Genomics Revolution

Brad introduces us to the first virus discovered - a pathogen of tobacco!

Brad introduces a new season of podcasts focused on viral genomes such as the one behind our current COVID-19 pandemic.

Curtis Swearingen from the 2019 Hiram College tells us about the genome of the most heavily studied eukaryote on Earth - the maker of bread and beer and wine, the unicellular yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Brad sets up the last two student-hosted episodes by bringing up a not so obvious point to us “macrobes” (organisms visible to the naked eye) - even most members of the domain Eukarya are microbial!

Hunter Jenkins steps in to tell us about a microbial titan of human dental plaque - Fusobacterium nucleatum. It truly helps nucleate, or organize, the multi-microbial plaque biofilm.

How about being extreme in how much of your genome you throw away? Obligate endosymbionts have done just that and in doing so have become trapped in their host organisms. Quite often the interdependence is mutual as the host has come to rely on the endosymbiont for critical functions as well. Hannah Mann guest hosts this episode on the first endosymbiont genome sequenced - that of Buchnera sp. APS.

Thermotoga maritima is an extremophilic member of the Bacteria on several fronts - not just in temperature preference but also in its massive accumulation of genes from the Archaea living around it. Tae’lor Jones introduces to this intriguing microbe.

Nicole Ryman from the 2019 Hiram College Genetics course introduces us to Deinococcus radiodurans, an extreme microbial athlete when it comes to genomic protection and repair when dealing with damage from radiation.

Look out your window at that beautiful tree or shrub nearby. Now imagine it living in a hot springs at over 50C doing photosynthesis without oxygen as a byproduct but rather by excreting elemental sulfur. Kerry Vickers from the 2019 Hiram College Genetics course tells us about a microbial anaerobic thermophilic phototroph, Chlorobium tepidum strain TLS, that does just that.

Brad jumps back in to comment on the extreme lifestyles seen in some microbes.

Brad puts the dreaded “P-word” (Prokaryote) to rest and introduces the Archaea, the 3rd domain of life only recognized as distinct in 1977.

Brad jumps in amongst the Survey of Genomes to speak to the question of “why do we need to sequence the genome of a pathogen we just want to kill?”

The first group of Archaea were methanogens - microbes that produce methane as a byproduct of their metabolism. The first ever Archaea genome sequenced was from the methanogen Methanococcus jannaschii. Kritika Bhau from the 2019 Hiram College Genetics course walks us through the implications of its genome.

In this episode from the survey of genomes, Nikkia Schady from 2019 Hiram College Genetics course and the Women’s Volleyball team will introduce us to a member of the Archaea, the 3rd domain of life not recognized until 1977.

What do lice, flying squirrels, and World War I have in common? That weird question is answered by Jake Lininger from the 2019 Hiram College Genetics course as he introduces us to the cause of epidemic typhus - the pathogenic bacterium Rickettsia prowazekii.

There are 3-5 major groups within the Domain Archaea. One of those is called the Crenarcheota and Brayla Stokes from the 2019 Hiram College Genetics course tells us about the first genome sequenced from the Crenarchaeota - Aeropyrum pernix strain K1.

Zoe Ceballos introduces us to a member of the Domain Archaea that lives in a very extreme habitat - salt at saturating concentration (> 5 molar). Halobacterium and its obligate halophile relatives have evolved a salt-dependent lifestyle, unlike virtually all other cellular lifeforms.

In this episode from the survey of genomes, Alexis Polcawich from the 2019 Hiram College Genetics course talks about Yersinia pestis, the microbe behind one of the deadliest diseases in human history - the Black Plague.

In this episode from the survey of genomes, Taylor Yamamoto from the 2019 Hiram College Genetics course discusses the genome of E. coli O157:H7, not a microbe you want to meet in a dark alley or in an undercooked hamburger.

Being at the wrong place at the wrong time can sometimes mean trouble and that is exactly what happens when a particular soil bacterium gets into a wound. Ashley Redman from the 2019 Hiram College Genetics course spills the dirt on the leading cause of gas gangrene - Clostridium perfringens.