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Category: Meet a Microbe

This section of the blog features one microbe per article. It’s a great primer to get to know the members of the microbial world.

Head on below to meet a microbe or two!

H. pylori electron micrograph showing one bacterium with 4 polar flagella

Meet Helicobacter pylori, the stomach bacteria that’s also considered a carcinogen

Posted on September 8, 2026September 8, 2026 by Jennifer Tsang

I’m so excited to introduce you to my favorite bacteria – and the subject from my PhD research – Helicobacter pylori. After spending the early 2010s growing this somewhat finicky bacterium and studying how it builds the flagellum (a tail-like structure it uses to move around). In fact, the picture above is a transmission electron…

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Microscopy of Cyclospora oocysts from a stool sample

Meet a Microbe: Cyclospora cayetanensis, the parasite behind the diarrheal illness cyclosporiasis

Posted on July 10, 2026August 11, 2026 by Jennifer Tsang

This post is part of the Meet a Microbe series on the blog, which serves as a primer on the many members of the microbial world. Check it out to meet other microbes! Cyclospora cayetanensis is making headlines lately for an outbreak in the U.S. “Explosive diarrhea” is the language that many are using to…

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Meet a Microbe: Anaplasma phagocytophilum

Posted on July 15, 2024May 19, 2026 by Jennifer Tsang

This post is part of the Meet a Microbe series on the blog. Check it out to meet other microbes! We’re deep into tick season in the Eastern US. As dog parents, we give our pup monthly flea and tick medication and check her for ticks if she’s been in fields or wooded areas. We…

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Fluorescence microscopy image of Haloquadratum walsbyi

Meet Haloquadratum walsbyi, the Square-shaped Archaeon Once Thought to be a Bacterium

Posted on March 15, 2023May 19, 2026 by Jennifer Tsang

This post is part of the Meet a Microbe series on the blog. Check it out to meet other microbes! Microbes come in many shapes and sizes, appearing as spheres, rods, and spirals under the microscope. Aside from these more commonly found microbial shapes, many microbes take on a more unique appearance. One of these microbes is…

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sweet wine being poured into a wine glass

Meet Botrytis cinerea: a fungus that gives us sweet wine grapes or moldy crops

Posted on February 25, 2020May 28, 2026 by Jennifer Tsang

This post is part of the Meet a Microbe series on the blog. Check it out to meet other microbes! The vineyard becomes the lab in investigations of Botrytis cinerea. It’s a “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” type of fungus because it causes two very different types of infections. It produces sweet wine grapes during noble rot…

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Agar Plates Animal Microbiome Antimicrobial Resistance Applied Microbiology Blog News and Updates Built Environments COVID-19 Fermented Foods Fungi Human Microbiome Infectious Diseases Meet a Microbe Meet a Microbiologist Microbes in the Environment Microbial Physiology Microbiology Books Microbiology History Microbiology Poems Microbiology Research Updates Science Communication Vaccines

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