Microbial communities can harbor many species that do not coexist in pairs, yet can coexist in the full community. Here we provide the mathematical foundations of emergent coexistence, and explain why it can't be predicted from pairwise tests journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...

"The struggle of figuring out the right analysis approach, wrestling with an unexpected result, or trying to turn a messy set of findings into a coherent story is not an obstacle to learning. It _is_ the learning". Required reading for AI in the lab: blekhman.substack.com/p/you-need-t...

Open postdoc position in my lab on HGT and interbacterial competition. We seek candidates with a PhD in microbiology (or related fields)+ strong 1st-author publications. Curious, highly motivated, and dedicated team players ready to contribute fully are encouraged to apply. Details: tiny.cc/cz01101

Identification and functional insights into new phage tail-like bacteriocins targeting Pseudomonas aeruginosa as new antimicrobials | Microbiology Spectrum journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... #microsky

NEW! This One Health case study explores antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as a complex environmental public health issue that extends beyond clinical and agricultural settings into households, wildlife, and drinking water systems. ➡️ ncceh.ca/resources/ev... #AMR #OneHealth

You asked, we listened. Millions of AI-predicted protein complex structures are now available in the #AlphaFold Database. This spans homodimers from 20 of the most studied species, including humans, as well as the World Health Organization’s priority pathogens list. www.ebi.ac.uk/about/news/t...

Turning #penicillin into a lethal force against #bacteria again ... | #antibiotic | #antibiotictolerance | #betalactam | #cholera | By @cornelluniversity.bsky.social via @sciencex.bsky.social

Lovely work driven by Lizzie Ledger in the group: a new but druggable mechanism by which Staphs produce biofilm using components of human serum. First polysaccharides, then protein, then eDNA, now lipids too! bsky.app/profile/bior...

Now out & nicely formatted in @isme-microbes.bsky.social A big analysis of ocean genomes & metagenomes co-led by former postdocs, now PIs, @gmdouglas.bsky.social & @cyanophage.bsky.social along with co-PIs @lbobay.bsky.social & Samuel Chaffron. A few highlights... 🧵 (1/n) doi.org/10.1093/isme...

In case you missed it: our review titled "Spatial structure: shaping the ecology and evolution of microbial communities" is out! 🚨 Let me hit you with some highlights on why spatial structure matters. (and why you should care!) Sharing is appreciated 🙏 🧵👇 doi.org/10.1093/fems...

What if quorum sensing doesn’t promote biofilms - but restrains it? 🤔 New work from @harisantypas.bsky.social shows that the Fsr QS system in Enterococcus faecalis acts as a brake on biofilm formation and pathogenesis during infective endocarditis (IE). www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Excited for Day 2 #AMR2026. @Fleming_Initiative and @csiro.bsky.social have put together an informative 3day program delivered by panels of international experts from across One Health sectors, stakeholders and policymakers.

Science works best when more voices are at the table. At SCELSE, 56% of our researchers are women — above the global average of 33.3%. Kudos to all the women researchers at SCELSE driving scientific excellence & impact! @cwhitch.bsky.social #WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM #SCELSEImpact

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New vistas to explore. I like it! #chances2learn #complexity #sayNotoReductionism

We are a Molecular Microbiology laboratory at the Andalusian Center of Developmental Biology (CABD) in Sevilla, Spain. Our main interests are gene regulation and signal transduction in the lifestyle switch between planktonic and biofilm growth. Also see us at baclifestyle.es

I have just read Prof E. Peter Greenberg latest editorial paper, explaining why he has been working on P. aeruginosa. That is very refreshing to hear how research is also impacted by interpersonal relationships and personal events. We should hear more about it. doi.org/10.1128/jb.0...

Prof Cynthia Whitchurch @cwhitch.bsky.social, SCELSE Research Director, is a keynote speaker at the Asia-Pacific Biofilm Conference 2026, presenting “When death becomes a biofilm”. Registration and abstract submissions are now open — join the region’s biofilm community in Melbourne.

#NatMicroPicks Peptibody mRNA therapy for AMR infections! 💉🧬 mRNA-delivered peptibody AMPs eradicate MDR pneumonia and outperform FDA-approved antibiotics while reducing inflammation #SynBio #MicroSky 🦠 @natbiotech.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#NatMicroPicks How drugs reshape the gut microbiome? 💊🦠 Screening 707 drugs in gut microbial communities reveals nutrient competition as the key driver of compositional and metabolic shifts. #MicroSky #MicrobiomeSky 🦠 www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

#NatMicroPicks Editing gut microbiota in vivo! 🔧🧬🦠 MetaEdit enables precise in vivo CRISPR-based editing of native gut bacteria, integrating new pathways at single-nucleotide resolution #MicroSky #SynBio www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Fortuitous timing for my NTU-SBS seminar to land in World Antimicrobial Awareness Week #WAAW. I took the opportunity to showcase our research into alternate bacterial lifestyles and how we are leveraging this understanding to develop innovative approaches to combat AMR 🧫🧪 @scelse.bsky.social

World AMR Awareness Week calls us to act now. At the SCELSE retreat, PhD student Alicia Pek, supervised by Prof Cynthia Whitchurch, showed how cell wall-deficient P. aeruginosa reveals a vulnerability that boosts antibiotic & non-antibiotic activity. #WorldAMRWeek #AMR #SCELSE @cwhitch.bsky.social

Two intense days underscored SCELSE’s strength in true multi-disciplinarity — broad enough to collaborate, deep enough to push boundaries. A retreat filled with ideas across health, climate, and food. Kudos to Prof Whitchurch @cwhitch.bsky.social for organising a strong event.

Registration is now open for @keystonesymposia.bsky.social "Beyond #Antibiotics: Emerging Strategies Combating #BacterialInfection." Deadline for scholarships and abstract selected short talks is Jan 7! Join us this May for an amazing meeting! keysym.us/KSBeyondAntibiotics26 #KSBeyondAntibiotics26

SCELSE’s annual Scientific Retreat begins tomorrow. Two days of presentations, posters, and breakout discussions will sharpen the next phase of our biofilm and microbiome research aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. @cwhitch.bsky.social @fillouxlab.bsky.social

To know about #FMT is one thing — but to speak with experts pioneering it is another. SCELSE's Prof Cynthia Whitchurch @cwhitch.bsky.social visited Sydney's Microbiome Research Centre, to explore gut microbiome links to mental health and disease for future collaborations.

Between 2018–2023, antibiotic resistance increased in over 40% of the pathogen–antibiotic combinations monitored, with an average annual rise of 5–15%. Resistance is highest in the WHO South-East Asian & Eastern Mediterranean Regions, where 1 in 3 reported infections were resistant 👉 bit.ly/438Ta1u

Our first effort exploring gut bacteria-extracellular ATP interactions is published! We show that eATP rewires gene expression and physiology in harmless and pathogenic bacteria, impacting production of bioactive metabolites, antimicrobial sensitivity, and virulence. A 🧵 www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Antibiotic resistance is accelerating.

We have a PhD opportunity available in our group @johninnescentre.bsky.social through the NRP Doctoral Training Partnership. Help us uncover the Hidden Diversity of Bacterial NLRs. Start date: October 2026. For more information and how to apply👉 biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk/projects/bey...

My lab @scelse.bsky.social NTU is growing! Fun evening out with the team, I'm so fortunate to work with such a great group of scientists!

Quite an interesting protein search AI model combining sequence, structure, and function text - faster and more accurate than similarity searches. Who has tried it🤩🙌? Only a few secs to search bacterial TFs and integrases #microsky 🧬🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🧐Checkout our preprint revealing the stepwise firing💥 mechanism of a Contractile Injection System @xujwet.bsky.social&@chipericson.bsky.social trapped the complex by structure-guided engineering🧪 in multiple intermediate states and imaged them by multimodal #cryoEM❄️🔬 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Off to @caltechlcssp.bsky.social to follow up the conversation started past Feb in Asilomar on *Biotech Beyond Conventional Containment*. Time to rethink the (now banned) release of Lab-trained microorganisms for extensive environmental remediation in view of new genet technols & urgent global needs

Holy moly

Dear #microbiology and #immunology community- I took a break from social media after I deleted my Twitter account, but am back here. Please help me rebuild my community by following me and amplifying this message- I will follow you back. Thank you and I look forward to our many interactions!

It should be noted that Google has noticed the backlash enough that they quietly published a code that would removed AI results for their searches. An enterprising person built a default site to search without AI, and the results are goddamn refreshing as hell. udm14.org

Finally out, such an awesome piece of work, very proud of this one: www.cell.com/cell-systems... #MicroSky

New comment Rethinking the role of animals in antimicrobial resistance www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... #IDSky #ClinMicro #AMR #OneHealth #OpenAccess #OA

Delighted to see our paper studying the evolution of plasmids over the last 100 years, now out! Years of work by Adrian Cazares, also Nick Thomson @sangerinstitute.bsky.social - this version much improved over the preprint. Final version should be open access, apols. Thread 1/n

🐟💊🦠Our new study in @natwater.nature.com 🐟💊🦠 "Microbial risks triggered by oral administration of antibiotics in fish aquaculture persist long after the legally mandated antibiotic withdrawal time" www.nature.com/articles/s44... #microsky #amr 1/8

#NewResearch Opposing forces generated by exopolysaccharide trail binding versus type IV pilus retraction generate a high cyclic diGMP–high cyclic AMP state in Pseudomonas aeruginosa that promotes social motility. #MicroSky 🦠 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

For our scientists. By @ellecordova.bsky.social

If you're interested in learning microbiology🦠, AI 🤖, and bioinformatics 🧬, check out our lab’s knowledge graph (built by Jeff—our in-house software engineer). An efficient way to train PhD students! genomiverse.net/JeffsKnowled... #Microbesky #Microbiomesky #AI4S #Bioinformatics

NTU shared our DNA alignment tool designed for microbes 🦠🧬☰! #Microbiomesky #Microsky blogs.ntu.edu.sg/science/2025...

MIT News: news.mit.edu/2024/human-g... — Sharing our new publication in Cell Genomics: cell.com/cell-genomic... about why our human gut microbiome rarely updates its CRISPR defense systems!

Pleased to welcome my new colleague from SBS @ NTU Singapore, Anni Zhang @annizlab.bsky.social, to the platform. She is a dynamic addition to our school, and it's always a pleasure to discuss science with her. Looking forward to her contributions here. Find more about her lab 👇

Hi everyone, I'm a bioinformatician & microbiologist. My new lab @Nanyang Technological University uncovers diverse microbial mechanisms (regulatory networks, selective sweeps, host-microbe interactions, ...) via machine learning! genomiverse.net