Author

Alexander J. Rurik

Middle Tennessee State University

Listed by name: these papers carry no ORCID for this author, so different people with the same name may be mixed together.

Biology Disciplines

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Microbiology· 3

Signature Assays, Organisms & Methods

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Approach:experimental assay· 3 Assay:metagenomics· 3 Organism:multiple species· 2 Research Focus:cell type annotation· 1 Research Focus:clustering· 1 Research Focus:differential expression· 1 Research Focus:ecology & biodiversity· 1 Research Focus:gene regulatory network inference· 1

Frequent Co-Authors

Donald M. WalkeriD· 3 shared Jason W. DallasiD· 3 shared Chloe Cummins· 2 shared Lluvia Vargas‐GastélumiD· 2 shared Mitra GhotbiiD· 2 shared N. Reed AlexanderiD· 2 shared Anthony Ashley· 1 shared Cameron D. SileriD· 1 shared

Activity by Year

2025-2026 · peak 2/yr

Co-Author Collaboration Network

10 top collaborators · 38 mutual co-author links

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3 shared papersMicrobiology

Donald M. WalkerORCID

Mutual co-authors in cluster

Author profile →

3 papers

Recent·Most cited

Exploring the diversity and community structure of the Testudines fecal mycobiome

Taylor Mills, Julia Vinzelj, Emma R Cook, Emma Mills, Alexander J. Rurik, Jason W. Dallas, Donald M. Walker, Paul A. Stone, Cameron D. Siler, Mostafa S. Elshahed, Noha H. Youssef

This study investigates the fungal diversity and community structure in the gut of Testudines reptiles, revealing high diversity and identifying new fungal taxa and community patterns.

bioRxiv · Apr 23, 2026 · PreprintMicrobiology

Effects of environmental setting and diet on the gut microbial ecology of eastern hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis)

Chloe Cummins, William B. Sutton, Taina McLeod, Jason W. Dallas, Mitra Ghotbi, Lluvia Vargas‐Gastélum, N. Reed Alexander, Alexander J. Rurik, Dale McGinnity, Sherri Doro Reinsch, Pia Sandonato, Jessica Arbour, Michael J. Freake, Anthony Ashley, William M. Ternes, , Donald M. Walker

This study examines how zoo management and diet affect the gut microbiome of eastern hellbenders, finding that wild diets and release into natural habitats can restore microbial communities closer to wild-type patterns.

Animal Microbiome · Apr 16, 2026Peer-reviewedMicrobiology

Absolute abundance unveils Basidiobolus as a cross-domain bridge indirectly bolstering gut microbiome homeostasis

Mitra Ghotbi, Jason W. Dallas, Alexander J. Rurik, Chloe Cummins, Lluvia Vargas‐Gastélum, Marjan Ghotbi, Joseph W. Spatafora, Kian Kelly, N. Reed Alexander, Kylie C. Moe, Kimberly C. Syring, Leila Shadmani, Julissa Perez-Marron, Donald M. Walker

This paper introduces DspikeIn, a tool for absolute abundance quantification in microbiomes, showing it improves resolution and reduces false discoveries compared to relative abundance methods.

The ISME Journal · Jan 1, 2025Peer-reviewedMicrobiology