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Meghan Ferguson

@micro-megs.bsky.social
192 followers 308 following 31 posts

PostDoc in the Guse lab studying immune control of cnidarian-algal symbiosis. Fascinated by microbes, microscopy and bioinformatics. Lover of nature, music, art and hula hoops.

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Reposted by Meghan Ferguson
Nicolas Mouquet @nmouquet.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Coral reefs need more than science alone ! In our new Science Advances perspective with @momedinamunoz.bsky.social, we argue that art and science together can inspire public engagement, influence policy, and mobilize global action for reef conservation. 🌊🎨🪸 👉 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🧪🌍🦤🦑
science.org
Communicating coral: Art and science for global reef action
Coral reefs are experiencing unprecedented rapid decline. Art can act as a beacon to engage audiences, influence policy, and inspire global action.
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Reposted by Meghan Ferguson
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation @moorefound.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
#RequestForProposals We’re inviting teams of two researchers to pursue projects advancing #AquaticSymbiosis (marine + freshwater). Areas of interest include how aquatic environments influence symbiosis, evolutionary ecology & new methods/tech. Details + how to apply:  moore.org/SymbiosisRFP
moore.org
New funding opportunity: Advancing aquatic symbiosis research
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation announces a new request for proposals aimed at advancing understanding of symbiosis in marine and freshwater environments.…
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Reposted by Meghan Ferguson
The Symbiosis Courses Alumni Network @symbiosisalumni.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Join us Wednesday, 29th April, at 4pm WEST (Lisbon time), for two Symbiosis Alumni Seminars by @omaistrenko.bsky.social and @pawley.bsky.social. Zoom link upon free registration at gimm.idloom.events/symbnet_semi... @symbnet.bsky.social, @moorefound.bsky.social, @mblscience.bsky.social, ECODIM
Poster for seminar by Oleksandr Maistrenko with title "Consequences of symbiosis on genome evolution in prokaryotes across different habitats"Poster for seminar by Jacob Pawley with title "Exploring foundations of animal host-microbe interactions in a freshwater sponge"
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Meghan Ferguson @micro-megs.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Thanks to all authors for their efforts in getting this paper out there! We found integrins facilitated the specific uptake of symbionts in coral and Aiptasia larvae, shedding new light on the mechanisms of symbiosis establishment in cnidarians.
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Reposted by Meghan Ferguson
Shumpei Maruyama @shumpeim.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
We're excited to share with everyone a preprint of our manuscript that resolves the cellular origins of the symbiosome in cnidarian-algal symbiosis through proteomics of the symbiosome, RNAi, and CRISPR/Cas9 experiments. ⬇️ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Read on below! 1/12 🧵
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Reposted by Meghan Ferguson
Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Aurélia Joly, @micro-megs.bsky.social & co show that stem cell-intrinsic NF-κB activity is crucial for preventing apoptosis and ensuring proper intestinal epithelial repair following injury in #Drosophila. 🪰 doi.org/10.1242/bio.... #StemCells #Intestine
Rel is not essential for DSS-dependent ISC proliferation but impacts survival rates after DSS treatment. (A) 10-day-old unchallenged (UC) esgts/+ flies fed PBS/5% sucrose solution for 48 h; and DSS-treated esgts/+ or esgts/RelRNAi flies fed 3% DSS in 5% sucrose for 48 h. Scale bars: 25 µm. DNA (cyan), esg+ progenitors (yellow), and Dl+ ISCs (magenta) labelled.
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Reposted by Meghan Ferguson
The Coral Reef Research Hub @coralreefresearch.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS NOW LIVE! 16th International Coral Reef Symposium Submit an abstract here: www.icrs2026.nz/call-for-abs... #coralreefs #symposium #newzealand #icrs #coralresearch #networking #coral #internationalcoralreefsociety #marinescience #marinebiology
icrs2026.nz
Call for abstracts
We are pleased to announce that the Call for Abstracts is now open. Submissions are invited under the approved sessions, each aligned with one of the eight broad Symposium themes.
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Meghan Ferguson @micro-megs.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Last chapter of my PhD is out now! This project got me excited about the various roles of immune regulators like NF-kB. Drosophila taught me a lot about this concept, and I'm happy to apply my knowledge to Aiptasia. I will always treasure my time with the fly journals.biologists.com/bio/article/...
journals.biologists.com
Stem cell-specific NF-κB is required for stem cell survival and epithelial regeneration upon intestinal damage
Summary: Stem cell-intrinsic NF-κB activity is essential to prevent apoptosis and ensure proper intestinal epithelial repair following injury.
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Reposted by Meghan Ferguson
Trends in Marine Host-Microbe Symbioses @tmhms.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
📢#TMHMS25 is just around the corner! 🦠🌊 Join us to dive into the latest discoveries in #marinehostmicrobesymbioses and explore how microbial superpowers can contribute to restoring ocean health! Please share with fellow marine science and microbiology enthusiasts!
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Seth Bordenstein @symbionticism.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Trainees and faculty that I had the privilege to be a part of did something quite special. The context here is that experimental and theoretical biologists were in a room together on Coconut Island, Hawaii for 3 weeks to hammer out a vision #holobiont theory. 🧵 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Theory of host-microbe symbioses: Challenges and opportunities
Growing insight into microbial symbioses highlights the need to model these systems mathematically. We discuss three areas requiring theoretical advan…
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Meghan Ferguson @micro-megs.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
Spent the week in Cambridge with @benkinsjenkins.bsky.social testing this custom made microscope to live image Aiptasia larvae. Got some cool videos that we hope to share very soon! Thanks for hosting me Ben!
Custom made microscope setup to live image samples from a 96 well plate
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Meghan Ferguson @micro-megs.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
Coral spawning up close from my travels to Okinawa at this time last year. 😍 I learned a lot about coral fieldwork and gained valuable insights into immune mechanisms of symbiosis establishment, can't wait to go back! #SymbioSky
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Reposted by Meghan Ferguson
ICRS International Coral Reef Society @icrs.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
1/6 Call for session proposals 16th International Coral Reef Symposium, 19–24th July 2026, Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. Session proposal deadline: Sunday 15th June 2025. Details and submission link at www.icrs2026.nz/call-for-ses...
icrs2026.nz
Call for Session Proposals
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Reposted by Meghan Ferguson
Anna Karnkowska @ankarn.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
🚨 Just under two weeks left to submit your abstract for ESEB2025 - don’t miss the chance to be part of the Symposium on the Evolution of Symbiosis and Interactions in Microbial Eukaryotes 🦠🔬 📅 Abstract deadline: April 25, 2025 🔗 More: eseb2025.com/list-of-symposia #ESEB25 #Symbiosis #ProtistOnSky
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Meghan Ferguson @micro-megs.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
I've been busy the last couple years developing Aiptasia as a genetically tractable model organism to study corals. Here you can see me injecting CRISPR-Cas9 into these fragile little Aiptasia zygotes. Hopefully soon we will have our very first mutant lines!
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Meghan Ferguson @micro-megs.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
Was a pleasure to present my work on immune regulation of symbiosis in corals and anemones at the Wild frontiers of model organisms conference hosted by @events.embl.org Highly recommend you checking out this event again in 2027! #EESWildModels
A picture of an Aiptasia anemone with their dinoflagellate symbionts shining like stars in the surroundings being presented by Meghan Ferguson
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Reposted by Meghan Ferguson
Clint Oakley @clintoak.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Corals maintain stable populations of essential photosynthetic symbionts by controlling their cell cycle, not by eating them! Our new #PNAS paper monitored and modelled #aiptasia cell cycle, autophagy, and expulsion for over a year. #symbiosis #microbiology www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Cell cycle arrest in the cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis.
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Reposted by Meghan Ferguson
Phillip Cleves @pcleves.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
It is happening again! Consider taking our course on the Molecular and Cell Biology of Symbiosis at @MBLScience. We extended the deadline for applications to Apr 14, 2025. www.mbl.edu/education/ad...
mbl.edu
Molecular and Cell Biology of Symbiosis | Marine Biological Laboratory
This is an immersive research-based course designed to teach basic concepts, open research questions, and facilitate state-of-the-art experimental approaches in symbiosis research.
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Reposted by Meghan Ferguson
Marine Biological Laboratory @mblscience.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
Course updates! ⚠️ Molecular and Cell Biology of Symbiosis is REOPENING applications (deadline March 31), and Visual Neuroscience is EXTENDING applications (deadline April 1). Flyers below ⤵️ Read more and apply here: bit.ly/4acDH2V #ScienceStartsHere
A flyer for the MBL's 2025 Molecular and Cell Biology of Symbiosis course, which will run July 24 to August 26, 2025. Applications are now due March 31, and financial assistance is available. The image also includes the hashtag #ScienceStartsHere, a logo for the MBL, and a picture of a cephalopodA flyer for the MBL's 2025 Visual Neuroscience course, which will run from August 1 to 16, 2025. Applications are now due April 1, and financial assistance is available. The image also includes the hashtag #ScienceStartsHere and a logo for the MBL.
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Reposted by Meghan Ferguson
Ben Jenkins @benkinsjenkins.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Check out our dispatch on apicomplexans that infect corals! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... These parasite-like partners have lost photosynthesis but retained chlorophyll... are they friend or foe? @currentbiology.bsky.social #protistsonsky #symbiosky #microsky #coralreefs
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Reposted by Meghan Ferguson
Brad Weiler @bradweilerdives.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
🚨New Preprint Alert: Are bearded fireworms🪱 acting as vectors for Corallicolids? Here we show evidence that H. carunculata is acting as a reservoir for these coral-infecting Apicomplexans, but corallicolid functional roles in the holobiont are still unknown! 🪸🦠. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
Fireworms (Hermodice carunculata) are a reservoir and potential vector for coral-infecting apicomplexans
Corals (Cnidaria; Anthozoa) play critical roles as habitat-forming species with a wide range, from warm shallow-water tropical coral reefs to cold-water ecosystems [1-3]. They also represent a complex...
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Reposted by Meghan Ferguson
The Symbiosis Courses Alumni Network @symbiosisalumni.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
🚀 Registrations are open: 2025 SymbNET PhD Summer School on Host-Microbe Symbioses, Oeiras (Lisbon), Portugal 👉 gimm.idloom.events/phd-summer-s... Please help us sharing this announcement 📣 @gimmfoundation.bsky.social #CBR @moorefound.bsky.social @crc1182.bsky.social #CIFAR
gimm.idloom.events
PhD Summer School on Host-Microbe Symbioses 2025
Symbnet PhD Summer School on Host-Microbe Symbioses Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine (GIMM) & Católica Biomedical Research Centre (CBR) July 06...
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Christian R Voolstra @reefgenomics.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
OUT NOW 'coral reef microbiome' by Springer Nature link.springer.com/book/10.1007... .. some 2.5 years in the making, jam packed: check out Ch.16 on Assisted Restoration as the sum of approaches required to deliver effective ecological restoration! Many thanks to all contributors @uni-konstanz.de
link.springer.com
Coral Reef Microbiome
This book focuses on Structure, Function and Ecology of the coral microbiome and associated active interventions to conserve and restore coral reefs.
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Reposted by Meghan Ferguson
Christian R Voolstra @reefgenomics.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
Don't miss out, October 22-25, 2025: International Symposium – Trends in Marine Host-Microbe Symbioses with an exciting lineup of speakers marinesymbioses.eu/invited-spea...; looking forward to insightful & inspiring discussions; registration: marinesymbioses.eu/register/ @uni-konstanz.de
marinesymbioses.eu
Invited speakers – Trends in Marine Host-Microbe Symbioses Symposium
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Reposted by Meghan Ferguson
Vengamanaidu Modepalli @venky-vnm.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Woohoo! Our image made the cover! 🎉 @jexpbiol.bsky.social The image captures photosymbiotic Anemonia viridis pointing it's tentacles towards the light. journals.biologists.com/jeb
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The Symbiosis Courses Alumni Network @symbiosisalumni.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Save the date 📅: The PhD Summer School on Host-microbe Symbioses is taking place from 6-19 of July in Oeiras, Portugal. Registration is opening soon! Learn more 👉 gimm.idloom.events/phd-summer-s... @gimmfoundation.bsky.social @moorefound.bsky.social @crc1182.bsky.social #CIFAR #CBR
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Meghan Ferguson @micro-megs.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
The final paper from my PhD is out! Give it a read if you're into immunity, stem cells and guts! Thanks to @edanfoley.bsky.social and the rest of the team 💪
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Pedro Belio Mairal @pedrobeliomairal.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
During my PhD, I met so many colleagues who only read papers for journal clubs or when their PI demanded it. Reading the literature is a must for PhDs. It keeps you sharp, sparks ideas, builds critical thinking, and once it’s a habit, it’s even fun. Young scientists: READ!
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Meghan Ferguson @micro-megs.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
🚨New Preprint Alert!🚨 Integrins are key receptors involved in the phagocytosis of symbionts in cnidarians. This sheds light on the mechanisms of symbiosis establishment in coral reefs. A thread... #coralreef #aiptasia #marinesymbiosis www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
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Tyler J. Carrier @tylerjcarrier.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
Can’t wait to be back in Kiel and at @geomarkiel.bsky.social to discuss host-microbe symbioses! www.metaorganism-research.com/seminars-eve...
metaorganism-research.com
Symposium on Cellular Underpinnings in Host-Microbe Crosstalk
The Symposium on Cellular Underpinnings in Host-Microbe Crosstalk addresses a significant knowledge gap in the metaorganism research: the cellular-level interactions between hosts and microbes.
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Dr. Carly Kenkel @drcarl.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
Be sure to check out the paper onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... for more info on the performance differences; and for the first time, an exploration of family-level differences in symbiont community composition!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Symbiont Community Changes Confer Fitness Benefits for Larvae in a Vertically Transmitting Coral
We quantified the fitness consequences of changes in symbiont communities under a simulated heatwave in early life-history stages of Montipora digitata by tracking changes in their growth, survival, ...
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Hannah Epstein @hannah-eps.bsky.social · 04/01/2025
Another 🚨 new paper alert! We found some of the first evidence of a microbially-mediated life history tradeoff in tropical corals driven by dominance of our fave bacterial symbiont, Endozoicomonas! Read more about it here: animalmicrobiome.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
animalmicrobiome.biomedcentral.com
Evidence for microbially-mediated tradeoffs between growth and defense throughout coral evolution - Animal Microbiome
Background Evolutionary tradeoffs between life-history strategies are important in animal evolution. Because microbes can influence multiple aspects of host physiology, including growth rate and susce...
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Meghan Ferguson @micro-megs.bsky.social · 24/12/2024
Happy Holidays from our festive Aiptasia anemones! I will never get bored of looking at these cuties under the microscope 🔬 #marinescience #aiptasia
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Martin 3guerres @m3guerres.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
Bobtail squid uses the #V-ATPase proton pump to acidify the microenvironment in its light organ, which promotes specificity for the recruitment of bacterial symbionts. Does this strategy apply to other #symbioses? www.nature.com/articles/s42...
nature.com
An acidic microenvironment produced by the V-type ATPase of Euprymna scolopes promotes specificity during Vibrio fischeri recruitment - Communications Biology
Production of an acidic microenvironment by the juvenile host’s epithelial V-type ATPase promotes the recruitment of its specific bacterial symbiont from the ambient environment.
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Nils Rädecker @radecker.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
🪸🦠🧫🔬 Join us in beautiful Oldenburg! We’re hiring a technician to help cultivate and study marine photosymbioses as part of our new ERC-funded focus group at @hifmb.bsky.social. Full-time, 4-year position in a new lab and a dynamic research environment! Apply now! 👉 jobs.awi.de/Vacancies/18...
jobs.awi.de
Technician (m/d/f) in animal, microalgal, and cell cultivation
Layout AWI HIPP extern, englisch
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Meghan Ferguson @micro-megs.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Wonderful collab with the local interactive science museum Biotopia where the Guse lab will introduce the public to some amazing microscopic plankton! Science communication and engagement with the public is important and I'm looking forward to more opportunities like this in the future!
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Nicole Dubilier @nicoledubilier.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Wild frontiers of model organisms www.embl.org/about/info/c... Excited about this brand new EMBO | EMBL Symposium on understanding the biology, ecology and evolution of non-model organisms, ranging from microbes to plants and animals 📅 8 – 11 April 2025 📜 Submit your abstract by 14 January!
embl.org
Wild frontiers of model organisms
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Anthony M. Bonacolta @ambonacolta.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
🚨New Preprint🚨: A Single-cell Atlas of Coral Bleaching! 🪸🦠🔥. We show the microbial ecology of coral bleaching from the gene expression of host and symbiont cells to the shifts in the bacterial and protist communities within the holobiont! #ProtistsOnSky #SymbioSky #MicroSky 🧪
researchsquare.com
A Single-Cell Atlas of Coral Bleaching
The symbiosis between corals and dinoflagellate algae is disrupted by heat stress, leading to bleaching. Recurring bleaching events, driven by the climate crisis, are causing massive coral mortality a...
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Meghan Ferguson @micro-megs.bsky.social · 29/04/2024
Ecstatic to announce I have received a Marie Curie PostDoc Fellowship to work in the Guse Lab and understand how immunity regulates symbiosis in Aiptasia and corals. Excited for the work to come!
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Meghan Ferguson @micro-megs.bsky.social · 23/01/2024
Officially been living in Munich for one year as of today! Been having a blast working on such an interesting model organism. Here's a pic of one of my CRISPR mutant Aiptasia polyps associated with symbionts (red) 😍 #aiptasia #mutant
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Meghan Ferguson @micro-megs.bsky.social · 13/01/2024
Getting back in the groove of things with my anemone friends after a relaxing break. Here's an image I captured lately of a juvenile Aiptasia polyp "kissing" a larvae 😍
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Meghan Ferguson @micro-megs.bsky.social · 03/01/2024
Please let me reintroduce myself!
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