"The changing roles of Escherichia coli" -- a short essay by yours truly. rdcu.be/eVtXT

“A process which led from the amoeba to man appeared to the philosophers to be obviously a progress - though whether the amoeba would agree with this opinion is not known" - Bertrand Russell, 1976. Time-lapse video of Vampyrella lateritia eating Spirogyra algae from Science Source/Oliver Skibbe. 🦠

Preprint alert📢! 
Ever wondered how much bacterial parasites influence evolutionary outcomes of their host? ➡️ We co-evolved two bacterial strains in conditions in which the costs and benefits of prophage carriage varied Here is what we found. 
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 
#MicroSky #PhageSky 🧵

Oh to be a little Tardigrade walking across a microscopic slide. 🫧🐻🧪

Actualização: Disponíveis os 👉 7 últimos prints 30x40 👈 da edição limitada e numerada de #adamadopirete e 👉 8 prints A4 disponíveis de imediato 👈 (o resto mantém-se)

Bacterial genomes encode a rich repertoire of antiphage systems, but we still know surprisingly little about when these systems are actually expressed. In this preprint, Lucas Paoli et al, ask what shapes antiphage systems expression in native contexts. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Our story on plasmid streamlining is now published in PLoS Biology! With @andrewmatthews.bsky.social and @sonjalehtinen.bsky.social #MicroSky #Mevosky journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

🚀New preprint from our lab! I am very excited to finally share what has been the main focus of my PhD for the past almost 3 years! It is about viral dark matter and a powerful tool we built to shed light on it. 🧬💡 Continue reading (🧵)

Podcast com Isabel Gordo, Group Leader no Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine (@gimmfoundation.bsky.social): "Como é que um medicamento mata bactérias?" YouTube: youtu.be/wRyYYa2D5i0 Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/1AqQ...

Our new paper is out in @narjournal.bsky.social We show that natural transformation enables bacteria to shuffle integron cassettes, boosting their phenotypic diversity. academic.oup.com/nar/article/... 1/5

🚨 Excited to share our new paper is out! 🎉 We show how interactions within gut microbiomes allow certain antibiotic-resistant E. coli strains to persist even without antibiotics, helping explain how resistance is maintained in the human gut. Now published in @natcomms.nature.com rdcu.be/eOf63

🚨New preprint out! We present a foundational genomic resource of human gut microbiome viruses. It delivers high-quality, deeply curated data spanning taxonomy, predicted hosts, structures, and functions, providing a reference for gut virome research. (1/8) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

👉 Host-targeted immunity meets antibiotic synergy! We show that OM-89 reprograms bladder epithelial cells to boost their lysosomal activity and antibiotic uptake, helping clear intracellular UPEC. 📖 Read more: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #UTI #InfectiousDisease #HostDefense #Organoids #UTIsky

📣 We are moving to Barcelona to join the amazing @crg.eu and explore how centrosomes & cilia work, evolve & respond to the environment. We are looking for PhD students www.crg.eu/en/content/t... Postdocs gimm.pt/jobs/postdoc... Other calls to open, also for an experienced lab manager. Get in touch!

Do you like microbes and insects, and would like to get your favourites printed on articles or clothing? check out my art prints on Redbubble: www.redbubble.com/people/Chaii... Happy to take requests to add to this collection too :) #sciart #art #symbiosis #microbes #insects

JOB OFFER #PhageSky We have a postdoc position opening in my group to investigate phage-MGE interactions ! We're based in the very nice city of Lyon, France @mmsb-lyon.bsky.social Contact me for more info ! >> Apply on the CNRS webpage emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U...

Excited to share our preprint led by Carlos Voogdt et al We developed new genetic tools & genome-wide libraries for species of the Bacteroidales order; constructed saturated barcoded transposon libraries in key representatives of three genera. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #microsky #microbiome DGRs FTW

New pre-print www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Plasmid-dependent phage (PDPs) are ubiquitous, but the selective pressures that they impose on plasmids are not well understood. Project led by Daniel Cazares in collaboration with @brockhurstlab.bsky.social! #phagesky#microsky

🚨 Microbiologists! We are recruiting Assistant / Associate Professors in 3 collaborative areas of our U. Pittsburgh School of Medicine. 1) MMG (my dept): fundamental research in med micro 2) Peds ID / I4Kids institute 3) Center for Vaccine Research 🔗 to all 3 w/info: www.linkedin.com/posts/vaughn...

Excited to annouce the latest research published by our lab, which is led by Dinesh Subedi and is out today in Nature Microbiology. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #phagesky #phage Anecdotally, a few years ago a very trigger-happy temperate had infected a strain of E. coli of mine and caused significant lysis. The release of enzymes in the medium degraded a sugar into a different form which could be used by the other cells.

Happy to share that our story on the bacterial archaellum was published today in @natmicrobiol.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41... Congrats to the authors: @sshamphavi.bsky.social @loumollat.bsky.social @mariejoest.bsky.social Najwa Taib and @sgribaldo.bsky.social

In our new article, we show how P. aeruginosa, a major cause of chronic respiratory infections in #cysticfibrosis (CF), uses the Type VI Secretion System #T6SS and specific #toxins to eliminate competing bacteria www.cell.com/cell-reports... #cryoEM @dshatskiy.bsky.social @jakecolautti.bsky.social

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 complex functions, with important physiological and evolutionary impacts get repeatedly and efficiently transferred across genomes? That’s what we explored using one of the fastest-evolving loci in Bacteria: the capsule locus. The paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Thread👇

Delighted to share our recently published work! Ever wondered how Klebsiella (and others) deals with capsule production’s costs ? The paper: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... Thread👇

Happy to see our paper out! Functional assessment of anti-phage defence systems in their native clinical E. coli host royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... Thread in previous post 👇

Assistant Professor position in the Microbiome Engineering group (Prof Sahar El Aidy) at University of Amsterdam Assistant Professor in Microbiome Imaging and Functional Analysis werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...

How do bacteria choose what type of defences to use against phages? We explored that question in the last paper I worked on as a postdoc at the Uni of Exeter @uniofexeteresi.bsky.social with Stineke van Houte, Stefano Pagliara and Edze Westra (not on Bluesky) doi.org/10.1098/rstb...

Can CRISPR-Cas systems target any phage? Yes, no, it depends? What does it depend on? The second paper from my PhD came out today in a special issue of Phil Trans B on the ecology and evolution of bacterial immune systems doi.org/10.1098/rstb...

🚨 New preprint! 🧬 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐠𝐞-𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐬 (𝐏-𝐏𝐬) are fascinating elements: both 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 and 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐬 ➡️ tricky to detect. We present 𝐭𝐲𝐏𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐠 — the first 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥 🛠️designed specifically for P-Ps: ✅ Accurate ✅ Sensitive ✅ Easy to use 📖 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

There is a new position open in the Department of Microbes, Infection and Microbiomes! This is for someone in the area of microbial genomics 🧬 Please re-post and send to people, thank you! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOO184/a...

🎓 Applications for Institut Pasteur's PhD programs open Sept 1-Oct 20, 2025 for October 2026 entry. Apply to up to 4 projects across 6 programs: PPU, PPU-IMAGINE @institutimagine.bsky.social, [email protected], PPU-EID @upcite.bsky.social & more 🧬 Register now ✍️ www.pasteur.fr/en/education...

Does your lab perform killing assays? TL;DR: we’ve identified a problem that can bias the outcome of killing assays, making antagonism look stronger than it really is. Adding a simple extra step can mitigate this bias!  Out now at #MicrobioJ www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour... 1/n

New paper out! 🔈🔈📣📣 Plasmids promote antimicrobial resistance through Insertion Sequence-mediated gene inactivation. Combining experimental and computational approaches, we unveil how two of the most prevalent bacterial MGE accelerate the evolution of AMR. 🧵👇🏻 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Feels surreal to say but: I'm hiring! If you are or know anyone interested in looking at the evolution of phage resistance using A. baumannii and natural transformation, then this might be for you www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...

📝New preprint! We investigated how spatial structure affects cooperation between phages, combining mathematical modelling and experiments. A short thread 🧶

Want to name a real virus? I have recently discovered 9 new phages which now need names! To enter, you simply need to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust on my JustGiving page (£2 = 1 entry) and share your email with me on donation (see link info). Please share 💚 www.justgiving.com/page/meaghan-c-1

The Kristineberg Underwater Observatory is now live!! 🐟🧪🦑 Similar to the @coralcitycamera.bsky.social. Watch the eel grass meadow full of life live from your desk! Gobies, crabs, pipefish, several species of wrasses including some massive Ballan wrasse. Enjoy! www.youtube.com/live/goB60IJ...

Do you love phage? I have an opening for a postdoc in my lab at the University of South Florida College of Marine Science (@cmarinescience.bsky.social) looking at interactions between marine phage and iron, which is an important limiting trace metal in the oceans (1/5) 🧵#phagesky 🦠🌊

My group at is hiring a PhD student to explore how fungal pathogens that live in the environment will adapt their genomes, acquire new phenotypes, and perhaps even increased infectivity as a result of climate change. Please share! More info and applications at @ jobs.uni-jena.de/vrbup

A 2-year postdoc position in my lab, under the supervision of P-Alex Kaminski, on Z-DNA phages and the benefit given by ZTGC DNA and the replication machinery, with attempt to create a Z based minireplicon research.pasteur.fr/en/job/a-two...

⏰ Abstract deadline for 'The mobile genome' is 29 July! 👉 https://s.embl.org/mge25-01-bl Join us 4–7 Nov 2025 at EMBL Heidelberg (or online) to explore the impact of TEs across biology. 🧬🔍 ⭐🧑🏼‍🔬 24 talks + 15 flash talks from posters – don't miss out! #EMBOMobileGenome

Thrilled to see our Kiwa story out today! A membrane-associated supercomplex that senses infection and blocks replication and transcription. www.cell.com/cell/fulltex... Huge congratulations to Yi and Zhiying for bringing it home, to Thomas for starting us off, and to all the collaborators.

Excited 🥳 to share our latest work on gut phages! Big thanks to @epcrocha.bsky.social, Erick D, Camille d'H, @fplazaonate.bsky.social, Quentin LB, and all others involved for support and contributions! 🙌 Out in Cell Reports @cp-cellreports.bsky.social doi.org/10.1016/j.ce... Here's what we found 🤓

The @plosbiology.org team is growing! If you have a background in plant mol cell bio, a keen interest in sustainability and planetary health & are looking to move away from the bench, this may be for you! Please spread the word 1yr FTC, remote in the UK job-boards.eu.greenhouse.io/plos/jobs/46...

How do multiple coexisting bacteria and phages (co)evolve? Well... they don't (or do so much less! In this paper we tracked bacteria-phage (co)evolution in monoculture (individual bacteria-phage pairs) or in polyculture (all three pairs) over 6 weeks. Read more here👇 doi.org/10.1099/mic....

Exciting opportunities are now available! GIMM offers a distinctive PhD Program designed to attract & cultivate highly skilled researchers in biology & biomedicine. Deadline: July 9 👉 Apply now! gimm.pt/education-and-training/phd-program/