Primrose Boynton

@pjboynton.bsky.social

1849 Followers 2693 Following

Environmental yeast ecology and evolution! I love model and non-model organisms, and single-celled and filamentous fungi alike. I love R! Associate Professor at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and senior editor of Yeast, but my posts are my own. she/her

Screenshot of AI-generated ScienceDirect overview of fungal metabolism that states, "Fungal metabolism refers to the biochemical processes by which fungi, such as C. albicans, convert substrates like short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) into energy and cellular components, involving pathways such as ghe glyoxylate cycle, beta-oxidation, and gluconeogenesis, which can influence their growth, virulence, and antifungal resistance."

Schematic of lab and field experiments testing for yeast fitness with and without killer viruses. Panel A depicts a classical fitness assay in which a yeast with a virus (or cured of the virus) is cultured with a viral toxin-resistant reference strain and the number of doublings is compared between the two yeasts. Panel B diagrams field chambers made of 12-ml tubes in which a membrane holding yeast cells lines the mouth of the tube; the tube is then buried next to a tree. Panel C depicts a field experiment with the chambers. Yeasts hosting (or cured of) viruses are mixed with virus toxin-resistant reference cells, put onto chamber membranes, and incubated in soil for fifteen days. The relative ratios of tested and reference strains are then used as a proxy for fitness.

Row of three petri dishes illustrating serial dilution of a yeast culture. Each dish contains a different number of yeast colonies. The dish on the left is crowded with many colonies very close together; the one in the middle has about 1/10 as many colonies as the one on the left; and the one on the right has about 1/10 as many colonies as the middle dish. A researcher would be able to count the colonies on the rightmost dish and calculate colony-forming units in the original culture.

Cluster of three inky caps sprouting up from the ground. The one on the left is taller and mostly already turned black and inky, although there is some solid cap flesh left. The one in the middle has just started to deliquesce, with a black to off-white gradient in the cap. The one on the right just has a dark gray blush at the bottom of the cap.

Close-up of a cedar-apple rust gall on a Juniper branch. The gall is round and brown and covered in wrinkles and dimples. Short dry brown protrusions are coming from each dimple. The protrusions will become gelatinous telial horns when they get wet. Green foliage is also visible in the photo's background.

Poster inviting participants to the MSI chalk talk on February 16 at 8:30am at 24 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA. Primrose Boynton from Wheaton College and OEB will present a Chalk Talk named "Attack of the killer yeasts!". Coffee is provided and the event is free and open to the microbial community.

Yellow slime mold on a decayed piece of wood, surrounded by several different lichens. The slime mold is in between plasmodium and sporangium life cycle stages.