Rhonda Morales

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As a Research Scientist in the Armbrust Lab, I get to participate in many different projects and work with virtually everyone in the lab. The main aspect of my job is generating molecular data to analyze phytoplankton and bacterial communities both in the lab and in the field. I am also a data curator for the Simons CMAP open-source data portal. https://simonscmap.com/

Publications

  • Bartolek, Zinka, Shiri Graff van Creveld, Sacha Coesel, Stephen Blaskowski, Megan Schatz, Rhonda Morales, and E. Virginia Armbrust. 2022. Flavobacterial exudates disrupt cell cycle progression and metabolism of the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana. ISME J, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-022-01313-9.
  • Ashkezari, M. D., N. R. Hagen, M. Denholtz, A. Neang, T. C. Burns, R. L. Morales, C. P. Lee, C. N. Hill and E. V. Armbrust. Simons Collaborative Marine Atlas Project (Simons CMAP): an open-source to share, visualize and analyze ocean data. Limnology and Oceanography: Methods, https://doi.org/10.1002/lom3.10439.
  • Coesel, Sacha. N., Bryndan P. Durham, Ryan D. Groussman, Rhonda L. Morales, François Ribalet and E. Virginia Armbrust. 2021. Diel transcriptional oscillations of light-sensitive regulatory elements in open-ocean eukaryotic plankton communities. Proceedings National Academy of Science, USA, 10.1073/pnas.2011038118.
  • Durham, Bryndan P., Angela K. Boysen, Laura T. Carlson, Ryan D. Groussman, Katherine R. Heal, Kelsey R. Cain, Rhonda L. Morales, Sacha Coesel, Robert M. Morris, Anitra E. Ingalls, E. Virginia Armbrust. 2019. Sulfonate-based networks between eukaryotic phytoplankton and heterotrophic bacteria in the surface ocean. Nature Microbiology, https://doi.10.1038/s41564-019-0507-5.
  • Koester, J. A., C. Berhtiaume, N. Hiranuma, M. S. Parker, V. Iverson, R. Morales, A. Sarwate, W. L. Ruzzo, E. V. Armbrust. 2018. Sexual ancestors generate an obligate asexual and globally dispersed clone within the model diatom species Thalassiosira pseudonana. Scientific Reports 8, Article number: 10492.
  • Hamilton, M., G. M. M. Hennon, J. Needoba, R. Morales, T. D. Peterson, M. Schatz, J. Swalwell, E. V. Armbrust, F. Ribalet. 2017. Dynamics of Teleaulax-like cryptophyes during the decline of a red water bloom in the Columbia River Estuary. Journal of Plankton Research doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbx029.
  • Turner, Jeffry W., Chris Berthiaume, Rhonda Morales, E. Virginia Armbrust, Mark S. Strom. 2016. Genomic evidence of adaptive evolution in emergent Vibrio parahaemolyticus ecotypes. Elementa: Science of the Anthroprocene DOI 10.12952/journal.elementa.000117.
  • Hennon, G. M. M., Justin Ashworth, Ryan D. Groussman, Chris Berthiaume, Rhonda L. Morales, Nitin Baliga, Monica Orellana, E. V. Armbrust. 2015. Diatom acclimation to elevated CO2 via cAMP signaling and coordinated gene expression. Nature Climate Change 5:761-765.
  • Amin, S.A., L. R. Hmelo, H. van Tol, B. Durham, L. Truxal, K. Heal, R. Morales, C. Berthiaume, B. Djunaedi, M. A. Moran, A. Ingalls, M. Parsek, and E.V. Armbrust. 2015. Interaction and signaling between a cosmopolitan phytoplankton and associated bacteria. Nature 522:98-101.
  • Hennon, Gwenn M. M., Paul Quay, Rhonda L. Morales, Lyndsey M. Sandwick, E. Virginia Armbrust. 2014. Acclimation conditions modify physiological response of the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana to elevated CO2 concentrations in a nitrate-limited chemostat. Journal of Phycology 50:243-253.
  • Bender, S.J., C.A. Durkin, C. Berthiaume, R. Morales, and E.V. Armbrust. 2014. Transcriptional responses of three model diatoms to nitrate limitation. Frontiers in Marine Science: Aquatic Microbiology doi: 10.3389/fmars.2014.00003.
  • Durkin, C.A., A. Marchetii, S. J. Bender, T. Truong, R. Morales, T. Mock, and E. V. Armbrust. 2012. The influence of frustule-related gene transcription and diatom community composition on silica precipitation in an iron-limited environment. Limnology and Oceanography 57:1619-1633.
  • Vaughn Iverson, Robert M. Morris, Christian D. Frazar, Chris T. Berthiaume, Rhonda L. Morales, and E. Virginia Armbrust, Untangling genomes from metagenomes: revealing an uncultured class of marine Euryarchaeota, Science, Vol. 335 no. 6068 pp. 587-590, February 3rd, 2012 [Link at Science]
  • Marchetti A., D. Schruth, C.A. Durkin, M.S. Parker, R. Kodner, C. T. Berthiaume, R. Morales, Allen, A. E., and E. V. Armbrust. (2012). Comparative metatranscriptomics identifies molecular bases for the physiological responses of phytoplankton to varying iron availability. Proceedings National Academy of Science Plus, USA doi: 10.1073/pnas.1118408109.
  • Ribalet, F., Marchetti, A., Hubbard, K.A., Brown, K., Durkin, C.A., Morales, R., Robert, M., Swalwell, J.E, Tortell, P.D., and Armbrust, E.V. 2010. Unveiling a phytoplankton hotspot at a narrow boundary between coastal and oceanic waters. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA [107:16571-16576]