PriME - Principles of Microbial Ecosystems
@primecollaboration.bsky.social
A Simons collaboration which investigates the principles underpinning the self-organization, structure, and function of #microbial communities in the #ocean.
Pinned
We gladly introduce PriME, an international and interdisciplinary collaboration which aims to derive fundamental principles of how microbial ecosystems assemble and function, with a primary focus on #marinemicrobes and #carboncycling 🦠🌊
A warm PriME welcome to Richard!🎉
Richard joined the Hwa Lab at UC SanDiego
as a new Postdoc, exploring how physiological variation within bacterial species shapes their evolution 🧫🔬.
We’re excited to have you with us!
primecollaboration.org/profiles/richa
Richard joined the Hwa Lab at UC SanDiego
as a new Postdoc, exploring how physiological variation within bacterial species shapes their evolution 🧫🔬.
We’re excited to have you with us!
primecollaboration.org/profiles/richa
November 12, 2025 at 11:21 AM
A warm PriME welcome to Richard!🎉
Richard joined the Hwa Lab at UC SanDiego
as a new Postdoc, exploring how physiological variation within bacterial species shapes their evolution 🧫🔬.
We’re excited to have you with us!
primecollaboration.org/profiles/richa
Richard joined the Hwa Lab at UC SanDiego
as a new Postdoc, exploring how physiological variation within bacterial species shapes their evolution 🧫🔬.
We’re excited to have you with us!
primecollaboration.org/profiles/richa
Welcome to the PriME team, Eliane! 🎉
Eliane has just joined the Stocker Lab as a new PhD student, exploring how microbial processes shape the ocean’s carbon cycle 🌊🦠.
We’re thrilled to have you on board!
🔗 primecollaboration.org/profiles/eliane-ballmer
Eliane has just joined the Stocker Lab as a new PhD student, exploring how microbial processes shape the ocean’s carbon cycle 🌊🦠.
We’re thrilled to have you on board!
🔗 primecollaboration.org/profiles/eliane-ballmer
November 5, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Welcome to the PriME team, Eliane! 🎉
Eliane has just joined the Stocker Lab as a new PhD student, exploring how microbial processes shape the ocean’s carbon cycle 🌊🦠.
We’re thrilled to have you on board!
🔗 primecollaboration.org/profiles/eliane-ballmer
Eliane has just joined the Stocker Lab as a new PhD student, exploring how microbial processes shape the ocean’s carbon cycle 🌊🦠.
We’re thrilled to have you on board!
🔗 primecollaboration.org/profiles/eliane-ballmer
We gathered this week for our Annual Meeting in NYC - three days of inspiring exchange!✨
This year, we introduced group work sessions for review papers🗒️to reflect and synthesize our interdisciplinary work😀
Thank you to all participants and @simonsfoundation.org
for the support!
This year, we introduced group work sessions for review papers🗒️to reflect and synthesize our interdisciplinary work😀
Thank you to all participants and @simonsfoundation.org
for the support!
October 31, 2025 at 5:49 PM
We gathered this week for our Annual Meeting in NYC - three days of inspiring exchange!✨
This year, we introduced group work sessions for review papers🗒️to reflect and synthesize our interdisciplinary work😀
Thank you to all participants and @simonsfoundation.org
for the support!
This year, we introduced group work sessions for review papers🗒️to reflect and synthesize our interdisciplinary work😀
Thank you to all participants and @simonsfoundation.org
for the support!
Congratulations to all authors, including our PriME fellows 🤗
Delighted to share our latest work now published in Science Advances - led by PhD student Sophie Zweifel, this study characterises a new life phase in coccolithophores and opens up our understanding of the complex microbial interactions which drive algae blooms!
richardjhenshaw.com/2025/08/27/n...
richardjhenshaw.com/2025/08/27/n...
New paper out in Science Advances today – how bacteria induce metamorphosis in coccolithophores!
Delighted to share our most recent paper out today in Science Advances titled “Bacteria induce an amoeboid phase in coccolithophores that persists after bloom collapse”. This work was l…
richardjhenshaw.com
August 28, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Congratulations to all authors, including our PriME fellows 🤗
❓How do microbes that can’t make their own vitamins survive in the ocean? 🌊🦠
In this new paper, @rachelgregor.bsky.social and fellow PriME members uncover the role of B vitamin auxotrophies in microbial communities.
👇Check it out 😀
academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...
In this new paper, @rachelgregor.bsky.social and fellow PriME members uncover the role of B vitamin auxotrophies in microbial communities.
👇Check it out 😀
academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...
Vitamin auxotrophies shape microbial community assembly on model marine particles
Abstract. Microbial community assembly is governed by the flow of carbon sources and other primary metabolites between species. However, central metabolism
academic.oup.com
August 25, 2025 at 8:12 AM
❓How do microbes that can’t make their own vitamins survive in the ocean? 🌊🦠
In this new paper, @rachelgregor.bsky.social and fellow PriME members uncover the role of B vitamin auxotrophies in microbial communities.
👇Check it out 😀
academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...
In this new paper, @rachelgregor.bsky.social and fellow PriME members uncover the role of B vitamin auxotrophies in microbial communities.
👇Check it out 😀
academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...
Exciting work from former and current PriME members 🤗 Looking forward to seeing it published!
Check out our latest preprint where we show synergistic interactions between bacteria for the degradation of complex polysaccharides 🌊🦠🔺
@envsysmicro.at @akshitg.bsky.social
#MicroSky
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@envsysmicro.at @akshitg.bsky.social
#MicroSky
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A division of labor controls the degradation of fucoidans in the ocean
Fucoidans, complex polysaccharides produced by brown algae and diatoms, contribute to long-term carbon sequestration due to their resistance to microbial degradation1,2. While individual microbes can ...
www.biorxiv.org
August 15, 2025 at 7:52 AM
Exciting work from former and current PriME members 🤗 Looking forward to seeing it published!
❓What if microbes share not just small metabolites, but also complex molecules that shape community assembly 🦠?
@sammy-pontrelli.bsky.social and co-authors explored this question in a new collaborative PriME study 😃
Learn more about it 👇
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
@sammy-pontrelli.bsky.social and co-authors explored this question in a new collaborative PriME study 😃
Learn more about it 👇
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Degradation of extracellular polymeric substances shapes microbial community diversity
Cross-feeding of small metabolites is known to drive carbon exchange among microbial species, but the role of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) has been poorly understood. This study shows that...
journals.plos.org
August 14, 2025 at 9:50 AM
❓What if microbes share not just small metabolites, but also complex molecules that shape community assembly 🦠?
@sammy-pontrelli.bsky.social and co-authors explored this question in a new collaborative PriME study 😃
Learn more about it 👇
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
@sammy-pontrelli.bsky.social and co-authors explored this question in a new collaborative PriME study 😃
Learn more about it 👇
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
PriME Dr. #5 in 2025 is Gabriel from Otto Cordero's lab!
He successfully defended his thesis "Shaping Function Through Space: The Role of Spatial Organization in Microbial Communities" 🧑🎓🥳
Thank you Gabriel for your collaborative spirit and contribution🦠🤗 All the best for your future!
He successfully defended his thesis "Shaping Function Through Space: The Role of Spatial Organization in Microbial Communities" 🧑🎓🥳
Thank you Gabriel for your collaborative spirit and contribution🦠🤗 All the best for your future!
August 11, 2025 at 8:16 AM
PriME Dr. #5 in 2025 is Gabriel from Otto Cordero's lab!
He successfully defended his thesis "Shaping Function Through Space: The Role of Spatial Organization in Microbial Communities" 🧑🎓🥳
Thank you Gabriel for your collaborative spirit and contribution🦠🤗 All the best for your future!
He successfully defended his thesis "Shaping Function Through Space: The Role of Spatial Organization in Microbial Communities" 🧑🎓🥳
Thank you Gabriel for your collaborative spirit and contribution🦠🤗 All the best for your future!
❓How does fluid flow affect bacterial gene exchange? 🌊🦠❓
In his first publication, PriME member Matti Zbinden and co-authors show that stirring at the right speed can boost conjugation rates by increasing cell encounters without disrupting transfer.
Find out more 😀 👇
www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
In his first publication, PriME member Matti Zbinden and co-authors show that stirring at the right speed can boost conjugation rates by increasing cell encounters without disrupting transfer.
Find out more 😀 👇
www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
Fluid flow generates bacterial conjugation hot spots by increasing the rate of shear-driven cell–cell encounters | PNAS
Conjugation accelerates bacterial evolution by enabling bacteria to acquire genes
horizontally from their neighbors. Plasmid donors must physically...
www.pnas.org
August 8, 2025 at 8:22 AM
❓How does fluid flow affect bacterial gene exchange? 🌊🦠❓
In his first publication, PriME member Matti Zbinden and co-authors show that stirring at the right speed can boost conjugation rates by increasing cell encounters without disrupting transfer.
Find out more 😀 👇
www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
In his first publication, PriME member Matti Zbinden and co-authors show that stirring at the right speed can boost conjugation rates by increasing cell encounters without disrupting transfer.
Find out more 😀 👇
www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
🎉Excited to welcome Melanie Stäubli in our network as a new PostDoc (@Levine's group)!
As a microbial ecologist with a flair for quantitative modeling, she studies how phycosphere interactions shape phytoplankton dynamics and impact marine carbon cycling.
Great to have you on board, Melanie! 🌊🔬
As a microbial ecologist with a flair for quantitative modeling, she studies how phycosphere interactions shape phytoplankton dynamics and impact marine carbon cycling.
Great to have you on board, Melanie! 🌊🔬
August 7, 2025 at 1:41 PM
🎉Excited to welcome Melanie Stäubli in our network as a new PostDoc (@Levine's group)!
As a microbial ecologist with a flair for quantitative modeling, she studies how phycosphere interactions shape phytoplankton dynamics and impact marine carbon cycling.
Great to have you on board, Melanie! 🌊🔬
As a microbial ecologist with a flair for quantitative modeling, she studies how phycosphere interactions shape phytoplankton dynamics and impact marine carbon cycling.
Great to have you on board, Melanie! 🌊🔬
Reposted by PriME - Principles of Microbial Ecosystems
Funded postdoc + PhD opportunities in marine microbial ecology! Please share with folks that might be interested.
Start date is flexible (fall 2025 to summer 2026)
More about the lab + applying (Postdoc rolling, PhD apps due Oct/Jan):
sites.google.com/uncc.edu/mic...
Start date is flexible (fall 2025 to summer 2026)
More about the lab + applying (Postdoc rolling, PhD apps due Oct/Jan):
sites.google.com/uncc.edu/mic...
Luo Lab - Microbial Ecology - join
The Luo Lab is accepting applications for funded Postdoc and PhD opportunities. Details below.
Lab members will have access to state-of-the art wet lab, and computing, and sequencing resources, inclu...
sites.google.com
July 8, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Funded postdoc + PhD opportunities in marine microbial ecology! Please share with folks that might be interested.
Start date is flexible (fall 2025 to summer 2026)
More about the lab + applying (Postdoc rolling, PhD apps due Oct/Jan):
sites.google.com/uncc.edu/mic...
Start date is flexible (fall 2025 to summer 2026)
More about the lab + applying (Postdoc rolling, PhD apps due Oct/Jan):
sites.google.com/uncc.edu/mic...
We welcome our new PostDoc member Nittay @nittaym.bsky.social @micsysecolab.bsky.social 😃.
He’ll be investigating how catabolic cascades emerge from species’ proteomic strategies — and how these shape community responses to environmental changes 🌍
Nice to have you aboard, Nittay! 🙌
He’ll be investigating how catabolic cascades emerge from species’ proteomic strategies — and how these shape community responses to environmental changes 🌍
Nice to have you aboard, Nittay! 🙌
July 8, 2025 at 1:08 PM
We welcome our new PostDoc member Nittay @nittaym.bsky.social @micsysecolab.bsky.social 😃.
He’ll be investigating how catabolic cascades emerge from species’ proteomic strategies — and how these shape community responses to environmental changes 🌍
Nice to have you aboard, Nittay! 🙌
He’ll be investigating how catabolic cascades emerge from species’ proteomic strategies — and how these shape community responses to environmental changes 🌍
Nice to have you aboard, Nittay! 🙌
🎓Congrats to Margot Bligh @marumunibremen.bsky.social on successfully defending her PhD thesis “Environmental and structural drivers of algal glycan persistence in the ocean” 🥳
Thanks for your great contribution to PriME — we’re happy you’ll be collaborating with us a little longer! 😃
Thanks for your great contribution to PriME — we’re happy you’ll be collaborating with us a little longer! 😃
June 23, 2025 at 8:15 AM
🎓Congrats to Margot Bligh @marumunibremen.bsky.social on successfully defending her PhD thesis “Environmental and structural drivers of algal glycan persistence in the ocean” 🥳
Thanks for your great contribution to PriME — we’re happy you’ll be collaborating with us a little longer! 😃
Thanks for your great contribution to PriME — we’re happy you’ll be collaborating with us a little longer! 😃
Reposted by PriME - Principles of Microbial Ecosystems
New funding opportunity: We are providing support for students entering U.S.-based Ph.D. programs with a plan to perform research in #ecology and #evolution. Deadline is 7/31: www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons... #science
Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution
The purpose of these awards is to provide support for students entering U.S.-based Ph.D. programs with a plan to perform research in ecology and evolution. While we will consider all projects in ecolo...
www.simonsfoundation.org
June 18, 2025 at 7:46 PM
New funding opportunity: We are providing support for students entering U.S.-based Ph.D. programs with a plan to perform research in #ecology and #evolution. Deadline is 7/31: www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons... #science
Reposted by PriME - Principles of Microbial Ecosystems
‼️I'm looking for a postdoc‼️ Come join effort in using metagenomes to quantify microbial catabolic potential and carbon substrate availability at the ecosystem level. We seek to understand evolutionary forces shaping the carbon cycle. Part of ccomp-stc.org
careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/cl...
careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/cl...
Postdoctoral Associate
MIT - Postdoctoral Associate - Cambridge MA 02139
careers.peopleclick.com
June 18, 2025 at 2:39 PM
‼️I'm looking for a postdoc‼️ Come join effort in using metagenomes to quantify microbial catabolic potential and carbon substrate availability at the ecosystem level. We seek to understand evolutionary forces shaping the carbon cycle. Part of ccomp-stc.org
careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/cl...
careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/cl...
❓How do #marinebacteria navigate and compete for #phytoplankton -derived organic matter hotspots — and what happens when their microbial neighbors 🦠tag along❓
Check out this exciting PriME collaborative work, just published in @ISMEJournal! 😃👏👇
academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...
Check out this exciting PriME collaborative work, just published in @ISMEJournal! 😃👏👇
academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...
Chemotaxis, growth, and inter-species interactions shape early bacterial community assembly
Abstract. From the perspective of a marine copiotrophic bacterium, the surface ocean is a mosaic of exploitable hotspots of organic matter released from li
academic.oup.com
June 19, 2025 at 9:27 AM
❓How do #marinebacteria navigate and compete for #phytoplankton -derived organic matter hotspots — and what happens when their microbial neighbors 🦠tag along❓
Check out this exciting PriME collaborative work, just published in @ISMEJournal! 😃👏👇
academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...
Check out this exciting PriME collaborative work, just published in @ISMEJournal! 😃👏👇
academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...
Congratulations Glen 🥳and to all former and current PriME members who contributed to this manuscript 🤗👏
Our paper in @science.org 👉🏽 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
is accompanied by an especially thoughtful perspective by Carey Nadell and Chris Marx 👉🏽
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
is accompanied by an especially thoughtful perspective by Carey Nadell and Chris Marx 👉🏽
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
June 16, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Congratulations Glen 🥳and to all former and current PriME members who contributed to this manuscript 🤗👏
We're excited to welcome Michaela, who recently joined us as a PostDoc at the Cordero's lab (MIT)!
She will explore how changes in cellular function impact #microbialcommunity dynamics, bringing her expertise in metabolic engineering, protein engineering, and synthetic biology 🤗🦠
She will explore how changes in cellular function impact #microbialcommunity dynamics, bringing her expertise in metabolic engineering, protein engineering, and synthetic biology 🤗🦠
June 3, 2025 at 3:16 PM
We're excited to welcome Michaela, who recently joined us as a PostDoc at the Cordero's lab (MIT)!
She will explore how changes in cellular function impact #microbialcommunity dynamics, bringing her expertise in metabolic engineering, protein engineering, and synthetic biology 🤗🦠
She will explore how changes in cellular function impact #microbialcommunity dynamics, bringing her expertise in metabolic engineering, protein engineering, and synthetic biology 🤗🦠
❓What survival strategies enable #marinebacteria to chase sinking particles for days under starvation — and how might this shape the ocean’s long-term carbon storage ❓
A joint PriME effort just hot off the press 🔥🥳👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A joint PriME effort just hot off the press 🔥🥳👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Risk–reward trade-off during carbon starvation generates dichotomy in motility endurance among marine bacteria - Nature Microbiology
Marine bacteria opt for divergent foraging strategies when faced with carbon starvation—either cease motility entirely, or convert biomass to energy to retain motility.
www.nature.com
May 26, 2025 at 11:52 AM
❓What survival strategies enable #marinebacteria to chase sinking particles for days under starvation — and how might this shape the ocean’s long-term carbon storage ❓
A joint PriME effort just hot off the press 🔥🥳👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A joint PriME effort just hot off the press 🔥🥳👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
We gladly introduce PriME, an international and interdisciplinary collaboration which aims to derive fundamental principles of how microbial ecosystems assemble and function, with a primary focus on #marinemicrobes and #carboncycling 🦠🌊
May 22, 2025 at 8:11 AM
We gladly introduce PriME, an international and interdisciplinary collaboration which aims to derive fundamental principles of how microbial ecosystems assemble and function, with a primary focus on #marinemicrobes and #carboncycling 🦠🌊