Introducing a new gut microbiology journal, aptly titled Gut Microbiology. All Article Publishing Charges (APCs) are waived for 2 years! Please send your exciting research our way. www.sciencedirect.com/journal/gut-...

New preprint from the lab, in collaboration with Wenhan Zhu (U Vanderbilt): using dual RNA-seq during B. theta colonization of the host mucous layer, we identify IroR--an iron-response sRNA that tunes capsule expression and facilitates adaptation to iron limitation. doi.org/10.1101/2025.09.08.672848

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...

Our second paper with @tcostalab.bsky.social and GoogleDeepMind reports our experience with Google’s co-scientist: remarkably, the AI independently recapitulated our experimental discovery on cf-PICIs, showcasing AI’s potential to accelerate biology. www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

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!

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...

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #microsky #synbio #ecoli

Applications for Outreach and Engagement grant are now open. Eligible members can apply for up to £1000 to support science outreach or public engagement initiatives. Check your eligibility and apply before 01 Oct 25 at 23.59 BST. microb.io/OutreachandE....

Excited to share a new preclinical model, human bladder organoids, to study UTI, novel therapies, and beyond! Developed with Dr. Sarah Blutt, the BCM Organoid Core, and @tailor-labs.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Absolutely delighted to share the labs latest work. We identify and characterise two pathways for D-ribulose utilisation in pathogenic EHEC and Citrobacter.

In case you missed it, check out our latest paper describing how vancomycin-resistant enterococci exploit antibiotic-mediated killing of gut commensals to grow in nutrient-enriched and metabolite-depleted intestines: doi.org/10.1038/s414... #AMR #GutMicrobiome

Meet the new Editor in Chief of mSystems journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Jo Hobbs @hobbslabmicro.bsky.social has a 12 month Postdoc available on mechanisms of antibiotic tolerance. More details here: www.vacancies.st-andrews.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...

Words cannot describe how excited I am to share the findings from the second half of my postdoc in @aaronwhiteley.bsky.social's lab where we discover that bacteria use functional amyloids to defend themselves from predatory bacteria. rdcu.be/euu5Y. See thread for details on this epic adventure 1/.

🔬Calling all microbiologists. 🔬 Ever feel like your paper is too small for some journals, but too solid to sit on? #FEMSMicrobes welcomes well-executed microbiology manuscripts, and they put special attention on promoting ECR authors, eg the webinar below. 👇 @femsjournals.bsky.social @femsmicro.org

I am delighted that our manuscript 'Staphylococcus haemolyticus is a reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes in the preterm infant gut' is now published. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... Big thank you to all co-authors, particularly @lisalamberte.bsky.social and @halllab.bsky.social

Amazing to see this now published! Congrats to @lisalamberte.bsky.social and @wvschaik.bsky.social - on leading this important #microbiome study on #AMR and Staphylococcus haemolyticus in the preterm gut 👇

Our latest: www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(25)00615-1. Links Bacteroides cell size w/ gene expression. Protocol works even for single cells. 🦠 Shoutout to @elisebor.bsky.social, @emmanuel-saliba.bsky.social, @lbarquist.bsky.social, @jorg-vogel-lab.bsky.social, Till Strowig & KC Huang.

Some positive news in troubled times: New preprint by Vincent de Bakker, Xue Liu @jonbakerlab.bsky.social Infection-mimicking conditions+transcriptomics/proteomics/'essentialomics'/lipidomics shows many cool things! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Absolutely delighted to share that I've been awarded the BBSRC Fellowship to continue my working on antivirulence drugs at the University of Glasgow. A massive thank you to all of my mentors and collaborators. I can't wait to see what the future holds for the project 🔬

🔈🎉 I will soon be advertising a postdoc in my friendly London lab, funded by MRC @ukri.org, to decipher uropathogen virulence and host response pathways in our 3D-UHU human urothelial model! A great collaboration with co-Is @gpollara.bsky.social and @scottishwormboy.bsky.social #UTISky #UTI

New paper from the group - here we show that aurodox prevents shiga toxin mediated damage in a murine model. Interesting changes to the microbiota too. Amazing work by @rebeccamchugh.bsky.social and the group. Paper here- rdcu.be/efW0K

🔬🦠 How to make sense of the taxonomic complexity & interpersonal variability of the gut microbiota? We propose that beneath this complexity lies a hierarchy of factors that control gut microbiota assembly. Read more! #Microbiome #GutHealth authors.elsevier.com/a/1km32_,2Ci...

One week left to apply for this BBSRC funded PhD position in the Duncan lab, cosupervised by @thecopperdoctor.bsky.social and @ruamicro.bsky.social www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Antibiotics from the abyss; assessing the impact of deep-sea mining on biodiscovery. Supervised by @kateduncan.bsky.social, @thecopperdoctor.bsky.social and @ruamicro.bsky.social. www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Microbial metal-head: the integrated roles of metal homeostasis in host-pathogen interaction. Supervised by @ruamicro.bsky.social, @thecopperdoctor.bsky.social and Manuel Banzhaf. www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Still time to apply for this PhD position with our team!

Fully funded PhD position available to join our team! We will focus on untangling the molecular mechanisms used by pathogenic, antibiotic resistant E.coli to colonise the host gut. Highly interdisciplinary project in collaboration with @thecopperdoctor.bsky.social and Manu Banzhaf. Please share

We have extended the deadline for this! If you are passionate about phage-bacteria interactions, check this out and join us!

Brilliant opportunity to work with Alex and my team on our collaborative project. Don’t hesitate to apply!

Fab new study from @ruamicro.bsky.social and team!

Starting my Bluesky adventure by highlighting a new paper from the lab!

Control of a gene transfer agent cluster in Caulobacter crescentus by transcriptional activation and anti-termination #microsky 🦠 #bmsv from @tunglejic.bsky.social lab www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🚨We are hiring! A MRC-funded PDRA position to study novel anti-phage systems & their evolutionary dynamics in P. aeruginosa, in collaboration with @friendlymicrobe. If you are passionate about phage-bacteria interactions & evolution, apply now ! tinyurl.com/bddz4z44

Microbiome science needs more microbiologists- A new commentary authored by myself and @abaumler.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

First post of the year to mark my return from maternity leave :) Excited to share the first open PhD position in my group. Deadline end of February. Please spread the word. www.findaphd.com/phds/projectdetails.aspx?PJID=181239

If you're interested in chromosome biology (DNA folding, gene regulation, replication, polymer modelling and more) we're organising the below this autumn. It'd be great to see you there. Please share if you can. :-)

Great opportunity to work with Kate here at Newcastle, apply now!!!

Latest from the Westermann lab investigating the RNA biology of the human gut commensal B. thetaiotaomicron -- the RNA-binding protein RbpB regulates polysaccharide utilization through interactions with 14 (?!) paralogous sRNAs 🧪🦠 #RNASky

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.

Honouring Susan Gottesman’s major contributions in the field of microbiology, biochemistry & molecular biology, DSMZ researchers named the strain Streptomyces gottesmaniae (DSM 3412) after her. #herstory #HonoringWomenInSTEM #WomenInScience #antibiotics #mRNA #streptomycete #microbiology

Funded PhD available in my lab. Pls repost! www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Delighted that our ERC Synergy grant CombaT7 has been funded! Third time we’ve interviewed so the persistence paid off

2 exciting PhD opportunities: - with @fionawhelan.bsky.social understanding evolution of transmissibility in Pseudomonas www.findaphd.com/phds/project... - with @claudiaigler.bsky.social Patrick Cai on AI-powered phage genome design www.findaphd.com/phds/project... Please spread the word!

PhD projects available in our lab all listed in the below link. All focus on bacterial gene regulation, in the context of basic understanding, disease, or antibiotic resistance. Deadlines in January... www.findaphd.com/phds/?Keywor...

We recently built an interactive 3D exploration tool for bacterial #SingleCell RNA-seq, led by a master's student in design hosted by my group. Short video trailer below highlighting some of the features, or check out the paper for more details! 🧪🦠🧫🧬🖥️ academic.oup.com/nargab/artic...

in lively festivals each spring throughout Catalonia (Spain), microbiology professors and their postdocs thrill crowds by reenacting the assembly of a type 3 secretion system (T3SS)

Exciting times! Our latest preprint is now live 🤩! After nearly 16 yrs of running my lab, I truly believe this is one of the most significant contributions we've made. It offers fresh hypotheses about how pandemic Vibrio cholerae spreads globally. Let’s dive in!🧵..1/n www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Conversation with the brilliant contemporary microbiologist and molecular biologist—HHMI and MacArthur Fellow Bonnie Bassler of Princeton University Pioneer in the chemical signaling mechanisms that bacteria use to communicate with each other known as “quorum sensing” www.hhmi.org/news/tapping...

Great new article from the Bäumler lab Salmonella virulence factors induce amino acid malabsorption in the ileum to promote ecosystem invasion of the large intestine | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...