Happy #WomenInSTEM day! 👩🔬
The Molecular Ecology group at @ukceh.bsky.social comprises of many fantastic women👩🔬 conducting research on all things #molecular #ecology, #AMR, #microbes 🧬🦠🧫
Stay tuned as we introduce you to some them over the course of today ⬇️
🗓️ It's January wrap up time!
Our researchers have been busy kicking off the new year with lots of different activities including sampling, presentations, project meetings, training and lots of lab work!
Check out what we've been up to ⬇️
@ukceh.bsky.social
For microbe 🦠 Monday it is our pleasure to share with you our science article of the month.
Thousands of chemicals used in modern life enter freshwater systems where they interact in complex, often unpredictable ways, disrupting organisms & ecosystems:
Find out more:
www.fba.org.uk/articles/und...
We also put together a Behind the Paper story here: communities.springernature.com/posts/uncove...
@natcomms.nature.com
Our findings highlight the importance of river biofilms and provide a foundation for understanding their role in ecosystem health & resilience 🌊🌱
Thanks to my co-authors @susheelbusi.bsky.social, @danread.bsky.social, Jono Warren, Laura Hunt, Kerry Walsh. @ukceh.bsky.social & Environment Agency
We found that these #bacterial biofilms were strongly structured by catchment geology, land use, and nutrients in the rivers.
Using our #metagenomes, we also identified an extensive functional diversity, with genes linked to #carbon and #nitrogen cycling, organic matter degradation, and the uptake and transformation of contaminants 🧬
Analysing 450 river #biofilms from across England, we reconstructed over 1,000 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs), and uncovered a remarkable taxonomic diversity, including many previously undescribed #microbes 🦠
Our national-scale study of bacterial biogeography and function in river biofilms has just been published in Nature Communications! @natcomms.nature.com 🦠🧬
Read the paper here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
It's our new #sequencers! 🧬
We've just bought the #illumina MiSeq i100 and NextSeq 1000!
Our staff are currently be trained on both of these 👩🔬👨🔬
@lindsaynewbold.bsky.social @amycthorpe.bsky.social @rachelapayne.bsky.social
Over the summer, @amycthorpe.bsky.social presented at @sedadnasociety.bsky.social in Tromsø, Norway. Amy presented her research using lake sedimentary #DNA to reconstruct historical #microbial dynamics in the Lake District in response to nutrient status 🦠🧬🌊
Huge thanks to my co-authors susheelbusi.bsky.social, lindsaynewbold.bsky.social, joedtaylor.bsky.social, & danread.bsky.social at @ukceh-moleco.bsky.social ukceh.bsky.social & Jono Warren & Kerry Walsh at the Environment Agency.
Watch this space for more on #river biofilm microbes coming soon 👀
🔍 We applied #network and threshold #indicator analysis to identify bacterial indicator taxa responding to environmental gradients.
Integrating microbes such as biofilm bacteria into routine #monitoring can provide earlier, more sensitive detection of ecosystem change 🦠 🧬 🌊
In our study, we:
🦠 Characterised the diversity and community structure of river biofilm bacteria at a national-scale
🌊 Showed that bacterial communities are shaped by environmental factors such as alkalinity, nitrate, dissolved oxygen, and water temperature.
We analysed over 1,600 #biofilms from 700 sites across England's rivers, combining 16S rRNA gene #sequencing with high resolution water chemistry 🧬 💧
Excited to share our new preprint on #bacteria in river biofilms 🦠 🌊
"River biofilm bacteria as sentinels of national-scale freshwater ecosystems"
Read the preprint here: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Welcome back to our "meet the researcher" series! Previously we introduced you to our PhD students.
Next up - our staff! 👩🔬👨🔬🌊🌱🦠🧬
Welcome to our "meet the researcher" series!👩🔬👨🔬
Tune in over the next week as we introduce you to our UKCEH Molecular Ecology PhD researchers and tell you a bit about their projects! 🧪🧬🦠
@amycthorpe.bsky.social giving insights to #river microbial diversity. Using Environment Agency’s River Surveillance Network, >1500 #biofilms collected, with #metagenomic sequencing for >400. Lots of novel taxa detected. Communities tend to be made up of high occupancy, abundant bacteria #UKDNAWG25
Jono Warren of Environment Agency continues work on #river #biofilms, presenting results of #microbial #metabarcoding. Nitrate = problem for ecological health of rivers. Indicators needed for management. Sensitive and tolerant taxa identified. Placement of ‘good’ ecological threshold key #UKDNAWG25
