Come and work with me and @ariannebabina.bsky.social on #Streptomyces evolution and antibiotic production Origins of a tangled bank: Adaptation and evolution in antibiotic-producing Streptomyces www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate... please repost

Professor (full) or Associate Professor (tenure track) in Microbial Genetics of Health (U. Turku Finland). Competitive starting package included! Please share. duunitori.fi/tyopaikat/ty...

Now published! www.nature.com/articles/s41... Very nice collaboration with Hoogenboom ( @ucl.ac.uk ) and Bonev ( @uniofnottingham.bsky.social ) labs.

New pre-print: Eco-evolutionary responses of phage to different thermal regimes. Great work led by Sam Greenrod and fun collaboration with Kayla King's lab. 1/2 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Now peer-reviewed, improved and published in @microbiologysociety.org Microbiology - thanks to editor and reviewers! www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...

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

Looking back at Bowie's Outside and Walker's Tilt, both released 30 years ago, Ned Raggett says the pair might not have met but the energy of respect and influence travelled between them in strange ways Many Happy Returns to #DavidBowie's Outside, which turns 30 today! buff.ly/U85ffvs

Recent paper from the lab studying predictors of phage cocktail efficacy against complex clinical Pseudomonas populations royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10.... Led by Rosanna Wright with extraordinary MSc (PhD) student Maisie Czernuska

Thrilled to share our two latest papers with the @tcostalab.bsky.social lab! In the first, we uncover a new mechanism of satellite transfer: cf-PICIs hijack tails from diverse phages to spread across species. @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

How much of selection in human microbiomes is driven by phage? Excited to share our latest, led by A. Delphine Tripp, showing a case where phage is just not that important: Phage-mediated lysis does not determine Cutibacterium acnes colonization on human skin www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧵

The outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria blocks many antibiotics. Our latest work reveals that L-type pyocins bypass this barrier by inactivating the BAM complex, killing Pseudomonas aeruginosa without entering the cell, providing a new blueprint for beating antibiotic resistance.

You like phages ? In this publication, we use metaHiC and our new version of the MetaTOR pipeline to challenge the traditional view of phages with a narrow host range. @rkoszul.bsky.social @natmicrobiol.nature.com @cnrs.fr @institutpasteur.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Always “experimental evolution”. Never “adaptive laboratory evolution”. ALE… I think not.

Spacedust: a tool for de novo identification of conserved gene clusters from metagenomic data. @ruoshiz.bsky.social @milot.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Such a delight to share our work on the evolution of a cheese rind fungus in @currentbiology.bsky.social. This is the fantastic PhD work of @nicolasleonlouw.bsky.social and resulted from amazing collaborations, a wedding proposal(!), an undergrad course, & more! 🧵 www.cell.com/current-biol...

So excited to share a new paper from my lab just published in Nature Communications! We showed that vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) occupied distinct intestinal niches in the antibiotic-treated intestine. doi.org/10.1038/s414... Amazing work by first author Olivia King and colleagues!

I have an MRC-funded PhD project available (www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin...) on how warming will change the problem of AMR. Join a small and friendly group (padpadpadpad.netlify.app/about) in (sometimes) sunny Cornwall. 🧪🦠 #microsky Please share the ad below with anyone who may be interested.

A systemic screen using programmable antisense oligomers to silence genes of DNA and RNA phages identifies proteins essential for phage propagation. This tool offers potential for optimizing phage therapy. #NBThighlight www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Reminder that we are recruiting an Assistant Professor Bacterial Genomics @imibirmingham.bsky.social. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOO184/a... Deadline 24 Sept.

So excited our antibiotic potentiation story is out 🤩 Led by the extraordinary @manonlang.bsky.social with @fox-science.bsky.social & @amazeld.bsky.social +amazing collaborators @immunobladder.bsky.social @imaneelmeouche.bsky.social 🦠 We believe it can make a difference in #AMR infections!

A new theme issue of #PhilTransB examines the evolutionary history of bacterial immune systems, their modes of action, and the patterns how different bacterial immune systems are distributed across different ecosystems. Read: buff.ly/Z4qdxY1

Bacterial #QuorumSensing is often assumed to follow a strict hierarchy. @brownlab.bsky.social &co find that #Pseudomonas aeruginosa instead uses a reciprocal, cooperative system that enhances responsiveness to population density & environmental changes @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/3I7DhRG

What causes viral transmission bottlenecks? This study uses barcoded virions to show that in the case of #influenza A #virus, early within-host replication dynamics (rather than a reduced inoculum population) drive loss of diversity during transmission @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4ngicDK

Preprint: De-novo design of proteins that inhibit bacterial defenses Our approach allows silencing defense systems of choice. We show how this approach enables programming of “untransformable” bacteria, and how it can enhance phage therapy applications Congrats Jeremy Garb! tinyurl.com/Syttt 🧵

Delighted with our new paper on a novel itaconate transporter in the human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, led by Javeria and Reyme. @ybri-uoy.bsky.social @javeriamehboob.bsky.social @bethkw.bsky.social A duplicated transporter on its way to itaconate selectivity portlandpress.com/biochemj/art...

Excited to say we’re hiring 😊. We’re looking for a post-doc in ancient pathogen genomics to join our friendly supportive team in London at @ugiatucl.bsky.social. Start date January 2026. www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

The #MaxPlanckPostdocProgram offers a guaranteed contract of at least 3 years, targeted mentoring, and career workshops. The call for applications is open now! 🚀 Take advantage of this opportunity and browse the job vacancies. www.mpg.de/en/max-planc...

Interactions between native soil microbiome and a synthetic microbial community reveals bacteria with persistent traits #transwellsystem #Pseudomonas #mSystems journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

In just a weeks time @chownbioinf.bsky.social is cycling over 200km to the @bsmm-meeting.bsky.social in Norwich, to raise money for @aspertrust.bsky.social This is a huge feat, and for such a great cause. Please consider sponsoring Harry! www.justgiving.com/page/harry-c...

journals.plos.org/plosbiology/... #microsky

Have you ever wondered what increasing environmental stress will do to microbial communities? In our new preprint, @martinadalbello.bsky.social, Jeff Gore and I studied the impact of salinity on microbial community composition and function. 🧵 (1/5) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Another PDRA position! Join our team exploring how the mammalian immune system shapes microbiome ecology & evolution, and vice versa. In collaboration with @hepworth-lab.bsky.social funded by the @wellcometrust.bsky.social www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #phagesky #phage

Stoked to finally have a preprint out for Phold, our tool that uses protein structural information to enhance phage genome annotation #phagesky 1/n www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🚨 New paper in mBio! We established strict formatotrophic & methylotrophic growth in engineered Pseudomonas putida via the reductive glycine pathway (rGlyP). journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.... Here’s a teaser of how we did it 🧵👇1/5

New preprint from us! The latest part of our C. difficile vancomycin resistance story. We identified a new two-component system (VnrRS) that can control expression of the vanG pathway - just needs one amino acid change @buddlejess.bsky.social @brockhurstlab.bsky.social @claireyt.bsky.social

This work is finally published! 🥳🧬 Plasmids are associated with very variable fitness costs in their different bacterial hosts. But, what is the contribution of each of the plasmid-genes in these host-specific effects? Study led by @jorgesastred.bsky.social, @sanmillan.bsky.social and myself! 1/14

Heredity has a new EiC and if you fancy meeting Louise Johnson or Aurora @aruizherrera.bsky.social our amazing Co-EiC at #eseb2025 please find them or contact them via the app. @gensocuk.bsky.social @eseb.bsky.social @eseb2025.bsky.social

"From Old to New" - The grade II listed 'Oddfellows Hall" sits in the shadow of newly built "Nancy Rothwell Building", home to the School of Engineering, both part of the University of Manchester. @manchester.ac.uk @uomscieng.bsky.social

New paper out @molbioevol.bsky.social on antimutator Ecoli, mutational spectra and the distribution of fitness effects of antibiotic resistance with @knightjar.bsky.social @rokkrasovec.bsky.social and others @mermanchester.bsky.social doi.org/pzfm Read🧵for highlights and fun stats (1/13)

This is the science I want funded (alongside curing cancer etc) A defined microbial community reproduces attributes of fine flavour chocolate fermentation www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Ever wondered why some bacteria have multiple CRISPR-Cas systems? Our new study led by Leah Smith shows how type I CRISPR systems can promote the acquisition and retention of new spacers into a co-occuring type III system. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Unchecking the box “enable modern comments” in MS Word has made a small but significant improvement to my quality of life

What shapes the moment when you say, this is who I want to be? Could one classroom research experience be that catalyst? Could a summer camp for teachers help them make students become scientists? 🧪🧫🧬🔬 YES. This is EvolvingSTEM. So proud of this team. youtu.be/sv3tcwRs2PE?...

Lovely story

🚨 Fungi + viruses + mammalian lungs? Buckle up! Our new paper in @natmicrobiol.nature.com uncovers the story of a deadly fungus and its gnarly viral hitchhiker — and how this duo may change how we diagnose & treat fungal disease 🍄🫁🚨 doi.org/10.1038/s415... ⬇️

This first-author publication is my… first! Archaea kill bacteria by targeting their Achilles’ heel: peptidoglycan. Big shoutout to @ahocher.bsky.social‬, @valeriesoo.bsky.social‬, Pauline Misson, @tobiaswarnecke.bsky.social‬ and MRC LMS Proteomics. A thread 🔽 journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

#NewResearch Prion-like proteins in Escherichia coli trigger an abortive infection mechanism in response to phage infection—a process similar to amyloid-mediated immune signalling in fungi and animals. #MicroSky 🦠 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

'Ancient stickleback genomes reveal the early stages of parallel adaptation' - now published online in Evolution @journal-evo.bsky.social‬