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Posts by Martin Sperfeld

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In silico typing maps the natural diversity of Escherichia coli transporter-dependent capsules - Nature Microbiology Escherichia coli ABC transporter-dependent capsule gene analysis alongside the development and application of the kTYPr in silico capsule typing tool uncovers E. coli capsule diversity across environm...

How diverse are E. coli capsules? In collaboration with @mucosalimmunology.bsky.social we mapped this uncharted diversity in >66k genomes with a new tool, kTYPr, paving the way to capsule-targeted therapies and vaccines www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@eth-microbiology.bsky.social

7 hours ago 3 3 0 1
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Defining metabolic niches for marine microbial heterotrophs Understanding carbon cycling requires simplifying bacterial diversity into functional groups defined by genetic signatures.

Our first collaboration with the Levine lab!

Defining metabolic niches for marine microbial heterotrophs www.science.org/doi/full/10.... #jcampubs 🌊

6 hours ago 25 10 0 1

8 more days left to apply for this 3-year postdoc position.

Please repost!

The position offers a lot of freedom to test new ideas about how archaea and bacteria communicate & sense the extracellular environment.

1 day ago 8 19 1 0
Assistant Professor x6 (111522-0426) - University of Warwick Title: Assistant Professor x6 (111522-0426). Application Deadline: . Position Type: Permanent

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...

3 days ago 52 80 2 1
Job offer

www.gfz.de/en/career/jo...
4-year PhD position in Geomicrobiology in our #ERCSyg project Archean Park. Come work with us at @gfz.bsky.social and collaborate with @probstlab.bsky.social, @marumunibremen.bsky.social, @uni-muenster.de. Flexible starting date, Application until May 3.

1 week ago 3 4 0 0
Home

Just a few days left‼️
Abstract submission deadline for MEEHubs2026 is April 19! Come present at one of the hubs August 3-5, 2026✨

Links and more info here: meehubs.org

1 week ago 7 10 0 2
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Endemic within Endemic🦎 We are happy to share our latest publication in @isme-microbes.bsky.social! This time, we explored the GalÑpagos marine iguana with a simple question: If these iconic animals are endemic, are their microbes endemic too?

The answer is yes! (1/8)

doi.org/10.1093/isme...

1 week ago 10 4 2 0

Excited to support #MEEHubs2026 as part of the local hub at ETH Zurich! This hybrid conference brings together microbial ecology and evolution researchers through global (free!) online access plus local in-person hubs, making science more inclusive and lower-carbon. August 3–5, 2026 🌍🦠

4 weeks ago 2 1 0 1
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Postdoc in marine environmental DNA/ sedimentary ancient DNA The Department of Glaciology and Climate at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) is looking for a dedicated and enthusiastic postdoctoral resea

πŸ“£We are recruiting!

Postdoc position open in marine #eDNA / #sedaDNA in Copenhagen as part of the Arctic NordForsk #PHATE Research Project.

See the link for details πŸ‘‡ and get in touch if you want to know more.

Deadline is on the 6th April 🌊 🧬
Glaciology and Climate - #GEUS

#HAB #phycotoxins

1 month ago 11 17 1 0
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Automated genome mining predicts structural diversity and taxonomic distribution of peptide metallophores across bacteria Automated detection of metallophore biosynthesis reveals that metal-chelating non-ribosomal peptides are widespread, chemically diverse, and deeply rooted in bacterial evolution.

Are you interested in how to predict functions of natural product biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) and their products? And/or do you love metallophores and would love to identify their producers in microbiomes? Check out @zachreitz.bsky.social 's new paper!
elifesciences.org/articles/109... 1/n

1 month ago 27 12 4 1

There is a week left to apply for two available positions in my lab @ipbhalle.bsky.social

- PhD: ipb-halle.mhm.jobs/12-phd-posit...

- Postdoc: ipb-halle.mhm.jobs/13-postdocto...
Earliest start date: 01/05/2026.

We are interested in plant immune receptor biochemistry and evolution. Please share!

1 month ago 35 39 0 0
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Interested in microbial predation? Join us in Ticino Switzerland on July 27-31, 2026!
More info at microbialpredation.ethz.ch

#predation #ecology #evolution #microbes

2 months ago 10 12 1 1
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Now out in @natcomms.nature.com :
versions 2.0 of both BiG-SCAPE and BiG-SLiCE! With significant speed and accuracy increases, as well as new interactive functionalities.
Read the full paper here #openaccess:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

1 month ago 39 20 1 2
Assistant/Associate/Full Professor Computational Biology Assistant/Associate/Full Professor Computational Biology

Join us as Assistant/Associate/Full Professor Computational Biology at Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL) / @leidenscience.bsky.social / @unileiden.bsky.social

Application deadline on 15 March 2026
πŸ‘‡
careers.universiteitleiden.nl/job/Assistan...

1 month ago 21 22 0 0
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Coral microbiomes as reservoirs of unknown genomic and biosynthetic diversity - Nature Reconstructing microbial genomes from 820 reef-building corals collected at 99 reefs across 32 islands throughout the Pacific Ocean highlights the importance of conserving coral reefs as vital reservo...

We are thrilled to announce the newest study from our lab (and great collaborators) is out now in @nature.com

We show that #coral #microbes are untapped "biosynthetic reservoirs", full of unique
natural products.

doi.org/10.1038/s415...

1 month ago 10 6 0 1
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Coral microbiomes as reservoirs of unknown genomic and biosynthetic diversity - Nature Reconstructing microbial genomes from 820 reef-building corals collected at 99 reefs across 32 islands throughout the Pacific Ocean highlights the importance of conserving coral reefs as vital reservo...

Coral microbiomes as reservoirs of unknown genomic and biosynthetic diversity www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs 🌊

1 month ago 28 9 0 0
Postdoc in "Decoding cellular signaling in Photosymbiosis" (m/f/d/x) Layout AWI HIFMB extern, englisch

π–π‘πšπ­ 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐩𝐑𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐛𝐒𝐨𝐬𝐒𝐬 πžπ¬π­πšπ›π₯𝐒𝐬𝐑𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 π›π«πžπšπ€ππ¨π°π§? πŸͺΈ

Join us for a 3-year #Postdoc and help us find out! Our ERC-funded project at @hifmb.de offers excellent facilities and an international collaborative work environment.

Apply by April 1st: jobs.awi.de/Vacancies/21...

#ScienceJobs

2 months ago 15 13 0 0
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Two postdoctoral positions (3-year) in Experimental Evolution of Methanogenic Microbiomes in Bioelectrochemical Systems Application deadline: 4 March 2026 at 23:59 hours local Danish time

Hiring: two 3-year Postdoc positions

We’re looking for postdocs who can design and run directed laboratory evolution experiments in microbial communities under electrochemical stimulation, and link adaptations to performance using shotgun meta-omics.

2 months ago 8 10 1 0
Image from a lecture by Nick Barton, one of the coauthors, from this site: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTvFal-zh1M

Image from a lecture by Nick Barton, one of the coauthors, from this site: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTvFal-zh1M

Beyond Mendel. FINALLY.

Brilliant, thought-provoking read! This new perspective argues that our obsession with single genes and clean knock-outs is holding us back. Couldn't agree more, and I hope Reviewer #2 reads this.

academic.oup.com/genetics/art...

2 months ago 21 8 2 0
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New paper from my team detailing a greatly expanded genomic database of Asgard archaea revealing of high energy metabolism those related to eukaryotes! Led by @katyappler.bsky.social lots of help from @jameslingford.bsky.social @valdeanda.bsky.social @kassipan.bsky.social doi.org/10.1038/s415...

2 months ago 151 61 10 3
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A small polymerase ribozyme that can synthesize itself and its complementary strand The emergence of a chemical system capable of self-replication and evolution is a critical event in the origin of life. RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but their large size and structural ...

How could a simple self-replicating system emerge at the origins of life? RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but existing ones are so large that their self-replication seems impossible. Could they be smaller?

Excited to share our latest work in @science.org on a new small polymerase.
1/n

2 months ago 500 210 10 28

Normally a Cell paper with one's name as corr. author would be a reason to break out the champagne. But today I have rather mixed feelings, as I inherited that spot from Peer Bork upon his untimely death. Still, congrats to all the authors! May we finish all the projects that we started with Peer!

2 months ago 22 3 1 0

The viral shunt is one of the most intriguing concepts in marine microbial ecology β€” Excited to see work that offers an idea of how to actually measure it πŸ‘‡

2 months ago 1 0 0 0
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πŸ“’ DSMZ is hiring!
We are looking for a Scientific Lead for the SILVA Database, a key tool for understanding microbes and biodiversity.
Learn more and apply: tinyurl.com/y973v547

#HiringNow #ScienceJobs #Microbiology #ResearchCareers
@dsmzd3.bsky.social

3 months ago 11 8 0 1
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Two postdoctoral positions (3-year) in Experimental Evolution of Methanogenic Microbiomes in Bioelectrochemical Systems Application deadline: 4 March 2026 at 23:59 hours local Danish time

I’m looking for two postdoctoral scientists in experimental evolution to join my team from April 2026 (or soon after). Please share! fa-eosd-saasfaprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

2 months ago 15 20 0 1
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Two fully funded PhD candidate positions in Electromicrobiology (3 years) Application deadline: 4 March 2026 at 23:59 hours local Danish time

In addition to the 2 postdoc jobs posted yesterday, we’re recruiting 2 PhD students (environmental microbiology/ molecular ecology) to join us from April. The projects will map microbial populations across niches in bioelectrochemical systems relevant to biomethanation & link them to performance.

2 months ago 8 16 0 1
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Discovery and cultivation of prokaryotic taxa in the age of metagenomics and artificial intelligence Abstract. Despite advances in sequencing, microbial genomics, and cultivation techniques, the vast majority of prokaryotic species remain uncultured, which

Discovery and cultivation of prokaryotic taxa in the age of metagenomics and artificial intelligence

#ISMEJournal from @alexrosado.bsky.social

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

2 months ago 18 6 0 0
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Multiple protein structure alignment at scale with FoldMason Protein structure is conserved beyond sequence, making multiple structural alignment (MSTA) essential for analyzing distantly related proteins. Computational prediction methods have vastly extended ou...

FoldMason is out now in @science.org. It generates accurate multiple structure alignments for thousands of protein structures in seconds. Great work by Cameron L. M. Gilchrist and @milot.bsky.social.
πŸ“„ www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🌐 search.foldseek.com/foldmason
πŸ’Ύ github.com/steineggerla...

2 months ago 301 147 4 3
PhD student bioinformatics: Viral strategies in the global Microverse

We have an open position for a bioinformatics/theoretical microbial ecology PhD student to study viral strategies in the global Microverse! Join us at the @microverse.bsky.social at @uni-jena.de, please apply through this link:
jobs.uni-jena.de/jobposting/9...

2 months ago 21 30 0 0

Do you have experience in bioinformatics and are looking for a new challenge? To immerse yourself in a group and institute doing highly diverse research?

Then come and join our group !

3 months ago 15 11 0 0