UKRI's chief executive said recently that the UK "may wish to explore" paring back its association to the EU's research programme, to make it partial.
That would be a "profound strategic error", critics now warn.
By @clanicholson.bsky.social
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...
Our paper "Ecosystem health shapes viral ecology in peatland soils" is out in Nature Microbiology!
We show that peatland health strongly structures viral communities, shaping virusβhost networks, and carbon and nutrient cycling. Please share.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#phagesky #Microsky
The Metagenome Stability Diagram uses gene markers across ecosystems to understand how environmental conditions constrain metabolic activity in microbiomes. π₯οΈπ§¬π¦
jgi.doe.gov/user-science/science-sto...
Soil viruses are important regulators of ecosystem function, but what are their roles in environments that face long-term degradation and restoration? In our paper published today in Nature Micro, we asked how soil viruses influence peatland recovery, and vice versa. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Huge thanks to co-authors Trina Knotts, Sean Adams, Mohammed Ali, @mattolm.bsky.social, and to my PI, Joanne Emerson, who handled all of the wet-lab sample processing.
𧡠5/5
Viromes and metagenomes captured partially overlapping but differently biased components of the total gut viral community. This has significant implications for inter-study comparisons.
𧡠4/5
DNase treating your viromes? Unlike soil viromes, this looks like it might not have as big an effect in stool (at least in our study).
𧡠3/5
Firing up the MDA kit? We got STRONG compositional distortions and reduced richness. Whilst this effect is generally known, MDA continues to be used. Filtering out ssDNA viruses partially compensated for this, but at a cost in downstream data analyses.
𧡠2/5
π’ New preprint is out on bioRxiv π’:
How much does virome prep influence our view of the human gut virome?
Short answer: a lot.
Long answer:
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Different methods lead to distinct community structures, richness, and major virus-host abundance patterns.
𧡠1/5
Huge thanks to co-authors Trina Knotts, Sean Adams, Mohammed Ali, @mattolm.bsky.social, and to my PI, Joanne Emerson, who handled all of the wet-lab sample processing.
𧡠5/5
Viromes and metagenomes capture partially overlapping but differently biased components of the total gut viral community. This has significant implications for inter-study comparisons.
𧡠4/5
DNase treating your viromes? Unlike soil viromes, this looks like it might not have as big an effect in stool (at least in our study).
𧡠3/5
Firing up the MDA kit? Get STRONG compositional distortions and reduced richness. Whilst this effect is generally known, MDA continues to be used. Filtering out ssDNA viruses can compensate, but itβll cost you in downstream data analyses.
𧡠2/5
An upland landscape in Scotland with trees and open areas.
PhD opportunity with me at University of Edinburgh linked with Forest Research, funded by E5 DTP.
On the microbial mechanisms of soil carbon cycling in tree-planted upland soils. Apply before 14th Dec. Please share with your network.
Pic: one of our Scottish sites.
e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk/project?item...
We're hiring for several positions (a post-bac researcher in #transcriptomics, a #phage #postdoc, a senior researcher (broad topics) and a graduate student to work on #ciliates) - find info here: www.marine.usf.edu/genomics/app...
No problem. A temperate phage can switch between being lysogenic or lytic, so can be either. A virulent phage can only be in a lytic lifecycle. There are also a bunch of alternatives doi.org/10.1098/rsob...
Same. Itβs not helped when lots of biotech companies, including Illumina, misuse the term.
Also, as always, 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing != metagenomics
Love this new paper from @gtrubl.bsky.social and @alexjprobst.bsky.social on the importance of accurate use of terminology in microbial ecology. Iβve seen a lot of use of lysogenic instead of temperate recently so itβs nice to see that distinction being made. doi.org/10.1111/1462...
πWoot woot πFinished a 2 week writing challenge with sending a manuscript off to co-authors/ submitting data to NCBI. Onto the next one π
Learn more about EcoFABs in this episode of our #GenomeInsider podcast β¬οΈ π₯οΈπ§¬
Fitting that Google has DNA in todayβs doodle,the same day Marie SkΕodowska-Curie postdoc fellowship proposals are due in ππ§¬
π’ We are thrilled to announce the International Soil Virus Conference 2026 in conjunction with the Saint Loup Research Institute.
ποΈ June 16 β 18, 2026
π ChΓ’teau de Saint Loup sur Thouet, France
π RSVP by October 31st, 2025
#virus #phage #ISVC2026
The Department of Biology at Colorado State University is hiring an Assistant Professor in the area of plant-microbe interactions! Please spread the word!
jobs.colostate.edu/postings/165...
#Perspective
A discussion on virus-encoded auxiliary metabolic genes and a framework for the biological interpretation of these genes.
#MicroSky π¦
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Awesome looking review on RNA phage discovery π
A new theme issue of #PhilTransB examines the evolutionary history of bacterial immune systems, their modes of action, and the patterns how different bacterial immune systems are distributed across different ecosystems. Read: buff.ly/Z4qdxY1
π¨ New preprint! π§¬
ππ‘ππ π-π©π₯ππ¬π¦π’ππ¬ (π-ππ¬) are fascinating elements: both πππ¦π©ππ«πππ π©π‘ππ ππ¬ and π©π₯ππ¬π¦π’ππ¬ β‘οΈ tricky to detect.
We present ππ²πππ’π§π β the first π’πππ§ππ’ππ’ππππ’π¨π§ ππ§π ππ₯ππ¬π¬π’ππ’ππππ’π¨π§ ππ¨π¨π₯ π οΈdesigned specifically for P-Ps:
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π www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
ππ©βπ¬ For 15+ years biology has accumulated petabytes (million gigabytes) ofπ§¬DNA sequencing data𧬠from the far reaches of our planet.π¦ ππ΅
Logan now democratizes efficient access to the worldβs most comprehensive genetics dataset. Free and open.
doi.org/10.1101/2024...
Itβs life @jgi.doe.gov π but not as we know it. This symposium looks fascinating! (couldnβt resist making the Trek reference)