Matters Microbial

Matters Microbial #115: Suiting Up Against Bacterial Predators! November 6, 2025 Today Dr. Hannah Ledvina, Assistant Professor in the Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Department at the University of Michigan joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss how bacteria can protect themselves against predators in unusual ways . . . including a type of armor! Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest :  Hannah L...

Matters Microbial #114: A Tongue-n-Cheek Look at the Oral Microbiome October 31, 2025 Today Dr. Jessica Mark Welch, Professor at the ADA Forsyth Institute joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the complex and interactive microbial communities living unseen within our mouths . . . and what those communities can tell us. Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest :  Jessica Mark Welch Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts ,  S...

Matters Microbial #113: Microbes That Swim, Swarm, Stand Up—and 'Walk' October 24, 2025 Today Dr. Joshua Shrout, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences at the University of Notre Dame joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the work of his research team on sociomicrobiology. This includes how bacteria sense a surface, move together in groups, and communicate with one anoth...

Matters Microbial #112: Bacterial Size, Stress, and Antibiotic Resistance October 17, 2025 Today Dr. Petra Levin, the George and Irene Freiberg Professor of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss her work with bacterial cell size, environmental stress on bacteria, and antibiotic resistance. Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest :  Petra Levin Subscribe:  Apple Podc...

Matters Microbial #111: Shocking Tales of Metal-Loving Microbes October 10, 2025 Today Dr. Jeff Gralnick, Professor of the Department of Plant and Microbial Sciences at the University of Minnesota joins the #QualityQuorum to tell us a shocking story about how his research group studies the relationship between electrons, microbes, and metals.   Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest :  Jeff Gralnick Subscrib...

Matters Microbial #110: Enumerating the Microbiome October 3, 2025 Today Dr. Sean Gibbons, Associate Professor at the Institute for Systems Biology, returns to the #QualityQuorum to tell us about how he and his colleagues are able to listen very carefully to the microbiome to uncover important hints about health. Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest :  Sean Gibbons Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts ,  Spotify Bec...

Matters Microbial #109: Bat-Crazy About Rabies September 26, 2025 In honor of World Rabies Day, Dr. Rodney Rohde, Regents Professor at Texas State University,  joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss rabies and some of the strategies used to limit the influence of that devastating viral disease. Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest :  Rodney Rohde Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts ,  Spotify Become a  patron  of Matt...

Matters Microbial #108: Neanderthal Oral Health, Ancient Bacteria and DNA September 19, 2025 Today, Dr. Laura Weyrich, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University,  joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the paleo oral microbiome! We will learn if our ancestors had the same kind of resident microbes as we do. In addition, we will learn about ancient DNA and what it can tell u...

Matters Microbial #107: Listeria Sprouting Hysteria? September 11, 2025 Today, Dr. Lisa Gorski, a microbiologist and food safety consultant recently retired from the US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the facts about the disease causing bacterium named  Listeria . We will learn about the organism, the disease listeriosis, and food safet...

Matters Microbial #106: Cells Without Walls – Full-Frontal Bacteria September 6, 2025 Today, Dr. Dennis Claessen of Leiden University's Institute of Biology joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss how some bacteria lose their cell walls, the costs and advantages of that strategy, and how such cells can shed light on antibiotic resistance and even pathogenesis!  Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest :  Dennis Cl...

Matters Microbial #105:  Snails Farming Bacteria in the Deep Sea August 29, 2025 Let's take a deep dive into chemoautotrophy!  Today, Dr. Roxanne Beinart, Associate Professor of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss how some marine creatures use bacterial symbioses to provide organic compounds for growth and reproduction.  Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest :...

Matters Microbial #104: Antibiotic "Tolerance" and Biofilms August 21, 2025 Today, Dr. Boo Shan Tseng, Associate Professor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas School of Life Sciences, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss bacterial biofilms and antibiotic tolerance.  Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest :  Boo Shan Tseng Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts ,  Spotify Become a  patron  of Matters Microbial! Links fo...

Matters Microbial #103: Giant Bacteria and Bigger Questions August 14, 2025 Today, Dr. Jean-Marie Volland, Assistant Professor at the University of California in Santa Barbara joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the discovery and analysis of the (so far) largest bacterium known:   Thiomargarita magnifica , which can be a centimeter long! Definitely #OMG and #WTM! Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest :  Jea...

Matters Microbial #102: Teaching Through the Issues with Microbes! July 31, 2025 Today, Dr. Davida Smyth, Professor of Biology and Deputy Director of the National Center for Science and Civic Engagement at Texas A&M University-San Antonio joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss her impressive work using microbiology to engage students at the intersection of cutting edge research and current events. #M...

Matters Microbial #101: Electrifying News about Cable Bacteria July 25, 2025 Today, Dr. Nicole Geerlings from the University of Vienna in Austria joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss some of the wonderful work she and colleagues have carried out studying the wild, weird, and wonderful world of cable bacteria, which can conduct electricity over microbially enormous distances!  Definitely time for #O...

Matters Microbial #100: What's the Buzz on Phage Therapy for Honeybees? July 14, 2025 Today, Dr. Heather Hendrickson from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the research she and her team are conducting on bacteriophage therapy to protect vulnerable honeybees from bacterial infections. Host: Mark O. Martin Guest :  Heather Hendrickson Subscribe: Apple Po...

Matters Microbial #99: Albert Kluyver—Microbial Unity and Diversity in Metabolism July 10, 2025 Today, Dr. Dianne Newman of Caltech joins the #QualityQuorum live at ASM Microbe in Los Angeles, to discuss the role that Albert Kluvyer played in helping microbial scientists to understand the unity and diversity to be found in microbial metabolism. Host: Mark O. Martin Guest :  Dianne Newman Subscribe...

Matters Microbial #98: Nesting Dolls of Endosymbiosis July 3, 2025 Today, Dr. John McCutcheon of Arizona State University joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the work he and his research group do to investigate the strategies by which microbes become symbionts of other cells. After all, the mitochondria and chloroplasts of eukaryotic cells, including yours, were once bacteria! Host: Mark O. Martin...

Matters Microbial #97: Microbes in the Air (Way) June 27, 2025 Today, Dr. Ari Kozik, Assistant Professor at the University of MIchigan joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the work she and her research group do to investigate microbes living within the lung and their relationship to health as well as microbiology outreach and representation. Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest :  Ari Kozik Subscribe: Apple...

Matters Microbial #96: Molecular Microbiology in High Schools June 19, 2025 Today, Bob Kuhn, biotechnology teacher at the Fulton County Schools Innovation Academy STEM high school in Alpharetta, Georgia joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss his strategies for teaching molecular microbiology skills and concepts to high school students  —  and why that matters. Host: Mark O. Martin Guest :  Bob Kuhn S...

Matters Microbial #95: Bacteria and Aphids — A Symbiotic Story June 12, 2025 Today, Dr. Tory Hendry, Associate Professor of Microbiology at Cornell University, joins the #QualityQuorum to tell us about the relationship between plant munching aphids and fluorescent  Pseudomonas  . . . and why we should care. Host: Mark O. Martin Guests:  Tory Hendry Subscribe: Apple Podcasts ,  Spotify Become a  pa...

Matters Microbial #94: One Health and Microbiomes Everywhere June 5, 2025 Today, Dr. Seth Bordenstein and Dr. Nichole Ginnan of Pennsylvania State University join the #QualityQuorum to tell us about their new publication linking One Health to the myriad microbiomes that exist all around us through the lens of the holobiome—and an opportunity to see the world in a different fashion. Host: Mark O. M...

Matters Microbial #93: Preventing Antibiotic Resistance May 29, 2025 Today's episode was an in-person podcast at the University of Texas Austin!  Dr. Despoina Mavridou, Assistant Professor of Molecular Biosciences, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss how her research group improves antibiotic effectiveness by impeding protein folding, and why this matters in the fight against antimicrobial resista...

Matters Microbial #92: Microbial Metabolism in Extreme Places May 22, 2025 Today, Dr. Valerie DeAnda Torres, Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Cell Science at the University of Florida (and National Geographic Explorer), joins the #QualityQuorum to tell us about the research her team does, studying the evolution of metabolic pathways in extreme environments . . . and why these are important...

Matters Microbial #91: You Are What Your Genes Feed Your Microbiome May 16, 2025 Today, Dr. Emily Davenport, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology and Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences at Penn State University, joins the #QualityQuorum to tell us about the research her team does, studying how our own genes impact our microbiomes.   Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest:  Emily Davenport Subscr...