We are proud to share that Ruth Ley @microbiome.bsky.social , Director of the Department of Microbiome Science, has been elected Fellow of The Royal Society @royalsociety.org . Congratulations!!!

Another fantastic science night at @pintofscience.uk, with speakers from @uniofeastanglia.bsky.social and @johninnescentre.bsky.social 🧪🌱 Grab some tickets for the last night (tonight) before they're gone! pintofscience.co.uk/event/you-ar... #pint26

Welcome @tinaschreier.bsky.social 🎉🎊 Excited to have you in Norwich & @johninnescentre.bsky.social soon!!

An exciting opportunity to join Dr Schreier's new group as a postdoctoral researcher is open for applications until 15 June 2026: www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/po...

NEWS - New group leader to shed light on supercharged photosynthesis We are pleased to announce that Dr Tina Schreier will join the John Innes Centre as a tenure-track Group Leader in July 2026: www.jic.ac.uk/news/new-gro...

GetGenome wiki A living, open science database of bacterial, fungal and plant genomes sequenced through the GetGenome programme for global genomic equity. getgenome-wiki.net/campaigns/

📣 New preprint on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social: Bacteria rewire fungal antimicrobial gene expression in microbial arms races www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/... This work, led by outstanding @jinyi-zhu.bsky.social, shows that bacteria suppress fungal antimicrobial protein expression to evade antagonism

Fungi deploy antimicrobial proteins (AMPs) to compete with microbes, including bacteria. But can bacteria fight back? We @teamthomma.bsky.social found that some AMP-sensitive bacteria can repress AMP deployment, suggesting an unrecognized bacterial–fungal arms race. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Spotted in Nairobi: Paederus beetle! This tiny insect harbors symbiotic bacteria that produce pederin, a potent toxin used for defense. 🤩 #Symbiosis #beetles 🇰🇪

Join the EMBO Global Lecture "Genome dynamics across environmental and cellular reprogramming" by Gianni Liti at the National Health Research Institutes in Miaoli #Taiwan on 28 April. 🧪

🎉New paper out from the lab, led by @baptistepiqueret.bsky.social: ant larvae chemically suppress the reproduction of their caregivers. bit.ly/4t8uZLG An example of how social interactions are regulated at the molecular level. The work was made possible by the unique environment @mpi-ce.bsky.social

We’re in for a treat today. Our seminar speaker is Christine Strullu-Derrien: “Early terrestrial microorganisms revealed through advanced imaging techniques.” Exploring the insane hundreds-of-millions-of-years timescales that we rarely think about.

New preprint out! 🚀 biorxiv.org/content/10.6... We mapped how septins organise infection in the rice blast fungus—and found they are far more dynamic than previously thought. Thread 👇 #FungalPathogenesis #CellBiology #septins

I will probably be hiring either a PhD or a Postdoc in the near future. If you are interested in deep biochemical history or molecular mechanisms of evolution please get in touch.

What an amazing #Fungal26✨ Feeling very inspired– thank you to everyone who shared science and ideas! Thank you to the organisers for my poster award, @gensocuk.bsky.social for sponsoring my attendance and huge thank you @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social for these past years! I will miss the Talbot Lab.

Ants are experts at telling nestmates from foreigners via subtle differences in odor profiles. In this new paper, we explore the conditions under which ants develop and maintain tolerance to foreigners. Turns out the ant recognition system is surprisingly plastic. www.cell.com/current-biol...

My first podcast 😅 on how decoding the smell of organisms could help us to find solutions to protect crops in agriculture, and improve plant, animal, and human health by detecting diseases before symptoms appear! @Cornell @CornellEnto @CornellAgriTech youtu.be/szTAWwYC5bc

Here is the Cornell Chronicle article about our PNAS paper on the evolution of milkweed toxins (N,S-cardenolides), to which the monarch butterfly is sensitive, despite being co-evolved with milkweeds! @cornellentomology.bsky.social news.cornell.edu/stories/2026...

Exciting news! New findings from TSL and international collaborators reveal that the wheat receptor WAI3 forms an octameric resistosome, offering fresh insights into plant immune system structures and functions 🌱 @jonathandgjones.bsky.social @kamounlab.bsky.social www.tsl.ac.uk/news/breakth...

That’s a wrap on our Mechanics of Symbiosis meeting in Heidelberg 🎉 Had an amazing time organizing this with @berasymbionts.bsky.social, @floravincent.bsky.social & Tom Richards. Safe trip home everyone! #EESSymbiosis @events.embl.org

We found that Rickia wasmannii, known from Myrmica workers, also infects queens, males, and larvae, with spillover to nest associates (incl. Lomechusa). doi.org/10.1007/s000... Complex dynamics in the ant microcosm --> more ant–fungus work coming @insectessociaux.bsky.social @dhaelewa.bsky.social

GetGenome is present at the Asilomar Fungal Genetics Conference #fungal26 Come and visit and spread the word about #ggfungi2026

#EESSymbiosis comes to a close! 🎉 We’re ending on a high, celebrating the incredible work of our poster prize winners: 🏅 Jerónimo Cifuentes-Anticevic 🏅 Rudvi Pednekar 🏅 Ronja Krüsemer 🏅 Kaitlyn Ho 🏅 Dongik Chang Thanks to everyone who made this event so special!

And that's a wrap for #EESSymbiosis. Huge thanks to the organizers: @berasymbionts.bsky.social, @hassansalem.bsky.social, @floravincent.bsky.social, and Tom Richards! I love going to symbiosis conferences, looking forward to reconnect with symbiosis folks at future occasions! @events.embl.org

Looking forward to welcoming @camilla-moli.bsky.social to the lab!! Here’s to the wonderful science ahead @thesainsburylab.bsky.social ! 🍄🦠🔬🪲

WEES March Seminar & Master Class: "Molecular evolution in a defensive symbiosis", Dr. Aileen Berasategui 📍 Master Class Time: 12 March, 14:00 Contact: [email protected] (for details) 📍 Seminar Time: 12 March, 16:00 Location: Orion C1040, WUR

VACANCY - We’re searching for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the newly appointed group of Dr @hassansalem.bsky.social, to explore the developmental biology of host-microbe symbiosis www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/po... Deadline - 25 March 2026 Salary - £37,500 - £45,350 Contract - 3 years, full-time

Excited to collaborate with @hassansalem.bsky.social and @tatsuyanobori.bsky.social on this new Postdoc opportunity! If you're interested in the developmental biology of symbiosis, apply and join us @johninnescentre.bsky.social and @thesainsburylab.bsky.social 🪲🦠🔬

How to study adaptation in organisms that we can’t see, living in environments that we can’t visit? Some thoughts in our perspective piece out today in @pnas.org www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... @biology.ox.ac.uk @stuwest.bsky.social

📣 Our latest story just dropped on bioRxiv:: A structurally unique effector shared between Verticillium dahliae and Fusarium oxysporum is involved in cotton defoliation and virulence on other hosts www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 🧵

Thrilled to share our work in @natcomms.nature.com! Thankful for a great collaboration ☺️ Grateful for the support of the @humboldt-foundation.de and the @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social More details below.

Research into filamentous actinomycetes, the antibiotic producers, is in steep decline. Loads of natural products chemistry research worldwide but not much aimed at understanding their biology and ecology. The latter is key to unlocking their specialised metabolism link.springer.com/article/10.1...

#SneakPeek 👀 Step inside the #Microbe Zoo at Norwich Science Festival 🌟🧪 🗓️ 14 - 21 February 📍 @theforumnorwich.bsky.social Get ready to shrink down to learn some BIG, fascinating facts about microbes 🦠 @norwichmicro.bsky.social @sawtrust.bsky.social

How specific are heritable symbioses? And what can we learn from swapping obligate symbionts across host species? We address this in our latest, led by @inespons.bsky.social & in our collaboration w/ @microbiome.bsky.social 🦠🪲 Out today in @natcomms.nature.com! 1/n www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Please share! PhD position at the University of Copenhagen. Start date: 1st of June!   The project integrates field work, RNAseq, MALDI-MSI & FISH to explore composition, regulation, and resilience of termite host-gut symbiont metabolism.   👉 employment.ku.dk/phd?show=156...   ⏳ Deadline 23/2/26

My lab at the JIC is recruiting 3 PDRA: 🔹 Bioinformatics / AI 🔹 Molecular Biology / Genetics 🔹 Proteomics Programme funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. 📅 Closing date: 27 February Apply via JIC website: www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/ Please share with outstanding candidates. 🙏

Had a blast nerding out about beetles (& The Beatles) on Switzerland’s daily news program/Tagesschau 🪲 Thankful for the chance to wax lyrical about our favorite bugs at the Aha Festival, and with the wonderful folks of Lucerne 🇨🇭

Please share! My group at @zmbp-tuebingen.bsky.social is offering a post-doctoral position (4 years). We look for a structural biologist with experience in Cryo-EM/Cryo-ET to investigate the mechanisms of host invasion by pathogenic fungi. Deadline February 28th! uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...

Please share! PhD position (4 years) available in my group @zmbp-tuebingen.bsky.social. We look for candidates with solid aptitude in computer science to cross disciplines and use cutting edge imaging to understand host infection by destructive plant pathogens. uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...

Can plant pathogens boost vector fitness? Together with @hassansalem.bsky.social, we review how phytopathogens can spread further by moonlighting as insect symbionts 🪲 More on this nifty lifestyle in @annualreviews.bsky.social! www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

First results chapter from Kelly-Rose Tulley’s PhD is published. It was a great team effort to get this finished. This work supports previous results on S. coelicolor OrrA and suggests its function is highly conserved. #microsky #streptomyces 1/2

Join us in Norwich this July for the TSL Summer Conference in Plant-Microbe Interactions! ☀️🌱🧬 Discuss the latest approaches & discoveries in plant health with international and local speakers. ⏰ APPLY by 30 March '26 New keynote speakers ⬇️

Genome editing in brown algae! 🧬🪸🌿 Now out in Cell Reports Methods! Excited to share this highly efficient, transgene-free CRISPR–Cas genome editing protocol for brown algae, requiring no cloning and no specialized equipment. doi.org/10.1016/j.cr... #CRISPR #BrownAlgae @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social

Farewell to Max Planck Research Group Leader Hassan Salem as he moves from Tübingen to the #JohnInnesCentre. Wishing him all the best on his exciting journey! This post is part of our new #FarewellSeries, celebrating researchers moving on to exciting new chapters! 🚀 #maxplanck tinyurl.com/2dr9k8k7

I’m excited to share a new paper by a super talented graduate-student-now-postdoc. Grateful to work with old and new collaborators! Characterizing a novel Symbiopectobacterium MEX strain at the early stages of establishing a symbiotic relationship url: academic.oup.com/gbe/article/...

A little late due to re-establishing a Bluesky presence… but! here is another recent pub from a terrific and talented grad student. A fun project from a beautiful place. Love (y)our National Parks! #nationaparks #symbiosis #insects academic.oup.com/jeb/article/...

Join us in Norwich this July for the TSL Summer Conference in Plant-Microbe Interactions! ☀️🌱🧬 Discuss the latest approaches & discoveries in plant health with international keynote and local speakers. APPLY by 30 March '26 ⬇️ Click link for more info www.tsl.ac.uk/tsl-summer-c...

How are host organs remodeled for symbiosis? And do some insects converge in how they sustain life within/on these structures? Loved unpacking these Qs w/ @francespi.bsky.social in light of the stunning Nishino & @fkttkm.bsky.social study! www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

New preprint. Work led by @ainsley-beaton.bsky.social & Rebecca Devine. They show the highly conserved Streptomyces MtrAB two component system activates ectoine production and triggers sporulation in response to osmotic stress in Streptomyces venezuelae www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Congrats @arthurmatte.bsky.social @economo.bsky.social ! arstechnica.com/science/2025...