Two people discussing scientific posters at the Microbiology Society Early Career Summer Conference 2025.

Registration is open for our Early Career Summer Conference 🤝👩‍🔬

Join us on 6–7 July 2026 at the University of Birmingham for chance to network with peers and experienced colleagues in various fields of Microbiology, secure your place today: https://microb.io/ECConf26

#ECConf26

My super department @warwicklifesci.bsky.social is hiring 6 assistant profs in the wake of recent retirements. We're looking for people in microbiology/infection, cellular disease / immunity; environmental biology; and plant/crop science. #MicroSky warwick-careers.tal.net/vx/lang-en-G...

3rd Microbial Evolution Network Ireland meeting 2026 Microbial Evolution Network Ireland meeting, at Trinity College Dublin

Just over two weeks left to register for MENI 2026! A !!free!! microbial evolution meeting in Ireland with some fantastic keynote speakers @jpjhall.bsky.social @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social @drrebeccajhall.bsky.social @tweethinking.bsky.social #Evolution #microbes

www.eventbrite.com/e/3rd-microb...

This is awesome Justine, congratulations!! So well deserved 🥳

A screenshot from the conference app sharing the title, abstract and location for my talk at 10:45-11:00 in Hall 2A

Really looking forward to today’s pangenomics session at #MicroBio26 !
I’ll be speaking at 10:45 to discuss how a successful pathogen can alter the evolution of an entire species pangenome 🦠

First slide of Francis Gyapong's (3rd year PhD student) talk on culturing the stickleback microbiome.

First slide of Mel Lawson's (PDRA) talk on using a Drosophila model of pathogen-microbe interactions.

First slide of Michelle Hardman's (PDRA) talk on microbe-microbe interactions.

The Whelan lab is well represented at #microbio26 today!

@fgyapong.bsky.social culturing the 🐟 microbiome (10:45 Microbiome f.& B182)

@melissalawson.bsky.social a 🪰 model pathogen-microbe int. (14:30 Infection f.)

@michelle-micro.bsky.social on microbe-microbe int. (15:00 Und. Microbe Function f)

Very sad to be missing #microbio26 this year! Enjoying following along on here at least, and looking forward to being back next year..

ggCallaroo v0.1.0 is now out! This snakemake pipeline predicts, clusters and annotates bacterial genes using ggCaller, Panaroo and Bakta. It generates Panaroo files with functional annotations already integrated, which can then be used with the usual downstream tools. github.com/samhorsfield...

Experimental Sodalis infection eliminates ancient insect symbiont - Nature Communications Many insects harbour bacterial endosymbionts that provide them with essential nutrients. Here, Krüsemer et al. show that introduction of a tractable bacterium into a beetle host leads to efficient ver...

#microsky #symbiosky @gavinhthomas.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

One day left to apply! #microsky

🔊 Looking for a Research Assistant in Bacterial Evolution to join my lab 🦠
🥼Main duties: Research (AMR + microbiome) + lab assistance.
⏲️ Post duration: 30 months
🗓️ Closing date for applications: 20th April 2026
💰 Salary: ~£35k

Details and how to apply: tinyurl.com/2a3v66y7

Please share!

📣 Still time to apply to this bioinformatics postdoc position with us! If you have any questions, please DM me here or send me an email. Deadline 3 April.

#symbiosky

Looks interesting!

Preprint of my 2nd dissertation chapter is now on bioRxiv! Diatom Endosymbionts have Shrinking but Stable Genomes Despite Low Coding Density --> doi.org/10.64898/202...

Identification of transporter-dependent capsular loci associated with the invasive potential of Escherichia coli Nature Microbiology, Published online: 25 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02283-wThe development of an in silico typing database for Escherichia coli ABC transporter-dependent capsules enables analysis of capsule epidemiology and evolution for blood stream infection-associated E. coli.

Out Now! Identification of transporter-dependent capsular loci associated with the invasive potential of Escherichia coli #MicroSky

New research article

Lineage dynamics of invasive Escherichia coli isolates in the Netherlands from 1975 to 2021: a retrospective longitudinal genomic analysis

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

#IDSky #ClinMicro #AMR #OpenAccess #OA

Improving the solvent tolerance of E. coli by understanding the rules of accumulation at University of Birmingham on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - Improving the solvent tolerance of E. coli by understanding the rules of accumulation at University of Birmingham, listed on FindAPhD.com

PhD available with @overtonlab.bsky.social Sara Jabbari and me associated with our BBSRC sLoLa project!
www.findaphd.com/phds/project... (UK students only)

Lineage dynamics of invasive Escherichia coli isolates in the Netherlands from 1975 to 2021: a retrospective longitudinal genomic analysis Escherichia coli is a common cause of invasive infections such as bloodstream and cerebrospinal fluid infections in neonates. Strains positive for the…

Am stoked and thrilled that our latest paper is now out. A longitudinal study of invasive E. coli from children in the Netherlands over 50 years

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Catabolism of serine enantiomers represses enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli virulence factors via modulation of the nitrogen stress response | PNAS Attaching and effacing pathogens, including enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC), colonize their preferred intestinal niche by sensing diverse...

Delighted to share our latest research on EHEC type 3 secretion regulation through amino acid deamination. Big collaborative effort over several years. Thanks to all our co-authors and funders. 📄 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

📣 The Whelan lab is hiring a bioinformatics postdoc 📣

Together with @fabricejpierre.bsky.social, we are offering a 1-year bioinformatic PDRA position in comparative genomics of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. To find out more please visit whelanlab.co.uk/contact/. Applications close 3 April 2026!

What is a Superbug? The global threat of antibiotic resistance YouTube video by Yorkshire Philosophical Society

Check out the first of our public lectures on AMR run by the YPS - kicked off by the fantastic Prof. Jess Blair from Birmingham. What is a superbug? @jessicamablair.bsky.social @ypsyork.bsky.social @ybri-uoy.bsky.social - two more in the series coming soon!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFYs...

Application deadline this Monday!

On the to read list…

Excited to announce I’m starting a new lab at @gmivienna.bsky.social (Vienna BioCentre) in Sept 2026

We study how carbon fixation is inherited and maintained in algae using cryo-ET, imaging, environmental sampling&more

Looking for people who want to build the lab together, get in touch!

#teamtomo

A four-panel figure showing scanning electron micrographs of Pseudomonas biofilm on the surface of pig lung tissue. Aggregates of bacteria sit on top of a network of collagen fibrils, with some bacterial cells penetrating the collagen mesh.

Paper out! We used RNAseq to track changes in P. aeruginosa gene expression over 7 days of #biofilm infection in our #CysticFibrosis lung model. www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour... #MicroSky (1/n)

Tryptophanase disruption promotes insect–bacterium mutualism - Nature Microbiology Disruption of a single gene encoding tryptophanase makes Escherichia coli mutualistic in a stinkbug model owing to the accumulation of tryptophan and a reduction in toxic indole. This gene is typicall...

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#microsky #symbiosky

#microsky #synbiosky

Transporters matter!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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 🪲🦠🔬

A country park path with trees either side

Nothing beats a walk for organising thoughts.