Here are a few highlights: We first identified a 1.58 Mbp plasmid in an infant gut metagenome thanks to @pacbio.bsky.social sequencing. The average bacterial genome size in these communities is usually less than 5 Mbp so this was curious to us. We then found similar elements in other infants.

Most plasmids described in E. coli are small compared to the megaplasmids we identified here! Check out the preprint if you want to learn about these mysterious large elements and their potential functions 🧬. I’m very grateful to have had the opportunity to work on this in @banfieldlab.bsky.social

In the latest issue of DDW Journal, I explore how long-read genomics is driving high-resolution microbiome profiling and why precision microbiomics is set to become the next foundational layer in the drug discovery toolkit. 🧬 Read the full article here. 👉 bit.ly/4mq1xwp #microbiome #longreads

Join us tomorrow if you can. Link below to register.

Science award? (The Scientist’s Top Innovations 2025) ✅ Design award? (Fast Company’s Innovation by Design 2025) ✅ Sequencer that’s turning heads everywhere? Vega. 🔥 #Vega #PacBio #HiFiSequencing

Microbes may be small, but the discoveries they drive are huge! 🦠 This #InternationalMicroorganismDay, see how #PacBio HiFi sequencing is uncovering microbial mysteries, from mapping hidden HIV-1 reservoirs to revealing novel AMR pathways. Details here: bit.ly/4mSgPeL

Long and Kelsey just won the 2025 Microbiome SMRT Grant for HiFi shotgun metagenomics!! They will collaborate to optimize PacBio-compatible protocols for gut metagenomics, specifically generating high quality long-read data from IBD patients. Congrats to both! 🎉 🎉 www.pacb.com/blog/2025-mi...

The 2025 Long-Read Low Pass SMRT Grant for plant + animal sciences is now open! 🌱🐾 Apply to win free PacBio HiFi sequencing for your conservation or agricultural research. Submit your 100-word proposal today: bit.ly/3IgrReu #PacBio #SMRTGrant #HiFisequencing

Our first PacBio Revio run with over 140Gb average HiFi yield! This was for a pool of 16 human WGS libraries across 8 SMRTcells, giving >20x coverage per sample. We're running these samples as part of the "Genome of Sweden" project 🧬🇸🇪

New #metagenome assembly comparison of PacBio, ONT, and Illumina in human gut #microbiomes. - "HiFi generated more cMAGs than ONT at every depth with either assembly method" - "HiFi cMAGs had significantly higher completeness and lower contamination than ONT" doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...

So excited to see the results of these impactful human #microbiome studies and what can be accomplished with high accuracy #longread #metagenomics. Congratulations to the winners and really looking forward to working with you.

We’re at the @zymoresearch.bsky.social Biofestival at Johns Hopkins University. Come say hi if you’re here. @pacbio.bsky.social

#PacBio is proud to partner with Chulalongkorn and DKSH to launch Asia’s first clinical program using HiFi sequencing for precision health. LIFE-SEQ will begin with newborn screening and rare disease detection, advancing care for families across Thailand. #PrecisionHealth #RareDisease #Genomics

How do you long-read sequence metagenomes? I would argue it starts with the right sample storage & DNA extraction, to enable efficient @nanoporetech.com /@pacbio.bsky.social sequencing, which we investigated in our new paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Massive thanks to Klara for driving this

Join me for this webinar on the human #microbiome! Register below.

🚩 Short reads for big SVs  🚩 Long reads with tradeoffs  🟢 Tech with large variant detection, haplotyping, epigenetics + exceptional accuracy.  See how to get green flags from the start...There's HiFi for That: bit.ly/3JminPa #PacBio #ScienceHumor #TheresHiFiForThat #HiFisequencing

Do not miss this course with @marcelauliano.bsky.social & Joao if you are interested in Genome Assembly using #longreads @pacbio.bsky.social data #ESEB25

Too many tabs. Password resets. 47 unread notifications before 9 a.m. Some struggles are inevitable. The ones in your lab? You can fix those with #PacBio. #TheresHiFiForThat launches today with free tools, guides, and a shot at a 2026 genomics conference. 🔗Join in: bit.ly/3JminPa

And just like that, our first sequencing run has started on our @pacbio.bsky.social #VEGA, libraries and run started entirely by first time graduate student user. @miamiuniversity.bsky.social #CBFG #Longreads #HiFi #epigenetics

@dportik.bsky.social and I wrote a book chapter on highly accurate #longread @pacbio.bsky.social HiFi sequencing for #microbiome and #metagenomic applications in "Metagenomics for Microbiology (Second Edition)" that is now published! Check it out here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Curious how long-read sequencing is shaping drug discovery and development? Hear it from the experts. Join panelists from Pfizer, AstraZeneca, GSK, and more as they share how #PacBio HiFi sequencing is transforming the #biopharma industry. Register now: bit.ly/4m3L7KJ

Comparative evaluation of sequencing platforms: Pacific Biosciences, Oxford Nanopore Technologies, and Illumina for 16S rRNA-based soil microbiome profiling www.frontiersin.org/journals/mic... #jcampubs

" @pacbio.bsky.social #HiFi #metagenomic assembly achieves a level of precision approaching that of isolated genomes derived from the same sample. This benchmarking establishes HiFi as a robust approach for generating #MAGs rivaling isolated genome quality." onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

European genomics is leveling up, thanks to Dr. Ibrahim Bitar’s work with #Vega in the Czech Republic. 📖 Read his story: bit.ly/3Jda9sg #HiFiSequencing #TheresHiFiForThat

🚨Last call!🚨 Submit your 100-word proposal for the 2025 Microbial #PacBio SMRT Grant by tomorrow, Friday, July 18. Win free HiFi long-read sequencing for your microbial or metagenomics project—including library construction + Revio SMRT Cells. Apply now: bit.ly/40XcH3T

Last call to get your submissions in. The #microbiome SMRT grant closes today!

Exciting news! n6 is now a @pacbio.bsky.social Compatible Partner. #iconPCR delivers higher data quality, fewer artifacts, and broader taxonomic discovery. Paired with PacBio, get high-res, chimera-free, full-length 16S profiles. Just add SYBR Green! Download the app note: hubs.ly/Q03wDDrS0

June #run recap. 50 miles, 16 runs, 7’30”/mile average pace.

Screaming into the blue void: anyone out there interested in some long-read #pacbio #european #wolf #sequence data? We have too much data from a pilot to not use, but it is too little data to assemble a #T2T on our own. Open to #collaboration. Get in touch!

We just got our 1st full-length 16S rRNA PacBio dataset back and it's a game changer (in the context of bacterial isolates)! Do folks have recommendations for archaeal or bac-arch primer sets for PacBio 16S runs?

Happy #WorldMicrobiomeDay! #PacBio is honoring the tiny microbial communities making a big impact on discovery. HiFi sequencing empowers researchers to explore the #microbiome with exceptional accuracy, strain-level ID, complete genomes, and deep functional insights. (1/2)

I had a fantastic visit at the Wadsworth Center NY state public health lab today. Thanks for the invite to present @pacbio.bsky.social HiFi #microbial #genomics at a seminar and for the tours of the labs and meetings. Looking forward to what you can do with highly accurate #longread sequencing.

#microbiome folks, here’s your chance to get free highly accurate #longread sequencing for your #metagenomics research. We’re accepting applications until 7/18. Link to apply and more information in post below. Thanks to our sequencing sponsors @seqcenter.bsky.social and @zymoresearch.bsky.social.

Turns out the mid ocean ridge has a zone where mussel species have interbred - does physical location within the mussel gills matter? Well, first tries with Illumina assemblies resulted in a "cat hairball" like assembly. Moved to to pacbio sequences from fresher tissues. Got closed symbiont genomes!

Last chance to register! See how the new #PacBio Ampli Fi protocol enables #HiFiSequencing from just 1 ng of DNA—ideal for FFPE, biopsies, marine invertebrates & more. Combine with CiFi to unlock accurate, chromosome-scale assemblies. Register now: bit.ly/44dZWmy

Learn from the best @pacbio.bsky.social users on their tips and tricks! (fun fact: I interviewed Lutz but I'm behind the camera so you won't see me ;>)

Join us today at #PacBio booth #1023 for in-booth presentations at #ASMicrobe. Topics include wastewater pathogen detection, gut microbiome testing, and marine microbial defense strategies. Talks run from 3:00 and 4:00 PDT. More details here: bit.ly/3ZfnBkT

Catch the final round of #PacBio in-booth presentations at #ASMicrobe today. Topics include viral interactions in hot springs, global salivary microbiomes, and full-length HiFi testing. Join us from 3:00 to 4:00 PDT at booth 1023. More details here: bit.ly/3ZfnBkT

Xiaoxiao Cheng from #PacBio is presenting a full workflow for pathogen and antimicrobial resistance monitoring in wastewater. Visit poster 755 in section AES at #ASMicrobe, live now in the exhibit hall. She’ll be back from 4–5 PM.

Dan Portik (@dportik.bsky.social) from #PacBio is live at #ASMicrobe sharing insights on oral microbiome assembly using HiFi long-read sequencing until 11:30 AM. Catch him at poster 974 in section HMB in the exhibit hall. He’ll be back again from 3 to 4 PM!

Amanda Shelton is presenting how long-read and proximity metagenomics reveal viral interactions in hot spring microbial mats. Find her at #ASMicrobe in section EEB, poster 1138, now through 11:30 AM in the exhibit hall. She’ll return from 3 to 4 PM.

Stop by our booth at #ASMicrobe to chat, spin the wheel for tickets for the raffle for prizes during the booth talks at 3pm, enter our scavenger hunt game for more prizes, and see our Vega and Revio high accuracy #longread sequencers. #microbial #microbiome #metagenomics

Super excited to be at #ASMicrobe again this year! Looking forward to catching up with everyone and meeting new folks to hear about their #microbial work and how high accuracy #longread sequencing can help. @pacbio.bsky.social

The Y chromosome holds mysteries that stretch across species. This #FathersDay, discover how #PacBio #HiFiSequencing helps researchers uncover how dads, lions, and beer hops are all connected by this fascinating chromosome. Blog here: bit.ly/3HH0ppz

Headed to #ASMicrobe next week? Pre-register now for the #PacBio Microbial Pursuit — a clue-based challenge exploring the hidden world of microbes and the technologies helping illuminate their roles in health, disease, and the environment. 🔍 Register here: bit.ly/4kJ3VP0

180 SMRT Cells for one genome? That was 2011. Today, you can do it with just one. Watch how PacBio long-read tech has evolved from RS to Sequel to Revio and Vega. Because higher throughput and accuracy shouldn't be a trade-off. #TheresHiFiForThat

Very excited to see the long-read #microbiome profiling feature included in this tool! I'll be taking a look at #PacBio HiFi performance in the near future.

Heading to #ASMicrobe? Visit #PacBio at booth #1023 to explore Revio and Vega in action. Meet our team, enter to win prizes, sign up for free full-length 16S sequencing from Zymo Research, and learn how to apply for the Microbiome SMRT Grant. More details: bit.ly/3ZfnBkT

The new version of MetaPhlAn v4.2.2 released! 📌taxonomic profiling of long-read metagenomes for the first time 📌new version of the MetaPhlAn db (vJan25_202503) containing >21k new SGBs Try it out & @hutlab.bsky.social and we are looking forward to your feedback! forum.biobakery.org/t/metaphlan-...

Researchers are using #PacBio HiFi sequencing to uncover HIV-1 reservoirs, track antimicrobial resistance, and refine population references. Explore how #HiFisequencing is driving discovery across infectious disease, aging, and more. Blog here: bit.ly/4mSgPeL