Matters Microbial

Matters Microbial #133: The Microbial Partnerships That Help Corals Survive June 29, 2026 Dr. Hannah Reich of the Department of Environmental Biology at the State University of New York's College of Environmental Science and Forestry joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss how microalgal interactions (including with bacteria) are fundamental contributors to large scale ecosystem processes including th...

Matters Microbial #132: What 83,000 Generations of Bacteria Reveal About Evolution June 17, 2026 Today Dr. Jeffrey Barrick, John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of the Department of Microbiology, Genetics, & Immunology and the Department of Entomology at Michigan State University, joins the quality quorum today to discuss how microbes can be used to study evolution itself. He will also discuss t...

Matters Microbial #131: What Cystic Fibrosis Reveals About Hidden Microbial Lives June 3, 2026 Today Dr. Sam Brown, Professor of Biological Sciences at Georgia Tech University, joins the quality quorum today to discuss the social lives of bacterial pathogens. He will also discuss VERY recent research from his lab group exploring the specialist/generalist problem in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and thou...

Matters Microbial #130: The Holobiont — Animals, Microbes, and Ecology May 19, 2026 Today Dr. Kevin Kohl, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss how he and his colleagues study the interplay between animals, their resident gut microbes, and the overarching concept of the holobiont. Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest :  Kevin Kohl Su...

Matters Microbial #129: Microbes Reveal How Evolution Might Replay May 5, 2026 Today Dr. Michael Travisano, Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the College of Biological Sciences of the University of Minnesota, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss fascinating work from his lab group exploring evolutionary questions from a microbial perspective. Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest :  Michael Trav...

Matters Microbial #128: C. diff from Nursery to Nursing Home April 20, 2026 Today Dr. Joseph Zackular, Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss some fascinating microbiology involving the bacterium Clostridiodes difficile (also known as C. diff), which can cause disease in infa...

Matters Microbial #127: Even Your Navel Has Them — An Archaea‑Whisperer Explores April 7, 2026 Today Dr. Nahui Medina-Chavez, postdoctoral scholar in the Travisano laboratory at the University of Minnesota, joins the Quality Quorum to discuss her interest in the ubiquitous archaea, and her own research studying experimental evolution in extreme halophiles. Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest :  Nahui Medi...

Matters Microbial #126: Squid Eggs Come With Antifungal Frosting March 24, 2026 Today Dr. Spencer Nyholm, Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of Connecticut, and Director of the Professional Science Master's Program in Microbial Systems Analysis, joins the Quality Quorum to discuss his research group's work exploring how some squid have harnessed microbes to...

Matters Microbial #125: Antibiotics, Streptomyces and Evolution March 15, 2026 Today Professor Paul Hoskisson, Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair in Engineering Biology at the University of Strathclyde joins the Quality Quorum to discuss his research group's adventures studying how the bacterium  Streptomyces develops, produces antibiotics, and evolves! Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest :  Paul...

Matters Microbial #124: How Bacteria Die in the Microbial Marine Forest February 24, 2026 Today Dr. Anne Thompson, Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at Portland State University, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the small but necessary microbes in our oceans. They are hugely abundant, use strategies that produce the very oxygen we breathe, and live within an unseen marin...

Matters Microbial #123: What Whooping Cough Can Teach Us February 6, 2026 Today Dr. Seema Mattoo, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Purdue University, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the fascinating molecular genetics of the bacterium  Bordetella pertussis , which can cause the human disease whooping cough. Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest :  Seema Mattoo Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts ,  S...

Matters Microbial #122: Jumbo Marine Viruses and Nanoscopic Warfare January 26, 2026   Today Dr. Alaina Weinheimer, Simons Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in Marine Microbial Ecology at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss new and intriguing marine viruses, including Jumbo Phages!    Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest :  Alaina Weinheimer   Subscribe:  Apple Podca...

Matters Microbial #121: Phollowing Phage in the Gut Microbiome January 7, 2026 Today Dr. Liz de Ora Ortiz, postdoctoral scholar in the Secor Laboratory at Montana State University, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss a fascinating new technology that allows investigators to follow bacteriophage infections in live animals.   Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest :  Liz de Ora Ortiz Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts...

Matters Microbial #120: Bacterial Interactions among Oral Microbes December 29, 2025 For Episode 120, we welcome Dr. Batbileg Bor, Associate Professor at the ADA Forsyth Institute, to the #QualityQuorum.   He joins us to discuss some of the oral community's most enigmatic members: microbes that dwell on other microbes and potentially influence our own health. Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest :  Batbile...

Matters Microbial #119: Investigating Microbial "Dark Matter" December 22, 2025 Today Dr. Julia Willett, Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Minnesota, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss how to investigate unknown genes found in nearly every bacterial genome. Call it Microbial Dark Matter! Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest :  Julia Willett Subscribe...

Matters Microbial #118: Biofilms Everywhere! December 15, 2025 Today Dr. Matthew Fields, Director of the Center for Biofilm Engineering at Montana State University, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss ubiquitous microbial biofilms. These biofilms touch so many aspects of life on Earth, ranging from human health to engineering issues!   Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest :  Matthew Fields Subscribe:  Appl...

Matters Microbial #117: Cancer Virus Hunters and Molecular Biology December 8, 2025 Today Dr. Gregory Morgan, Professor in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at Stevens Institute of Technology, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss how cancer causing viruses advanced molecular biology as described in his recent book  Cancer Virus Hunters .   Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest :  Gregory Mo...

Matters Microbial #116: Microbes in the Concrete Instead of the Abstract November 14, 2025 Today Dr. Julie Maresca, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss how bacteria can interact with a ubiquitous part of modern life:  concrete! Host:  Mark O. Martin Guest :  Julie Maresca Subscribe:  Apple...

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...