loader from loading.io

Matters Microbial #123: What Whooping Cough Can Teach US

Matters Microbial

Release Date: 02/06/2026

Matters Microbial #123: What Whooping Cough Can Teach US show art Matters Microbial #123: What Whooping Cough Can Teach US

Matters Microbial

Matters Microbial #123: What Whooping Cough Can Teach Us February 6, 2026 Today Dr. Seema Mattoo, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Purdue University, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the fascinating molecular genetics of the bacterium Bordetella pertussis, which can cause the human disease whooping cough. Host:  Guest Subscribe: ,  Become a  of Matters Microbial! Links for this episode Here is a  to Tiffany Ard’s fine science related art.  regarding Whooping Cough also called pertussis. An  of the...

info_outline
Matters Microbial #122: Jumbo Marine Viruses and Nanoscopic Warfare show art Matters Microbial #122: Jumbo Marine Viruses and Nanoscopic Warfare

Matters Microbial

Matters Microbial #122: Jumbo Marine Viruses and Nanoscopic Warfare January 26, 2026   Today Dr. Alaina Weinheimer, Simons Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in Marine Microbial Ecology at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss new and intriguing marine viruses, including Jumbo Phages!    Host:  Guest   Subscribe: ,  Become a  of Matters Microbial! Links for this episode A  of the wonderful world of bacterial viruses, or bacteriophages. A  describing the roles that bacterial...

info_outline
Matters Microbial #121: Phollowing Phage in the Gut Microbiome show art Matters Microbial #121: Phollowing Phage in the Gut Microbiome

Matters Microbial

Matters Microbial #121: Phollowing Phage in the Gut Microbiome January 7, 2026 Today Dr. Liz de Ora Ortiz, postdoctoral scholar in the Secor Laboratory at Montana State University, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss a fascinating new technology that allows investigators to follow bacteriophage infections in live animals.   Host:  Guest Subscribe: ,  Become a  of Matters Microbial! Links for this episode The fascinating and frustrating (for researchers like me)  of Vampirococcus. A Vampirococcus  for new #Micronauts....

info_outline
Matters Microbial #120: Bacterial Interactions among Oral Microbes show art Matters Microbial #120: Bacterial Interactions among Oral Microbes

Matters Microbial

Matters Microbial #120: Bacterial Interactions among Oral Microbes December 29, 2025 For Episode 120, we welcome Dr. Batbileg Bor, Associate Professor at the ADA Forsyth Institute, to the #QualityQuorum. He joins us to discuss some of the oral community’s most enigmatic members: microbes that dwell on other microbes and potentially influence our own health. Host:  Guest Subscribe: ,  Become a  of Matters Microbial! Links for this episode Here is a fun  about #LuxArt that Dr. Jennifer Quinn and I made for Harvard University’s Microbial...

info_outline
Matters Microbial #119: Investigating Microbial Matters Microbial #119: Investigating Microbial "Dark Matter"

Matters Microbial

Matters Microbial #119: Investigating Microbial “Dark Matter” December 22, 2025 Today Dr. Julia Willett, Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Minnesota, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss how to investigate unknown genes found in nearly every bacterial genome. Call it Microbial Dark Matter! Host:  Guest Subscribe: ,  Become a  of Matters Microbial! Links for this episode ”—unknown genes in microbial genomes. The process of . An  about the “Y-ome” or understanding...

info_outline
Matters Microbial #118: Biofilms Everywhere! show art Matters Microbial #118: Biofilms Everywhere!

Matters Microbial

Matters Microbial #118: Biofilms Everywhere! December 15, 2025 Today Dr. Matthew Fields, Director of the Center for Biofilm Engineering at Montana State University, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss ubiquitous microbial biofilms. These biofilms touch so many aspects of life on Earth, ranging from human health to engineering issues!   Host:  Guest Subscribe: ,  Become a  of Matters Microbial! Links for this episode The  for the American Society for Microbiology’s Conference for Undergraduate Educators.  Highly recommended! The must-read...

info_outline
Matters Microbial #117: Cancer Virus Hunters and Molecular Biology show art Matters Microbial #117: Cancer Virus Hunters and Molecular Biology

Matters Microbial

Matters Microbial #117: Cancer Virus Hunters and Molecular Biology December 8, 2025 Today Dr. Gregory Morgan, Professor in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at Stevens Institute of Technology, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss how cancer causing viruses advanced molecular biology as described in his recent book Cancer Virus Hunters.   Host:  Guest Subscribe: ,  Become a  of Matters Microbial! Links for this episode Here is a  to Dr. Morgan’s book on the topic discussed today. A lovely  with Dr. Morgan about...

info_outline
Matters Microbial #116: Microbes in the Concrete Instead of the Abstract show art Matters Microbial #116: Microbes in the Concrete Instead of the Abstract

Matters Microbial

Matters Microbial #116: Microbes in the Concrete Instead of the Abstract November 14, 2025 Today Dr. Julie Maresca, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss how bacteria can interact with a ubiquitous part of modern life:  concrete! Host:  Guest Subscribe: ,  Become a  of Matters Microbial! Links for this episode , the vendor that makes the enamel pins I often show on the podcast. An overview of .” An  about how concrete is made....

info_outline
Matters Microbial #115: Suiting Up Against Bacterial Predators! show art Matters Microbial #115: Suiting Up Against Bacterial Predators!

Matters Microbial

Matters Microbial #115: Suiting Up Against Bacterial Predators! November 6, 2025 Today Dr. Hannah Ledvina, Assistant Professor in the Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Department at the University of Michigan joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss how bacteria can protect themselves against predators in unusual ways . . . including a type of armor! Host:  Guest Subscribe: ,  Become a  of Matters Microbial! Links for this episode The “Giant Microbes” . A prompt for my course:  an article on “,” with so many interesting examples. ...

info_outline
Matters Microbial #114: A Tongue-n-Cheek Look at the Oral Microbiome show art Matters Microbial #114: A Tongue-n-Cheek Look at the Oral Microbiome

Matters Microbial

Matters Microbial #114: A Tongue-n-Cheek Look at the Oral Microbiome October 31, 2025 Today Dr. Jessica Mark Welch, Professor at the ADA Forsyth Institute joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the complex and interactive microbial communities living unseen within our mouths . . . and what those communities can tell us. Host:  Guest Subscribe: ,  Become a  of Matters Microbial! Links for this episode Here is a  to the very funny Carisa Hendrix’s character “Lucy Darling.”  I think I made a #Micronaut out of her! A  to the wonderful...

info_outline
 
More Episodes

Matters Microbial #123: What Whooping Cough Can Teach Us

Today Dr. Seema Mattoo, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Purdue University, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the fascinating molecular genetics of the bacterium Bordetella pertussis, which can cause the human disease whooping cough.

Host: Mark O. Martin

GuestSeema Mattoo

Subscribe: Apple PodcastsSpotify

Become a patron of Matters Microbial!

  • Here is a link to Tiffany Ard’s fine science related art.
  • CDC information regarding Whooping Cough also called pertussis.
  • An overview of the causative agent of whooping cough, Bordetella pertussis.
  • video about pertussis and its symptoms and treatment.
  • More detail about B. pertussis and close relatives.
  • Recent outbreaks of pertussis.
  • An overview of vaccine development and its history for B. pertussis.
  • An article about vaccine hesitancy and the return of childhood diseases like pertussis.
  • Information on “whole cell” versus “acellular” vaccines.
  • An article discussed today, demonstrating that the same molecule (a fragment of bacterial cell wall peptidoglycan) can be a factor for disease in humans, and facilitate symbiotic light organ development in the Hawai’ian Bobtail Squid
  • More information of B. pertussis’ trachael cytotoxin, or TCT. 
  • An overview of bacterial effectors interacting with our physiology in general.
  • The concept of virulence factors.
  • IgA versus IgG responses to infections.
  • An overview of Type III Secretion Systems.
  • An overview of sigma factors in bacteria.
  • ECFs as  sigma factors.
  • Partner-switching studies.
  • Fic genes.
  • An overview of post translational modification.
  • An essay on Theodosius Dobzhansky and his famous maxim.
  • Protein misfolding and disease.
  • The role of mentorship in science.
  • The Hypothesis Fund and its aims.
  • An article by Dr. Mattoo and colleagues discussed today about partner switching and Type III Secretion Systems.
  • An article by Dr. Mattoo and colleagues discussed today about Fic proteins and adenylation.
  • An article by Dr. Mattoo and colleagues discussed today about Fic proteins, post translational modification, and Parkinson’s Disease.
  • An article by Dr. Mattoo and colleagues discussed today about AMPylation, Fic proteins, and sensing misfolding in the endoplasmic reticulum.
  • Dr. Mattoo’s faculty website.
  • The fascinating laboratory website of Dr. Mattoo and colleagues.

Intro music is by Reber Clark

Send your questions and comments to mattersmicrobial@gmail.com