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Creators/Authors contains: "Riffle, Michael"

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  1. Free, publicly-accessible full text available April 29, 2027
  2. Abstract Coral bleaching events from thermal stress are increasing globally in duration, frequency, and intensity. While bleaching can cause mortality, some corals survive, reacquire symbionts, and recover. We experimentally bleachedMontipora capitatato examine molecular and physiological differences between corals that recover (resilient) and those that die (susceptible). Corals were collected and monitored for eight months post-bleaching to identify genets with long-term resilience. Using an integrated systems-biology approach that included quantitative proteomics, 16S rRNA sequencing to characterize the coral microbiome, total coral lipids, symbiont community composition and density, we explored molecular-level mechanisms of tolerance in corals pre- and post-bleaching. Prior to thermal stress, resilient corals have a more diverse microbiome and abundant proteins essential for carbon acquisition, symbiont retention, and pathogen resistance. Protein signatures of susceptible corals showed early symbiont rejection and utilized urea for carbon and nitrogen. Our results reveal molecular factors for surviving bleaching events and identify diagnostic protein biomarkers for reef management and restoration. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available December 1, 2026
  3. In May and June of 2021, marine microbial samples were collected for DNA sequencing in East Sound, WA, USA every 4 hours for 22 days. This high temporal resolution sampling effort captured the last 3 days of aRhizosoleniasp. bloom, the initiation and complete bloom cycle ofChaetoceros socialis(8 days), and the following bacterial bloom (2 days). Metagenomes were completed on the time series, and the dataset includes 128 size-fractionated microbial samples (0.22–1.2 µm), providing gene abundances for the dominant members of bacteria, archaea, and viruses. This dataset also has time-matched nutrient analyses, flow cytometry data, and physical parameters of the environment at a single point of sampling within a coastal ecosystem that experiences regular bloom events, facilitating a range of modeling efforts that can be leveraged to understand microbial community structure and their influences on the growth, maintenance, and senescence of phytoplankton blooms. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available November 22, 2025
  4. Abstract The heterotrophic marine bacterium,Ruegeria pomeroyi, was experimentally cultured under environmentally realistic carbon conditions and with a tracer-level addition of13C-labeled leucine to track bacterial protein biosynthesis through growth phases. A combination of methods allowed observation of real-time bacterial protein production to understand metabolic priorities through the different growth phases. Over 2000 proteins were identified in each experimental culture from exponential and stationary growth phases. Within two hours of the13C-labeled leucine addition,R.pomeroyisignificantly assimilated the newly encountered substrate into new proteins. This dataset provides a fundamental baseline for understanding growth phase differences in molecular physiology of a cosmopolitan marine bacterium. 
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  5. Abstract We examined metaproteome profiles from two Arctic microbiomes during 10-day shipboard incubations to directly track early functional and taxonomic responses to a simulated algal bloom and an oligotrophic control. Using a novel peptide-based enrichment analysis, significant changes (p-value < 0.01) in biological and molecular functions associated with carbon and nitrogen recycling were observed. Within the first day under both organic matter conditions, Bering Strait surface microbiomes increased protein synthesis, carbohydrate degradation, and cellular redox processes while decreasing C1 metabolism. Taxonomic assignments revealed that the core microbiome collectively responded to algal substrates by assimilating carbon before select taxa utilize and metabolize nitrogen intracellularly. Incubations of Chukchi Sea bottom water microbiomes showed similar, but delayed functional responses to identical treatments. Although 24 functional terms were shared between experimental treatments, the timing, and degree of the remaining responses were highly variable, showing that organic matter perturbation directs community functionality prior to alterations to the taxonomic distribution at the microbiome class level. The dynamic responses of these two oceanic microbial communities have important implications for timing and magnitude of responses to organic perturbations within the Arctic Ocean and how community-level functions may forecast biogeochemical gradients in oceans. 
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