ECR Spotlight is a series of interviews with early-career authors from a selection of papers published in Journal of Experimental Biology and aims to promote not only the diversity of early-career researchers (ECRs) working in experimental biology but also the huge variety of animals and physiological systems that are essential for the ‘comparative’ approach. Jess MacPherson is an author on ‘ Absence of a functional gut microbiome impairs host amino acid metabolism in the Pacific spiny dogfish (Squalus suckleyi)’, published in JEB. Jess conducted the research described in this article while an undergraduate student in Dr Gary Anderson's lab at University of Manitoba, Canada. She is now a PhD candidate in the lab of Dr Carol Bucking at York University, Canada, investigating the role of host-associated microbiomes in the physiology of fish and invertebrates.
Jess MacPherson
How did you become interested in biology?
Looking back, there was never really anything else I wanted to do. I was always interested in how living things worked and interacted with their environment as well as each other. Anatomy and physiology were particularly interesting to me as I was amazed at how organ systems are interconnected and how robust animals are to environmental and dietary change. During high school this interest shifted more towards microbiology as I wanted to understand how animals interacted with microbes in the environment. Specifically, I was interested in how ‘good’ bacteria worked with the host to assist in physiological processes like pathogen defence, digestion and the maintenance of homeostasis, which ultimately formed my research interest in host-associated microbiomes.
Describe your scientific journey and your current research focus
My scientific journey started in 2018 as a first-year undergraduate student at the University of Manitoba when I attended an undergraduate research event where I learned about work that Dr Gary Anderson was doing to understand how bacteria might play a role in elasmobranch physiology (I emailed him the next day). That summer I joined the lab and mostly helped with projects relating to the rearing and development of lake sturgeon. The following summer we travelled to the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre (BMSC) where I started my first project looking at the role of the gut microbiome in the nitrogen handling strategy of marine elasmobranchs with Dr Alyssa Weinrauch and Dr Carol Bucking. This project, the people I got to work with, and my experience at BMSC really cemented my decision to pursue a career in research. I spent the next 3 years working with Gary, Alyssa and the rest of the Anderson lab on both lake sturgeon and dogfish projects. Even though there was a pandemic during this time, those were probably my favourite years of my life so far. My work as a student in the Anderson lab concluded with my Honours thesis project, which is the work being published with this spotlight.
I am now a PhD candidate at York University working with Carol Bucking, where we broadly study the form and function of host-associated microbiomes. Specifically, I am interested in how hosts select for the microbes that inhabit their tissues and how these microbes assist with host physiological processes including digestion, acclimation to environmental change, and the maintenance of homeostasis.
How would you explain the main findings of your paper to a member of the public?
All animals that live in the ocean have had to find a way to deal with living in a very salty environment and avoid dehydration. Some of them tolerate the salt while others actively work to maintain lower salt levels inside their bodies compared with the ocean. Sharks and their relatives are unique compared with other animals in that they use a special nitrogen-containing molecule, urea, to help them regulate their salt and water balance. This method is effective but comes with the cost of having to use lots of nitrogen and energy in order to produce the urea. However, bacteria that live in the gut of these animals might be able to help them regulate this nitrogen use. In our study, we examined the role of gut bacteria in helping sharks maintain nitrogen balance, which in turn helps with salt and water balance. To do this we treated a group of sharks with antibiotics to disrupt the bacteria that live in the gut and then measured how their nitrogen metabolism changes compared with a group that wasn't treated with antibiotics. We found that these animals need their gut bacteria to properly process nitrogen from their diet and incorporate it into the body for growth, energy metabolism, as well as salt and water balance.
What do you enjoy most about research, and why?
The thing I enjoy the most about research is the people. The individuals I get to work with and collaborate with every day are some of the best and most insightful people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing and I couldn't ask for better colleagues, mentors and friends. The people in this community have shown me so much support and been so welcoming, from my very first biology TA (shoutout to the now Dr Madison Earhart), to my labmates and supervisors, and all the way to the community of people at the conferences I've attended. Getting to collaborate and share ideas with these people will always be my favourite part of research.
What is the most important lesson that you have learned from your career so far?
Find joy in the little things (both in and out of the lab)! I think it's easy to overlook small victories because you aren't as far along in a project as you want to be or are having to troubleshoot more than expected. The data will come and everything will work out so I think finding joy in things like a simple line of code working, the pretty colours of your assay, or your students finally understanding something they were struggling with can go a long way in terms of the sustainability of working long hours (and years!). I was once told to expect things not to work and then be happy when it does (rather than the opposite) and I think that's helped a lot in terms of having grace for both myself and others.
Jess MacPherson's contact details: York University, Toronto, ON, Canada, M3J 1P3.
E-mail: [email protected]