UChicago Students sampling the microbiome of horseshoe crabs at the MBL dock. (E. L. Peredo)

The “Microbiomes Across Environments” course has just started at the Marine Biological Laboratory! All through the Fall term, nine undergraduate students from the University of Chicago will be learning in Woods Hole (Massachusetts) about microbial diversity, host-microbiome interactions, and the role of microbes in different ecosystems. For their research projects, our students will use amplicon sequencing to explore the microbiome of three charismatic local species: the purple sea urchin (Arbacia punctulata), the Atlantic Horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus), and the Forbes’ sea star (Asterias forbesi). In addition, they will also look to the microbes in the waters around Woods Hole. The students (and instructors) had a lot of fun sampling and now, we are all looking forward to starting the lab work and data analysis. See you at the end of quarter symposium!

Source: UChicago students learn microbiome research at MBL | The Microbiome Center