It looks like there will be an open postdoc position in my lab soon. I'll be looking for someone with substantial wet-lab experience in microbiology / microbial ecology / evolution / physiology. If everything goes well, an ad will be coming. But if you know someone, ask them to reach out already.

The root of pan-adaptationism? There’s been a fair bit of recent discussion about why most biologists are (uncritically) adaptationists. I don’t dispute this but think it’s worth reconsidering why. Some have argued that this is bec...

We should all do our part to join Brian in ending genetics essentialism. I give a lecture at Pitt to the new PhD students entitled "There is no such thing as wild-type."

I blogged about this years ago and it's part of my teaching statement.

Long road, team effort✊🏻
micropopbio.org/blog/2018-07...

Nice to see this published at @PLoS Comp Bio. Big improvements after peer review and important input from @gsherloc.bsky.social! Hopefully, this tool will be helpful for those interested in using barcodes for detecting new beneficial mutations.

journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...

I am seeking a postdoc to join my group at UCLA -- ideally the candidate would have some experience in either population genetics or microbes/microbiome (computational background needed). We have a range of projects and are happy to tailer to your interests. Please dm/email me if interested.

Interested in eco-evolutionary feedbacks? Microbial experimental evolution? Pleiotropy? Filamentous phages??

Check out our latest preprint, now up on BioRxiv!

biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

For a quick summary, peep the thread below...🧵 (1/10)

Moving across countries as an Indian researcher hasn’t been easy, but it’s been deeply transformative. I wrote about my journey and why mobility is so important in science. Grateful to be part of this initiative by @cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social
read on and check out the full series as well!

Come to Taipei! Registration Free, Closes Jan 20th. Generous Travel Grants Available. EMBO Workshop integrating perspectives from molecular evolution, genomics, ecology, and systems biology to highlight how interactions across organisms drive adaptation and innovation. @ishengtsai.bsky.social

As we close the year, the ISME Early Career Scientist Committee is glad to spotlight @duhitasant.bsky.social , Postdoctoral Researcher at Rutgers University, and her paper “Eco-evolutionary robustness of wild bacterial communities to experimental perturbation”.

doi.org/10.1093/isme...

(1/2)

🚨Preprint alert - this is a big one! We transfer the revolutionary power of TnSeq to bacteriophages.

Our HIDEN-SEQ links the "dark matter" genes of your favorite phage to any selectable phenotype, guiding the path from fun observations to molecular mechanisms.

A thread 1/8

Strain displacement in microbiomes via ecological competition - Nature Microbiology Mathematical modelling and experimental tests reveal principles that govern displacement of a resident strain by an invader in microbial communities.

Can we leverage bacterial competition for targeted replacement of harmful strains? Maybe! Our recent piece in @natmicrobiol.nature.com provides a theoretical framework and a set of experiments to show what it might take: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The evolutionary costs and benefits of horizontal gene transfer in eukaryotes (TB01) at University of Oxford on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - The evolutionary costs and benefits of horizontal gene transfer in eukaryotes (TB01) at University of Oxford, listed on FindAPhD.com

I'm advertising a PhD project on the evolution of horizontal transfer. Interested in this or other topics in evolution and species diversity, please get in touch. www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Amazing 👏👏👏

The Royal Society's Francis Crick Medal and Lecture 2026 is awarded to Professor Kayla King for contributions to the fields of evolutionary biology and genetics of infectious disease. #RSMedals royalsociety.org/medals-and-prizes/franci...

Scientific mobility in microbiology – 8 Jingdi Li

Scientific mobility in microbiology – 8

I am recruiting a Ph.D. student in microbial ecology, evolution, and systems biology for fall 2026. Please share!
Details: qevomicrolab.org/Documents/Gr...
Apply by October 1 here: forms.gle/38pPS1Ky84HB...

Dr. Kayla King awarded Royal Society’s Francis Crick Medal Evolutionary biologist Dr. Kayla King has been awarded the 2025 Francis Crick Medal and Lecture by the Royal Society of London for contributions to the fields of evolutionary biology and genetics of i...

Congratulations to Dr. Kayla King who was awarded the 2025 Francis Crick Medal & Lecture by the Royal Society for contributions to the fields of evolutionary biology & genetics of infectious disease. @zoology.ubc.ca @ubcmicroimmuno.bsky.social @kayla-king.bsky.social @royalsociety.org bit.ly/4lGJrWB

Our high-precision metagenomic strain caller, PHLAME, is now published in Cell Reports!! www.cell.com/cell-reports...

PHLAME works on tough sample types -- including those with coexisting strains of a species and low depth.

Eco-evolutionary robustness of wild bacterial communities to experimental perturbation Abstract. Most knowledge about bacterial evolution and ecological interactions comes from laboratory studies. One difference between the wild and most labo

Our new paper on experimental evolution in wild tree-holes -Eco-evolutionary robustness of wild bacterial communities to experimental perturbation

#ISMEJournal
@duhitasant.bsky.social Tom Smith Edgar Wong Juli Cohen
@kayla-king.bsky.social
Tom Bell

academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...

Eco-evolutionary robustness of wild bacterial communities to experimental perturbation Abstract. Most knowledge about bacterial evolution and ecological interactions comes from laboratory studies. One difference between the wild and most labo

Eco-evolutionary robustness of wild bacterial communities to experimental perturbation

#ISMEJournal by @duhitasant.bsky.social et al from @timbarra.bsky.social
with Tom Bell, @kayla-king.bsky.social

academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...

Great to have our new tree hole paper out!

Thank you @lcatherines.bsky.social 😊

It’s been a pleasure working with @timbarra.bsky.social @kayla-king.bsky.social Thomas Bell Tom Smith Edgar Wong and Juli Cohen :)

This is my first paper from a postdoc and my first as corresponding author — it’s truly special.

To the best of our knowledge this is a rare example of applying perturbations as used in experimental evolution
in laboratory studies but to wild bacterial communities.

2) shows significant alterations in species diversity and composition in limed tree-holes; and 3) empirically shows genetic changes in the frequency of single nucleotide
polymorphisms in MAGs that occurred at rates comparable to and correlated with ecological changes in the same MAGs.

In this work, we present eco-evolutionary response of wild bacterial communities to experimental perturbation
by liming wild decomposer communities living in beech tree-holes that 1) demonstrates extreme robustness of
the bacterial communities to increased pH;

Eco-evolutionary robustness of wild bacterial communities to experimental perturbation Abstract. Most knowledge about bacterial evolution and ecological interactions comes from laboratory studies. One difference between the wild and most labo

🚨Fresh out of press!
How do wild bacterial communities respond to environmental perturbations like liming?
We experimentally evolved them to find out!
academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...

We are on the lookout for postdocs for two different projects at the intersection of ecology, evolution, and the human microbiome.

See thread for more information and reach out!

I am seeking a postdoc for my group at UCLA. We work at the intersection of population genetics x microbiome (garud.eeb.ucla.edu). If interested, please message me!

New review article with @mmdesai.bsky.social is out today! Grateful for the opportunity to contribute something we hope will serve the community well