Gemma Reguera 🌎

Gemma Reguera 🌎

@microgem.bsky.social

Professor of Microbiology and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Development at Michigan State University. Editor in Chief of Applied and Environmental Microbiology (AEM). Views are my own.

1.6K followers192 following479 posts

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Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

Latest from my lab‼️ We show how cation chemistry controls the structure of the Gram-negative cell envelope and provides reciprocal control of piliation and vesiculation. In Geobacter, this impacts extracellular electron transfer and biomineralization. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.comCation-driven envelope dynamics modulate outer membrane vesiculation and extracellular electron transfer in Geobacter - Nature CommunicationsClark, Kashefi & Reguera show that minor variations in cation chemistry remodel the cell envelope of electroactive bacteria. This affects extracellular electron transfer and mineralization outcome...

Gemma Reguera 🌎 reposted

Princess Vimentin PhD | Cancer Biologist
@princess-vimentin.bsky.social

Did you know- Gloria Steinem was drawn to India. Indian women were a huge part of India's fight for independence. Kamala Devi Chattopadhyay influenced her feminist movement here. When I studied the Independence movement as a little girl in India, I barely learned about the role of women. #pinks

Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

New paper from my lab: a sustainable water treatment solution for commercial horticulture‼️ A commercial-scale woodchip bioreactor operated to remove pesticides from greenhouse irrigation return water & recovery/reuse of nutrients. #SustainableAgriculture #Bioremediation doi.org/10.1021/acse...

doi.orgScalability and Tunability of Woodchip Bioreactors for Agrochemical Removal and Water Reuse in Commercial Production SettingsFrequent irrigation and intensive pesticide use in the specialty crop industry often result in the transport of harmful agrochemicals in return water, threatening production targets and water security...
Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

The #Cryptosporidium outbreak highlights the importance of research on foodborne pathogen transmission. Here are some pubs in Applied & Environmental Microbiology #AEM shedding some light. We start with a review of interactions between Cryptosporidium oocysts and biofilms. doi.org/10.1128/AEM....

doi.orgCryptosporidium-Biofilm Interactions: a Review | Applied and Environmental MicrobiologyBiofilms are increasingly implicated as playing a major role in waterborne cryptosporidiosis. This review aims to synthesize all currently available data on interactions between Cryptosporidium oocyst...
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Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

Little is known about about the population structures of the infective species of #Cryptosporidium. This #AEM article suggests a flexible reproductive strategy characterized by the cooccurrence of both clonal and panmictic propagation. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

journals.asm.orgInferences about the Global Population Structures of Cryptosporidium parvum and Cryptosporidium hominis | Applied and Environmental MicrobiologyABSTRACT Cryptosporidium parvum and Cryptosporidium hominis are two related species of apicomplexan protozoa responsible for the majority of human cases of cryptosporidiosis. In spite of their considerable public health impact, little is known about the population structures of these species. In this study, a battery of C. parvum and C. hominis isolates from seven countries was genotyped using a nine-locus DNA subtyping scheme. To assess the existence of geographical partitions, the multilocus genotype data were mined using a cluster analysis based on the nearest-neighbor principle. Within each country, the population genetic structures were explored by combining diversity statistical tests, linkage disequilibrium, and eBURST analysis. For both parasite species, a quasi-complete phylogenetic segregation was observed among the countries. Cluster analysis accurately identified recently introduced isolates. Rather than conforming to a strict paradigm of either a clonal or a panmictic population structure, data are consistent with a flexible reproductive strategy characterized by the cooccurrence of both propagation patterns. The relative contribution of each pattern appears to vary between the regions, perhaps dependent on the prevailing ecological determinants of transmission.
Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

Cattle is a reservoir of #Cryptosporidium parvum, one of the species causing outbreaks. This #AEM article used a One Health approach to demonstrate a high risk of contracting cryptosporidiosis among veterinary students examining fecal samples from calves. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

journals.asm.orgVeterinary Students Have a Higher Risk of Contracting Cryptosporidiosis when Calves with High Fecal Cryptosporidium Loads Are Used for Fetotomy Exercises | Applied and Environmental MicrobiologyCryptosporidium spp. can cause severe diarrhea in infected individuals. Cryptosporidium parvum is zoonotic, and cattle are the main reservoir. In several countries, outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis have occurred in veterinary students after handling calves. We carried out a 1-year-long prospective study to investigate the occurrence of these recurrent cryptosporidiosis outbreaks in Denmark. Our investigation used a One Health approach and combined comprehensive epidemiological approaches and laboratory methods applied to both students and calves in the setting of the fetotomy exercises. Two outbreaks took place during the study period; additionally, we retrospectively identified two more suspected outbreaks prior to the study period. The results illustrated a high risk of contracting cryptosporidiosis among veterinary students in the setting of the fetotomy exercises, especially when using calves with high fecal Cryptosporidium loads. Our data can be used to inform future efforts to prevent transmission of Cryptosporidium parvum to students during fetotomy exercises.
Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

The #Cryptosporidium outbreak highlights the importance of research on foodborne pathogen transmission. Here are some pubs in Applied & Environmental Microbiology #AEM shedding some light. We start with a review of interactions between Cryptosporidium oocysts and biofilms. doi.org/10.1128/AEM....

doi.orgCryptosporidium-Biofilm Interactions: a Review | Applied and Environmental MicrobiologyBiofilms are increasingly implicated as playing a major role in waterborne cryptosporidiosis. This review aims to synthesize all currently available data on interactions between Cryptosporidium oocyst...
Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

How do we ensure #Crystosporidium oocyte inactivation during water treatment to prevent outbreaks? This #AEM article describes the application of an integrated assay to quantify both oocyst numbers and infectivity levels after various treatment stages. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

journals.asm.orgCryptosporidium Attenuation across the Wastewater Treatment Train: Recycled Water Fit for Purpose | Applied and Environmental MicrobiologyABSTRACT Compliance with guideline removal targets for Cryptosporidium which do not provide any credit for the inactivation of oocysts through wastewater treatment processes can considerably increase ...
Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

Applied and Environmental Microbiology #AEM #ApplEnvironMicrobiol and other journals in the ASM Journals family are proud to sponsor the best posters presented at the #IBS2026 International Biotechnology Symposium (Kobe, Japan) this week.

Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

Also one of my favorite people and colleague at Michigan State!! And we get to be lab neighbors. Go green! 💚

Jennifer Biddle@jenbiddle.bsky.social

One of my favorite people in the world has a postdoc open! Go work for Rosa Leon Zayas! careers.msu.edu/jobs/postdoc...

careers.msu.eduPostdoctoral Scholar-Fixed Term - East Lansing, Michigan, United StatesPosition Summary The Department of Microbiology, Genetics, & Immunology seeks a highly motivated Postdoctoral Scholar to conduct cutting-edge research in environmental genomics with a focus on met...
Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

Happy Mother’s Day to all and, most especially, to all those wonderful mothers and daughters out there who continue to manage a myriad of expectations both at home and at work.

Gemma Reguera 🌎 reposted

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani
@mayor.nyc.gov

While the world’s eyes are on fashion’s biggest night, we’re turning ours to the garment, retail, and warehouse workers who keep the industry running. From true love found on the picket line to a free tailoring school out of a Brooklyn basement — meet the New Yorkers who make it all possible.

Gemma Reguera 🌎 reposted

Dr. Jonathan Foley
@globalecoguy.bsky.social

Do you want to see the "big picture" on climate change? Here it is. Emissions are on the left, and include CO2, CH4, N2O, and f-gases. Natural CO2 sinks (from healthy forests & oceans) are on the right. And carbon removal, what little there is, is on the right, too. All expressed as GWP100.

Gemma Reguera 🌎 reposted

Vaughn Cooper
@vscooper.micropopbio.org

Now out in AEM @asm.org! 🎉🧪 *High school student-isolated mutants 👉🏻 novel genetic causes of biofilm-associated adaptations *We learn how diversity arises quickly and is maintained *EvolvingSTEM enables scalable research in classrooms & promotes scientific literacy journals.asm.org/eprint/FBU9M...

journals.asm.orgGenetic diversification of Pseudomonas fluorescens maintained by multi-niche selection within biofilms | Applied and Environmental MicrobiologyBacterial biofilms dominate microbial life; however, their evolutionary genetics remain incompletely understood. Extensive replication of biofilm selection experiments by secondary school students can...
Vaughn Cooper@vscooper.micropopbio.org

Sharing the most significant work from my group, led by the @evolvingstem.bsky.social team. Come for the discoveries of how Pseudomonas adapts in biofilms, stay for the story of how they were discovered by thousands of young scientists in grades 9-12. 🧪🧫🧬🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

biorxiv.orgStudent-led experimental evolution reveals novel biofilm regulatory networks underlying adaptations to multiple nichesWe established a research-education partnership known as EvolvingSTEM that provides secondary school students the opportunity to conduct authentic research experiments centered on microbial evolution....
Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

Please, listen till the end to this glorious statement: “There were no books”.

404 Media@404media.co

This is Nathan Cavanaugh, another DOGE staffer explaining how he flagged grants at NEH for "DEI" which would be reviewed for termination. 404 Media has reviewed hours of this footage and we'll have more soon. Part of a lawsuit by @acls1919.bsky.social, @modernlanguage.bsky.social + @historians.org

Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

Darwin’s feelings seem more relatable with each passing day. 😑

a grassland chase 🌾🌾🌾🌾@chasesolidago.bsky.social

Since everyone, including me, always uses the same lowres google image, I did some digging and found the actual archive scans of Darwin's famous bad day "But I am very poorly today & very stupid & hate everybody & everything. One lives only to make blunders." as.amphilsoc.org/repositories...

Gemma Reguera 🌎 reposted

Jennifer Biddle
@jenbiddle.bsky.social

New paper out! We sat down and compiled all viral work in marine sediments. The water column has been getting a second look for viral interactions, its time for sediment to have the same! journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

journals.asm.orgViruses in marine sediments: a review of their effect on biogeochemistry and microbial interactions | Applied and Environmental MicrobiologyIn the ocean, viruses are known to mediate the carbon cycle, keeping dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the microbial loop and preventing its movement into secondary consumers (1). However, few direct ...
Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

✅ MANUFACTURING PLATFORMS FOR FUNGAL CHEMICAL PRODUCTION — Scaled production of fungal terpene trichodiene to suppress Fusarium toxin. ✅ A MARINE YEAST WITH A TASTE FOR AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS — Eukaryotic mechanisms for biotransformation of these pollutants.

Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

✅ And our beautiful cover of the Huancai Lake in the Turpan-Hami Basin, China — Great ecosystem to study microbial adaptations to hyperarid ecosystems. doi.org/10.1128/aem....

doi.orgHabitat heterogeneity drives microbial community assembly and functional specialization in extremely arid ecosystems | Applied and Environmental MicrobiologyUnderstanding microbial adaptation in hyperarid environments is crucial for predicting ecosystem responses to extreme stressors. This study provides an integrative framework linking environmental heterogeneity to microbial community assembly and metabolic specialization across diverse habitats in one of Earth’s driest basins. Our findings demonstrate that deterministic environmental filtering dominates community assembly in deserts and moderately saline lakes, whereas stochastic processes prevail in wastelands and hypersaline systems. Habitat‑specific metabolic specialization is evident, with nitrogen cycling being key in terrestrial soils and sulfur metabolism central to saline lakes. By significantly improving the recovery of uncultured diversity through targeted strategies, this study bridges a major gap between molecular surveys and cultivable microorganisms. These findings advance ecological theory on community assembly and offer a model for studying microbial resilience and functional evolution under extreme aridity.
Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

✅ CO-EVOLUTION OF FUNGAL LACCASES AND PLANT LIGNIN — Ancestral emergence of these enzymes and their lignin substate in plants. ✅ A METAGENOMIC VIEW OF SEPTIC ARTHRITIS IN CATTLE — Novel epidemiological insights into the etiological agents and their antimicrobial resistance profile.

Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

✅ CLOSTRIDIOIDES DIFFICILE STRESS RELIEF VALVE — Conserved mechanisms for survival under nitrosative stress in the colon to guide therapeutic interventions. ✅ A PHAGE COCKTAIL AGAINST PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA — Multi-receptor targeting delays resistance and enhances therapeutic robustness.

Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

New preprint from my lab‼️ We describe how cations in the media remodel the Geobacter envelope for reciprocal control of cytochrome-loaded vesicles and conductive pili. Important phenomenon to understand discrepancies in the literature about the true nature of nanowires. doi.org/10.21203/rs....

doi.orgCation-driven envelope dynamics modulate outer membrane vesiculation and extracellular electron transfer in GeobacterGeobacter bacteria use conductive pili and redox-active outer membrane vesicles to mediate metal transformations critical to the effectiveness of bioremediation and energy technologies. Mechanistic kn...
Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

The “boys’ club’ is alive and well. Just ask any woman in academia.

Errin Haines@errinhaines.bsky.social

NEW reporting from @19thnews.org on the Epstein files shows how academic research funding intersected with women scientists and institutional power shaped by male influence. An important story about accountability, impact and who gets protected -- and who doesn't. 19thnews.org/2026/02/epst...

19thnews.orgThe boys’ club: How Epstein’s influence shaped the exclusion of women in STEMIn one email, an AI researcher suggested it’s “hard to be brilliant if you are worrying if you look fat or why another woman hates you.”
Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

“And in a field where funding is scarce — and climbing the career ladder is often only possible through a combination of luck, mentorship and networking — the files reveal the ways sexism and misogyny still hold women back.”

Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

Interesting reflections on academia, its deficit in psychological safety, unrealistic performance expectations, and the need for transformational leadership to protect focus, interpret external chaos, and foster that missing psychological safety. www-oms--lab-org.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.oms-...

www-oms--lab-org.cdn.ampproject.orgScaling the 11th Century Start-up, or, Why Universities Break People53% of academics show signs of depression. This is a role design failure, not a resilience issue: we are managing 21st-century experts with medieval guild structures. To fix the crisis, we must abando...
Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

Happy Valentine’s Day to all scientists and, most especially, those that share my love for applied and environmental microbiology and our beloved @asm.org journal #AEM ❤️ 🌹 Roses are red 🦠 Science is rad 📓 Submit to #AEM 💡 For environmental and applied

Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

On this International Day of Women and Girls in Science, I want to take a moment to celebrate the wonderful women in the editorial board of Applied and Environmental Microbiology at @asm.org Journals. It is an honor to work with them. Onward and upward! #WomenInScience #AEM #ApplEnvironMicrobiol

Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

We have come such a long way since the early pandemic days…

Judge Roy Ferguson@judgefergusontx.bsky.social

Happy #Lawyercat Anniversary for all who celebrate! It's been four years since the kitten appeared in my Zoom courtroom, and I released the 48 second video that made the whole world laugh. Here is the full video showing the big reveal at the end (in two parts because Blue sky). Enjoy!

Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

#Microgem quote #19 “Peace is not just the absence of conflict; peace is the creation of an environment where all can flourish regardless of race, color, creed, religion, gender, class, caste or any other social markers of difference.” —Nelson Mandela

Gemma Reguera 🌎@microgem.bsky.social

#Microgem quote #18 “To those who can hear me, I say – do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed – the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress.” — Charlie Chaplin

Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

✅ THE “PLASMID PARADOX” UNDER REVIEW – Benefits and costs of plasmid carriage and impacts on antimicrobial resistance. ✅ ENZYME ENGINEERING HEATS UP – Novel enzyme designs for extreme catalysis in feed, food, and leather industries.

Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

✅ A PINCH OF LIME TO RECOVER ACIDIFIED SOILS – Microbial communities as indicators of soil recovery after liming. ✅ A PENTOSE TRICK FOR PHAGE EVASION OF HOST RESTRICTION – Novel mechanism for phage DNA modification and evasion of host restriction defenses.

Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

✅ SCIENCE LOST IN TRANSLATION – My editorial on linguistic bias and how to mitigate it. ✅ A CRISPR’ED REVIEW OF BIFIDOBACTERIA – A review of CRISPR-Cas systems for these important probiotic bacteria.

Gemma Reguera 🌎
@microgem.bsky.social

#Microgem quote #18 “To those who can hear me, I say – do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed – the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress.” — Charlie Chaplin

Gemma Reguera 🌎@microgem.bsky.social

#Microgem #17 “You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” —Jane Goodall