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Last week I had the pleasure of presenting my thesis work on developing bioinformatics tools and databases for viral gene discovery and classification at the Midwest Microbiome Symposium, hosted at my alma mater, UIUC. It was great to see what microbiome scientists across the Midwest are working on!

Check out this microbial ecology themed card game! I’ve been a fan of Ecologies for several years, so I was very excited to hear about their latest expansion. I think it would benefit from including more viruses… but I’m biased and still very impressed!

Can’t believe what I found at an antique store in Madison, WI. A sketch of the Swope Center and Eel Pond at @mblscience.bsky.social. So interesting that it ended up all the way over here! This one’s going up on the wall.

I’ll be presenting at the next ECR Viromics Webinar on March 11 at 9 AM CT, highlighting a new tool I’ve been developing in the @karthik-a.bsky.social lab for scalable, automated discovery and curation of auxiliary viral genes: CheckAMG. Details and registration here: coms.osu.edu/webinars/ecr...

Soil viruses are important regulators of ecosystem function, but what are their roles in environments that face long-term degradation and restoration? In our paper published today in Nature Micro, we asked how soil viruses influence peatland recovery, and vice versa. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Ecosystem health shapes viral ecology in peatland soils - Nature MicrobiologyMetagenomics shows that viral diversity and community structure are shaped by geography and ecosystem health status, positioning viruses as unexpected players in peatland restoration.www.nature.com

Surely SOMEBODY mourns the wicked

Viral "dark matter" dominates the virosphere. In this review by me & @karthik-a.bsky.social, we synthesize what's known, highlight major gaps, and outline paths forward for illuminating viral protein functions in diverse ecosystems.

Viral Dark Matter: Illuminating Protein Function, Ecology, and Biotechnological PromisesViruses are the most abundant biological entities on Earth and play central roles in shaping microbiomes and influencing ecosystem functions. Yet, most viral genes remain uncharacterized, comprising w...pubs.acs.org

This past year, my dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. On October 5th, our family will walk together as Team Kosmo at Moving Day Chicago to celebrate his strength and support everyone living with Parkinson's.

Am I proud that I made an impulse buy? No. Am I okay with it because it was only $20 for a special series set of Canadian stamps with fungi and lichen? Yes.

Looks like RFK Jr needs a lesson in viral taxonomy @evelienadri.bsky.social!!

Used any new tools or databases (released in the past ~year) for #metagenomics or #viromics? Found something especially useful- or seen recent insights using old methods? Reply with your favorites! I'm trying to compile a list of new resources and approaches.

Looks like a very useful database for classifying fungal sequences in soil metagenomes. Makes me realize I’ve probably overlooked a lot of fungal DNA in my soil datasets! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Improved detection of fungi and uncultivated microorganisms in soil metagenomes using a comprehensive genome databaseSoils harbor diverse microbial communities crucial for ecosystem functioning, but poor genomic representation of many uncultured soil microorganisms limits the utility of existing databases to address...www.biorxiv.org