Bacteriophages are normally classified as either virulent or temperate. Reality is, of course, more complicated! Here we show many bacterial isolates contain non-temperate phages that can persist through restreaking. Thanks to all co-authors for such a great collaboration!

The hitchhiker’s guide to cross-species DNA delivery @cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social Spotlight by Kotaro Kiga and Rodrigo Ibarra-Chávez www.cell.com/trends/micro...

Delighted that our review on resistance to last-resort antibiotics in Enterococci has been published in FEMS Microbiology Reviews academic.oup.com/femsre/advan... (accepted manuscript version) TL;DR: the Enterococci are really good at evolving resistance to antibiotics in new and creative ways.

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... #microsky

Excited to share some new work from the lab, led by @shelbyeandersen.bsky.social where we developed a method and computational pipeline to identify antiphage defenses across diverse bacterial phyla.

Our latest work reveals that arbitrium phages cross-communicate across species! These tiny viruses “listen” to signals from others, coordinating lysis-lysogeny decisions across species. Original idea from @albertomarina.bsky.social and, as usual, he was right. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

I’m extremely honored to be included with this amazing group of scientists as a recipient of the 2025 BWF PDEP award!

My latest in @plosbiology.org Look I get it, it seems really dark, but there are opportunities. My paper explores some ideas and tries to guide ways of thinking through the anticipated challenges. An emphasis on America’s “biohubs” and entrepreneurship journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

How bad will it be? Catastrophic. Proposed cuts to #NSF, #NIH, and #NASA will set the US R&D landscape back 25 yrs+, cause economic and job loss now, and undermine innovations to come. But, this is the WH's *proposed* budget. Speak up now before it is too late. (inflation adjusted $-s below)

10/ And to reiterate a key point: CONGRESS 👏 SETS 👏 BUDGET 👏 LEVELS Today's update is called a **request** for a reason. And Congress should reject it. History provides optimism:

Great meeting coming up next May www.keystonesymposia.org/conferences/...

Gold standard science

RFK Jr’s COVID vaccine rollback will kill people—including kids. Read my latest: news.immunologic.org/p/rfk-jrs-co... Unlike RFK Jr., my citations are not only real, they are relevant and rigorous data.

You are not alone in this NIH grant game drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2025/05/21/y...

😢 No words. ☹️

#phage #phagesky

Whoa... This resignation should alarm scientists, leaders, and elected officials across the aisles. For over 70 years, NSF has promoted science, advanced an innovation economy, and supported the national defense. America's future depends on federal investment in NSF, NIH + beyond.

I had a nice time recording a podcast session with @manuelkleiner.bsky.social today for next week's #MattersMicrobial. I learned so much about how the microbiome responds to dietary changes. Plus thoughts about mucus farming by microbiota... Such fun! Heard about VIM @nicoledubilier.bsky.social!

Biology is so cool - P. syringae produces syringafactin, which is deacylated by amoebae - Deacylated syringafactin binds to CraR, triggering amoebicidal pyrofactin synthesis - Cra allows P. syringae to infect Arabidopsis thaliana in the presence of amoebae #MicroSky

Preprint out! Bacteria w/ hyper-replicative filamentous phage lead to overnight emergence of cheater phages. Bacteria w/ both phages can outcompete wildtype, then rapidly lose phage via a phage Tragedy of the Commons @shellyscrib.bsky.social @vscooper.micropopbio.org www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Please spread the word! We have an opening in the Atkinson lab for a post-doc with a focus on the molecular mechanisms of microbial immune systems. Can be a fully computational or experimental or hybrid project. Read more and apply here: lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/... #phage #bioinformatics

Legitmately thrilled to share our latest work, in which @fernpizza.bsky.social solved an experimental challenge in plasmid biology as old as the field: measuring how plasmids compete and evolve within individual cells!

Fascinating paper about the potential of phage for local drug delivery by Brian Hsu (Va Tech) and colleagues. (also nice acknowledgment for SeqCoast Genomics @seqcoast.bsky.social!) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

We must have an unprecedented amount of grace, collaboration, and support for our colleagues and trainees right now. We will get out of this mile one. It won’t make the run easier, but we will settle in and we will finish. I wrote this because I needed to hear it. I hope it was helpful to you.

To start the year on the good path. Our preprint on plasmid-chromosome cross-talk and how it may favour MDR bacteria, is now out. Work led by @sanmillan.bsky.social Laura Toribio-Celestino et al.

A complete list of 150 bacteriophage researchers. go.bsky.app/Lkm6xoN

Hey Enterococcus lovers: go.bsky.app/T24bCrJ. Who are we missing here?