Excited to see this story out and to be a first author next to such an influential mentor and friend of mine Colleen Yancey! A few key points from the study: 🧪🧬 1. Microcystis is a genus of cyanobacteria which proliferates in freshwater cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms and can produce a plethora of different molecules, beyond those most commonly recognized and monitored for (microcystins, etc.). How do these molecules effect human health and the rest of the aquatic ecosystem? 2. Many of these molecules remain undiscovered! The chemical space to be explored here is LARGE. 3. Softwares to link genomic and chemical data are gaining traction and improving due to improved algorithms and increased data availability. See how we use some of these new software below!
Delighted to share our newest publication out in mSystems today! This manuscript was a joint effort led by myself and Lauren Hart, in collaboration with our fantastic coauthors. Check it out if you'd like to learn more about Microcystis isolates from Lake Erie, the subtle differences in their biosynthetic potential, and their expansive metabolomes (spoiler - these bugs are making a whole lot more than microcystin...) https://lnkd.in/d4QjsFb7
