The first paper from PhD student Niladri Bhowmik is out today as a PLOS Pathogens Pearl: Achromobacter spp.: Emerging pathogens in the cystic fibrosis lung. Congrats Niladri! journals.plos.org/plospathogen...

Recorded #MattersMicrobial Episode 88 with Dr. Reed Stubbendieck from Oklahoma State today. Great conversation about how microbes converse with one another during sickness and health. Fascinating! @bactereedia.bsky.social

We have been dealing with high background using erythromycin selection for multiple E. coli strains in my lab. We've tried multiple vendors and lots, but the problem persists. Has anyone else had this problem before? Any ideas?

#NewPI life

In biology, I keep thinking of the bacterial strains, yeast strains, plasmids, mouse lines, worm mutants etc etc etc that will be lost to science FOREVER because the freezers and animal facilities won't be maintained Generations of work will be lost in essentially an instant

My lab’s first preprint! We used functional metagenomics to identify phage defenses in human and soil microbiomes. We scaled these selections while maintaining accuracy, enabling us to examine 9 habitats for defense elements against 7 phages. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 1/10

"downsizes" is a weak way of saying "forced to cancel dozens of programs, which jeopardizes future STEM careers of talented undergrads" @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

Some of my first year grad students in my class are asking for books to read that will get them thinking about what questions to ask and how to know what they should ask. I have a couple of recs but wondering if anyone can help. What inspired you??

GATOR-GC preprint is live! If you haven't already, check out our new tool for targeted gene cluster mining. @jcedielbecerra.bsky.social doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Our minireview on BGC evolution being shaped by genomic & ecological context is now live on mSystems: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... #secmet #MEvoSky

We are crowd sourcing reductions in graduate admissions and hiring freezes across biomedical research and higher ed in response to pauses in NIH funding and EO’s. If you have information if you could add to this spreadsheet, it would be greatly appreciated!: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Just sitting here, trying to write a grant, crying for so many thousands who dedicated their lives to making the world better and safer, just thrown out like trash today.

"Make America Great Again. Make America Healthy Again. These were promises made by candidate Trump in his campaign to be president of the United States of America. What in this campaign platform should have prepared us for a war on discovery?"

Somewhere in the U.S., there’s a scientist staring at their NSF/NIH grant application wondering why they bother. This post is for you. Science and society both need you. Hang in there and know there is a whole community supporting you.

All NIH study sections canceled indefinitely. This will halt science and devastate research budgets in universities.

~5y ago, Barbara, Serina, @marnixmedema.bsky.social & I teamed up to make a better NRPS A-domain specificity predictor. The Challis group & others joined along the way to add some very cool insights. Very proud of this work. Check it out now on biorxiv! doi.org/10.1101/2025...

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #secmet 🧪🖥️🧬

My current state is exemplifed by the duck of ennui.

Just in time for the holidays Convergent Evolution of the Antimycobacterial Lasso Peptide Triculamin www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... @amerrild.bsky.social @tizianasvenningsen.bsky.social @thomastorring.bsky.social

Interesting tool alert. The thing that makes this look promising is a way to "plasmidify" biosynthetic gene clusters in their native producers. Could simplify refactoring and expression in chassis strains. #secmet www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Are you working on natural products? We’ve just released version 4.0 of the MIBiG data standard and repository! It now includes 3059 biosynthetic gene clusters, thanks to the combined efforts of 288 expert contributors. A thread: (1/8) academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...

Completed my reappointment talk yesterday! It was nice to reflect on two years of progress in the laboratory. I am so fortunate to get to work with this excellent team of scientists!

Just submitted the first manuscript from our lab! Wish us luck!

Does anyone know of any opportunities for funding #natprod postdocs that non-US citizens are eligible for?

This is my revolutionary new idea to obtain funding for the laboratory.

Is anyone else having problems logging into NCBI right now? Trying to update a bibliography for a submission.

Looks like there was another Twitter exodus, and I'm seeing new followers. If you're interested, I have a Starter Pack of Bluesky secondary metabolism and chemistry-related folks. Let me know if you belong in there! Please share widely! go.bsky.app/Q9svkYf

Working on an analysis using published data in the SRA, but missing metadata is an issue. About half of the authors I've contacted shared it upon request, the rest haven’t responded despite follow-ups. Debating whether to keep asking, contact journals, or move on. Any advice?

[email protected] opening #LatAmGenomeMining24 at the CITMAT!

En route to Guanajuato for the Latin American Natural Product Genome Mining Workshop. See you soon @wildtypemc.bsky.social @lore-fermar.bsky.social @paulhoskisson.bsky.social et al. You better have the S. venezuelae cultures ready!

When life gives you an orange bacterial strain...

Está abierta la convocatoria para que investigadores jóvenes nos acompañen en la 2nd Minería genómica de productos naturales de Latinoamérica - Applications are now open for #ECRs to join us at the 2nd Genome mining of natural products, Latin America 2024 -please use QR code #Microsky

Please share: The Stubbendieck Lab is hiring a postdoc to study microbial competition & secondary metabolism in human microbiomes. Experience in natural product chemistry or BGCs preferred. For more info and to apply: apply.interfolio.com/141377

Our Pearl "Dolosigranulum pigrum: A promising nasal probiotic candidate" with @hjillianh.bsky.social and Matthew Kelly is out in PLOS Pathogens! Take a look if you're interested in this beneficial microbe! dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

Incredibly excited to be a founding research project leader for the Oklahoma Center for Microbiome Research! news.okstate.edu/articles/com...

Another exciting antimicrobial peptide found in the nose! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Celebrating the End of the Semester and our new lab members Mercedes and Niladri! www.stubbendiecklab.com/post/20231215/

We are excited to announce the Stubbendieck lab's manager Mercedes Perez! Mercedes comes to us from Kyler Miller's lab at The University of Texas-Austin. Mercedes will work on various projects and help us to keep the lab running smoothly! www.stubbendiecklab.com/authors/merc...

We are excited to announce the Stubbendieck lab's first Ph.D. student Niladri Bhowmik! Niladri comes to us from Dmitri Mavrodi's lab at The University of Southern Mississippi. Niladri is going to work on microbial interactions within the CF lung microbiome! www.stubbendiecklab.com/authors/nila...

I'm looking for a textbook for an upper level undergrad/grad Microbial Diversity, Ecology, and Evolution course that I'm putting together. Does anyone have any favorites or suggestions from your courses?