states, microbial acquisition, as well as microbial transmission between lobsters and between lobsters and their environment. There is an untapped opportunity for metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and metabolomics to be added to the existing wealth of knowledge to more precisely track disease transmission, etiology, and host-microbe dynamics. Moreover, we need to gain this knowledge of wild lobster microbiomes before climate change alters environmental and host-microbial communities more than it likely already has, throwing a socioeconomically critical industry into disarray. As with so many animal species, the effects of climate change often manifests as changes in movement, and in this perspective piece, we consider the movement of the American lobster (Homarus americanus), Atlantic ocean currents, and the microorganisms associated with either.

Ishaq Lab presentations and live discussions at Ecological Society of America virtual meeting

Sue IshaqLeave a comment

Next week kicks off the live events, including with question + answer, discussions, and special sessions being held in real time, for the Ecological Society of America’s annual conference, which is being held virtually this year. Prerecorded presentations are already available on demand.

Can a necromenic nematode serve as a biological Trojan horse for an invasive ant?

Session 1-PS7: Vital Connections in Ecology: Breakthroughs in Understanding Species Interactions

Poster and narration available on demand.

Live discussion: Monday, August 2, 2021, 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM Pacific Time

Abstract:

Background/Question/Methods
The invasive European fire ant (Myrmica rubra) threatens native ant species and human health along the coast of Maine, United States. M. rubra mortality has been associated with infection by Pristionchus entomophagus, a necromenic nematode that is hypothesized to transfer pathogenic bacteria acquired from the environment to ant colonies. To investigate this hypothesis, we conducted a series of experiments on nematode-infected ants collected from Mount Desert Island. First, we isolated bacteria cultured from nematodes emerging from M. rubra cadavers and assessed the ability of the nematodes to acquire and transfer environmental bacteria to Galleria mellonella waxworm larvae. Second, we identified bacteria which were potentially transferred from nematodes to infected ant nests on MDI using bacterial community similarity and sequence tracking methods.

Results/Conclusions
Multiple bacterial species, including Paenibacillus spp., were found in the nematodes’ digestive tract. Serratia marcescens, Serratia nematodiphila, and Pseudomonas fluorescens were collected from the hemolymph of nematode-infected G. mellonella larvae. Variability was observed in insect virulence in relation to the site origin of the nematodes. In vitro assays confirmed uptake of red fluorescence protein (RFP)-labeled Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PA14 by nematodes. Bacteria were highly concentrated in the digestive tract of adult nematodes, some bacteria were observed in the digestive tract of juveniles with a more significant amount on their cuticle, and none on the cuticle of adults. RFP-labeled P. aeruginosa were not observed in hemolymph of G. mellonella larvae, indicating an apparent lack of bacterial transfer from juvenile nematodes to the insects despite larval mortality.

Host species was the primary factor affecting bacterial community profiles. Spiroplasma sp. and Serratia marcescens sequences were shared across ants, nematodes, and nematode-exposed G. mellonella larvae. Alternative to the idea of transferring bacteria from environment to host, we considered whether nematode-exposure might disorder or depauperate the endobiotic community of an insect host. While total bacterial diversity was not statistically lower in nematode-exposed G. mellonella larvae when compared to controls, 16 bacterial sequence variants were less abundant in nematode-exposed larvae, while three were increased, including Serratia, Pseudomonas, and Proteus.
This study suggests that transfer of bacteria from nematodes to ants is feasible, although largely serendipitous, and may contribute to ant mortality in Maine. Hypothetically, the use of an engineered biological control, such as nematodes carrying specifically-seeded bacterial species, may be effective, especially if the pathogenic bacteria are naturally found in soil ecosystems and represent a low risk for biosafety control.

Poster Citation: Hotopp*, A., Silverbrand, S., Ishaq, S.L., Dumont, J., Michaud, A.,  MacRae, J.,  Stock, S.P.,  Groden, E. “Can a necromenic nematode serve as a biological Trojan horse for an invasive ant?” Ecological Society of America 2021. (virtual). Aug 2-6, 2021. (poster)

Recent Press and Publications:

“Bacteria from nematodes could be used to kill fire ants, UMaine research reveals”, Marcus Wolf, University of Maine news, July 27, 2021.

Ishaq, S.L., A. Hotopp2, S. Silverbrand2, J.E. Dumont, A. Michaud, J. MacRae, S. P. Stock, E. Groden. 2021. Assessment of pathogenic bacteria transfer from Pristionchus entomophagus (Nematoda: Diplogasteridae) to the invasive fire ant (Myrmica rubra) and its potential role in  colony mortality in coastal Maine. iScience 24(6):102663. Article.

Talk #93066, “The effect of simulated warming ocean temperatures on the bacterial communities on the shells of healthy and epizootic shell diseased American Lobster (Homarus americanus)”

COS 87: Climate Change: Communities 1
Recorded talk available on demand.

Live discussion: Wednesday, August 4, 2021, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Pacific Time
The presentation will be available on demand starting on July 26th, and requires registration to the ESA conference.

Abstract

Background, question, and methods

The American lobster, Homarus americanus, is a vital species for the fishing industry along the North Atlantic coast of North America. However, populations in Southern New England have declined, most likely due to increasing ocean temperatures and prevalence of emerging disease. Our previous work suggested that temperature may not be the sole cause for epizootic shell disease (ESD). Here, we examined the shell bacterial communities and progression of ESD in non-shell diseased and diseased adult female lobsters under three simulated seasonal temperature cycles for a year.

Fifty-seven female lobsters were wild-caught from Maine’s management zones F and G, and were assessed for shell disease progression on a scale of 0 (no observable signs) to 3 (visible disease on >50% of the shell surface). ESD-negative lobsters (apparently healthy) and ESD-positive (diseased) lobsters were randomly dispersed into 3 systems, and within each system, healthy and diseased lobsters were placed into separate tanks. These systems were maintained at three temperature ranges comparable to the average seasonal ocean temperatures for Southern New England (SNE), Southern Maine (SME), and Northern Maine (NME) regions. Samples were collected at three timepoints, a baseline “summer” temperature where all tanks were the same temperature, a winter temperature four months later, and a summer temperature 10 months after that.

A total of 131 experimental samples, plus 10 controls, passed PCR amplification, amplicon quantification and purification, Illumina MiSeq ver. 4 sequencing, and quality-control filtering.  Sequences were processed using the R software platform, using DADA2, phyloseq, vegan, and assorted other packages.

Results and conclusions

The bacterial richness on lobster shells at the baseline timepoint, when lobsters were wild-caught, was higher than the winter time point, 4 months later, or the summer time point, 10 months later, for the same lobsters after having been kept in tanks, regardless of their temperature or shell disease status.  Similarly, the bacterial community membership (unweighted Jaccard similarity) was similar for all samples at baseline, but diverged for later time points.

Tank temperature significantly affected microbial community membership (unweighted Jaccard similarity), as well as the abundance of those community members (weighted Bray-Curtis dissimilarity).

Contrary to our expectations, ESD shell disease index did not progress over time or in warmer conditions, and we hypothesized that frequent tank water changes and shell moltings may have reduced the microbial load. Preliminary results indicate that shell stage and shell disease index were positively associated with increased bacterial richness on lobster shells.

Citation: Ishaq*, S.L., Lee, G., MacRae, J., Hamlin, H., Bouchard, D. “The effect of simulated warming ocean temperatures on the bacterial communities on the shells of healthy and epizootic shell diseased American Lobster (Homarus americanus).” Ecological Society of America 2021. (virtual). Aug 2-6, 2021. (accepted talk)

For some reason the ESA meeting site kept my Montana affiliation from 2017 for all 3 of my submissions.

SS 17: “Microbiomes and Social Equity” (19205)

Prerecorded content available on demand.

Live discussion: Thursday, August 5th, 2021, 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM Pacific Time

Microbiomes — environmental, human and other organismal symbionts — are increasingly seen as critical physiological, developmental and ecological mediators within and among living things, and between the latter and our abiotic environments. Therefore, it is no surprise that microbial communities may be altered, depleted or disrupted by social and economic determinants. Social inequality entails concrete alterations and differentiation of microbial communities among social groups, by way of such factors as nutritional access, environmental pollutants or green space availability, often to the detriment of human and ecosystem health. This special session will be organized as a panel discussion with break-out groups in order to provide participants the opportunity to discuss the ways in which social inequity interacts with microbiomes, and how we might intervene as scientists and communities to promote favorable microbiomes while advancing social equality. We hope to generate research questions and actionable items.

Panel speakers: Michael Friedman, Naupaka Zimmerman, Justin Stewart, Monica Trujillo, Sue Ishaq, Sierra Jech, Jennifer Bhatnagar, and Ariangela Kozik

ESA meeting program: https://www.esa.org/longbeach/

Citation: The Microbes and Social Equity Working group, “Special Session 17: “Microbiomes and Social Equity” (19205).”, Ecological Society of America 2021. (virtual). Aug 5, 2021.

Recent Publication:

Ishaq, S.L., Parada Flores, F.J., Wolf, P.G., Bonilla, C.Y., Carney, M.A., Benezra, A., Wissel, E., Friedman, M., DeAngelis, K.M., Robinson, J.M., Fahimipour, A.K., Manus, M.B., Grieneisen, L., Dietz, L.G., Chauhan, A., Pathak, A., Kuthyar, S., Stewart, J.D., Dasari, M.R., Nonnamaker, E., Choudoir, M., Horve, P.F., Zimmerman, N.B., Kozik, A.J., Darling, K.W., Romero-Olivares, A.L., Hariharan, J., Farmer, N., Maki, K., Collier, J.L., O’Doherty, K., Letourneau, J., Kline, J., Moses, P.L., Morar, N. 2021. Introducing the Microbes and Social Equity Working Group: Considering the Microbial Components of Social, Environmental, and Health Justice. mSystems 6:4.