The Galápagos Archipelago lies within the Eastern Equatorial Pacific Ocean at the convergence of major ocean currents that are subject to changes in circulation. The nutrient-rich Equatorial Undercurrent upwells from the west onto the Galápagos platform, stimulating primary production, but this source of deep water weakens during El Niño events. Based on measurements from repeat …
In memory of Joe Bonaventura, a long time faculty member at the Duke Marine Laboratory and inspiration to so many, a crab pot Christmas Tree (a distinct eastern NC tradition) was decorated by the Johnson Lab and shown as part of the Crystal Coast Hospice 2021 Gingerbread Festival. The tree featured ornaments and other items …
As part of the Duke University Marine Laboratory produced “Seas the Day” podcast series, Junyao lead the latest episode “Navigating the Choppy Waters of the US PhD Application Process” In this episode, she interviewed five PhD students and the doctoral program coordinator, to learn about the biggest challenges of applying PhD, reasons to do it, …
Dr. Johnson received the Algae Biomass Organization Mid-Career Excellence Award – For excellence in scholarly achievements and a record of productive, independent, and impactful peer-reviewed research and creative scholarship activities “Dr. Johnson has made vast contributions to the peer-reviewed literature in areas associated with microalgae cultivation, oceanography, molecular ecology, and microbiology genetics. He has served as PI …
Expanding markets for microalgae and macroalgae products have led to increased development of commercial farming operations. While microalgae and macroalgae, or seaweed, have historically been harvested in many parts of the globe, more recent developments seek to improve productivity, decrease production costs, increase scale, and mitigate environmental impacts of cultivation. This review describes current progress …
The biological pump plays a vital role in exporting organic particles into the deep ocean for long-term carbon sequestration. However, much remains unknown about some of its key microbial players. In this study, Labyrinthulomycetes protists (LP) were used to understand the significance of heterotrophic microeukaryotes in the transport of particulate organic matter from the surface …
This study determined effects of full-fatted (C046, 41% crude protein) and lipid extracted (LEA, 39% crude protein) microalgae Desmodesmus sp. on growth performance, gut health, and excreta hydrothermal liquefaction of broiler chickens. Two experiments were conducted by feeding day-old Cornish male chicks: 1) a corn-soybean meal basal diet (control) 2) control +5% C046, or 3) …
While disappointingly not algae related….unless it is….Lauren was a winner at the 2020 DUML pumpkin carving competition. Well done!
Xie N, Hunt DE, Johnson ZI, He Y, Wang G (2020). Annual Partitioning Patterns of Labyrinthulomycetes Reveal Their Multifaceted Role in Marine Microbial Food Webs. Appl Environ Microbiol: AEM.01652-01620. https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.01652-20 Heterotrophic microbes play a key role in remineralizing organic material in the coastal ocean. While there is a significant body of literature examining heterotrophic bacterioplankton …
Economical production of algal commodities (food, feed, and fuels) requires reusing cultivation water to reduce operating costs. While some algae strains show growth inhibition in reused water, other strains appear unaffected. Reusing water to grow different strains (i.e., crop rotation) could potentially improve overall biomass production compared to water reuse with the same strain by …