I have been reading through papers on evolution and microbes from the 1940s to 1960s. I have found some amazing work, but I am sure that there is much more that I haven’t found. Can you send me links to classic evolution+microbiology papers from pre Levin era?
And the preprint is out! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We compared plasmid conjugation in liquid and on solid across 13 AMR plasmids with different types of conjugative pili.
How does treatment induced antibiotic resistance happen in real-world infections? We analysed 25k Pseudomonas isolates from 180 patients in a clinical trial to find out! TLDR: The ecological and evolutionary paths are surprisingly diverse & complex even in patients receiving identical treatment…
Happy 38th birthday to the #LTEE!
#BOTD in 1988.
Keep on evolving!
#science #evolution #microbiology
The good: Mutants lacking oxidative damage repair, double-strand break repair, or transcription-coupled were strongly suppressed.
The bad: MMR hypermutators were able to rapidly adapt to antibiotic-genotoxin combinations
The ugly: for you to decide.
www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_good_t...
Genotoxins are often used in chemotherapy to create genomic instability in tumour populations. Guided by this idea, we tested the ability of genotoxin-antibiotic combinations to suppress E.coli populations in high throughput experimental evolution models
New #AMR pre-print
Combining antibiotics with genotoxins can efficiently suppress bacterial in high throughput experimental models.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Fun collaboration with Nassos Typas lab led by @mulkern.bsky.social
🧵 New preprint! Our 4-lab team evolved Streptococcus pneumoniae in antibiotic-treated mice of varying immune states and discovered something surprising: bacteria rarely evolved resistance. Instead, they found a different way to survive — by rewiring RNA turnover.
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
New preprint!
Ever wondered why only a fraction of genomes encode CRISPR immunity? 🧬 🦠
Turns out CRISPR is rarely beneficial against virulent phages, being most beneficial against those for which resistance mutations are rare!
An epic effort by Rosanna Wright
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Finally... expect more to come from my lab later in the year on the benefits of conjugative systems!
This work was only possible thanks to Will's amazing statistical skills and the rich NORMS datasets that have been generated by Jukka Corander and co at the Norwegian BSI consortium!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
This paper challenges established ideas about the role of conjugation in plasmid population biology, and it shows that interesting insights can be gained from thinking about plasmids as a community instead of focusing on pairwise bacteria-plasmids associations.
In this network structure, mobilizable plasmids can exploit multiple conjugative partners, allowing them to transfer to a wide range of bacterial hosts.
Why are mobilizable plasmids widely disseminated? Plasmids form association networks consisting of an inner-core of tightly connected mobilizable plasmids that are connected to an outer cloud of conjugative plasmids.
New pre-print with @wtmatlock.bsky.social!!!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
What shapes the distribution of plasmids across bacteria? Our paper shows that conjugative plasmids actually have a very narrow distribution compared to mobilizable plasmids. Conjugative systems restrict plasmid transfer!
🚨 New preprint 🚨
How promiscuous really are conjugative plasmids, and what does that mean for plasmid co-occurrence?
A pleasure to collaborate with @craigmaclean.bsky.social on the first paper of my fellowship!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
It feels like this is a story we have all heard before
A four-year postdoc focusing on "plant growth-promoting bacteriophages" available in my group. Skills in metaviromics and metagenomics essential. Application deadline: 2.2.2026. For more info, see the link.
We've come full circle! I began my postdoctoral career by identifying the peptidyl deformylase gene. Today, we show that half of bacterial species harbor multiple PDF genes (up to 7, for always a single Met-tRNA transformylase), and while the role of these PDFs ... academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...
The NSERC model is outdated, underfunded, and completely unfair. I would replace it with a more competitive model that rewards outstanding researchers and strongly incentivises PIs and institutions to do research that creates societal benefits and drives economic growth.
Finally, I hope that this investment is the start of a major overhaul of science in Canada, and just a time-limited shot in the arm. Canada needs to invest more in its domestic researchers and research programs.
. The only thing that I question is whether more money should be invested in ECRs as opposed to chairs. Innovation is about playing the long game, and my view is that ECRs offer better long-term value for money.
Good news for Canada and Canadian science. It is the right time to aggressively target top international and expatriate scientific talent. Although I am a blue skies scientist, I think that it is right to focus on research with societal and economic impact ... www.canada.ca/en/innovatio...
Just wrote my last grant review of 2025. UKRI: if you ask me to review another grant next week I will give it a 0 out of principle!
Back in Oxford, but still buzzing with excitement from #MicroEvo25 ! Great science, friendly and relaxed atmosphere, and a brilliant opportunity to catch up with friends and colleagues.
Liverpool is a good place for scientific meetings.
Thanks Alan!
Next up: Chance and Necessity by Jacques Monod.
What would Jacob make of the reductionist approaches that have come to dominate microbiology?
Just finished reading this amazing history of biology by #massivelegendofscience Francois Jacob. Some of the evolutionary biology and microbiology is outdated, but the perspective is compelling and the breadth of scientific scholarship is amazing.
