A premium delivery service for microbes - Nature Water Microbial life depends on the exchange of metabolites. Extracellular vesicles are shown to provide protected delivery for nutrients and enzymes, reshaping metabolic interactions and biogeochemical cyc...

Thanks for the nice summary by Yuanmeng Bu & Zhong Wei, especially the beautiful abstract diagram I used above 😁
www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Our new work is out in @natwater.nature.com
Bacteria release nano-sized membrane particles called Extracellular vesicles (EVs). We show that EVs enable protected delivery for nutrients and enzymes, reshaping metabolic interactions and biogeochemical cycling.
doi.org/10.1038/s442...

Multi-level adaptation to a hydrostatic pressure gradient by Orenia metallireducens strain Z6. (A) Changes in Fe(II) concentrations over time under different pressures. As no significant increase in product concentrations was observed in the abiotic controls under the corresponding conditions, and thus, they were not illustrated. (B) Pseudo-zero-order Fe(III) reduction rates (pink diamonds, left axis) and biomass-normalized Fe(III) reduction rates (blue diamonds, right axis) under different pressures. (C) Membrane adaptation. Relative abundance of phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) at different pressures. (D) Schematic diagram of metabolic pathways. In the heatmaps, the five cells (from left to right) correspond to the cultures at 0.1, 10, 20, 30, and 40 MPa, respectively. The dashed arrow indicates a feasible but potentially insignificant pathway. (E) Conditional transcriptomic strategies under different pressures. The size of bubbles indicates the number of genes that are pressure-dependent and upregulated only under specific pressure(s). HHP, high hydrostatic pressure; PTS, phosphotransferase system.

New in #mLife! How do deep-subsurface microbes cope with extreme pressure?
In the iron-reducing bacterium Orenia metallireducens, pressure-dependent physiological and metabolic adaptations sustain iron reduction across a wide hydrostatic pressure range.
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...

New in #mLife! Did microbial sulfur metabolism begin in hot environments on early Earth?
This study reconstructs the evolutionary history of DsrAB, the key enzyme for dissimilatory sulfite reduction, suggesting a thermophilic origin in the Paleoarchean.
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...

Role of sucrose-dependent exopolysaccharides in the biofilm development of Streptococcus mutans revealed at the microscale level | Applied and Environmental Microbiology Streptococcus mutans is a major pathogen in caries development due to its ability to rapidly metabolize sucrose into EPS. EPS serves as a major component of the S. mutans biofilm matrix, and previous studies mostly explored the effects of EPS on the macroscale. However, how EPS shapes S. mutans biofilm formation at the microscale is not well understood. By combining single-cell tracking with fluorescence staining techniques, we demonstrate that sucrose-dependent EPS governs the transition from 2D growth to 3D biofilm architecture and facilitates the formation of a liquid region at the bottom of the biofilm. These findings bridge a fundamental knowledge gap between the microscale organization and macroscale attributes of biofilms, offering novel perspectives for developing targeted anti-caries strategies.

My first publication at UESTC is out @asm.org. Also, it is my first story with Streptococcus mutans biofilms under the microscope! Future works will include more oral bacteria and explore how they interact with this critical tooth pathogen! journals.asm.org/doi/abs/10.1...

📢 Most-read #mLife @WileyLifeSci papers of 2024–2025!
From food safety & microbiomes to environmental ecology, pathogen genomics, enzyme engineering, and synthetic biology—these highly viewed papers highlight exciting advances across microbiology.
🧵Top 15 highlights below ⬇️

Role of sucrose-dependent exopolysaccharides in the biofilm development of Streptococcus mutans revealed at the microscale level | Applied and Environmental Microbiology Streptococcus mutans is a major pathogen in caries development due to its ability to rapidly metabolize sucrose into EPS. EPS serves as a major component of the S. mutans biofilm matrix, and previous studies mostly explored the effects of EPS on the macroscale. However, how EPS shapes S. mutans biofilm formation at the microscale is not well understood. By combining single-cell tracking with fluorescence staining techniques, we demonstrate that sucrose-dependent EPS governs the transition from 2D growth to 3D biofilm architecture and facilitates the formation of a liquid region at the bottom of the biofilm. These findings bridge a fundamental knowledge gap between the microscale organization and macroscale attributes of biofilms, offering novel perspectives for developing targeted anti-caries strategies.

My first publication at UESTC is out @asm.org. Also, it is my first story with Streptococcus mutans biofilms under the microscope! Future works will include more oral bacteria and explore how they interact with this critical tooth pathogen! journals.asm.org/doi/abs/10.1...

Spatial structure: Shaping the ecology and evolution of microbial communities Abstract. Most microbes grow in spatially structured communities, and this profoundly shapes their ecology and evolution. At the microscale, short interact

Spatial structure: Shaping the ecology and evolution of microbial communities

@femsjournals.bsky.social Microbiology Review by @marcelbaecker.bsky.social et al
from @bedutilh.bsky.social @bramvandijk.bsky.social

academic.oup.com/femsre/advan...

New issue of @mlifejournal.bsky.social is out!

New Issue Alert — mLife Vol. 4, Issue 6 is out!
The issue features 10 open-access papers spanning host–pathogen interactions, bacterial cell division, RNA editing, phage therapy, CRISPR optogenetics, and more.
Table of contents here 👉
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Highlights below ⬇️

Join the IC-DLI x mLife Webinar on Deep Life Studies!
🗓 Dec 30 | 🕐 13:00 UTC | 🧪 3 exciting talks on:
• Deep-sea cold seep microbiomes
• Novel methanogens beyond Euryarchaeota
• Habitable rock–water systems
📍Zoom ID: 853 4219 3531 | PW: 904477

New in #mLife! RebA is an essential for the RNase E regulator in Anabaena PCC 7120. Without RebA, nitrogen fixation fails despite heterocyst formation, revealing a critical post‑transcriptional control over RNA metabolism and nitrogen use. @wileylifesci.bsky.social
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...

Insightful Review in #mLife!
Emerging single-cell sequencing and imaging technologies now allow for the profiling of microbial heterogeneity with unprecedented resolution—capturing phenotypic and spatial diversity within microbial communities.
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...

2025 has been generous with 17 publications in ISME J(3x), Cell Rep(2x), Trends Microbiol, Nat Microbiol, mSystems(2x), Biofilm(2x), Commun Biol, Curr Opin Microbiol, microLIFE, Nucleic Acids Res, Anim Microbiome, FEMS Microbiol Eco

#MicrobiomeEcology at #LeidenBiology @leidenscience.bsky.social

Come to follow the official BlueSky of the journal #mLife!

mLife Click on the title to browse this journal

🚀 Journal #mLife is now on BlueSky!
We're an open-access journal publishing cutting-edge microbiology—from molecular biology to microbial ecology, from pathogenesis to public health.
🔬 Follow us for the latest research & insights!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/2770...

Seminar at Nanjing Agricultural University along with @xinmingxu.bsky.social and also joined by Martin Jahn @microscape.bsky.social this time

Thanks to Zhihui Xu and members of his team (Xinli Sun and @jiyuxie.bsky.social) for organizing this event

#MicrobiomeEcology

Hello, old friends on BlueSky!
I am transitioning from X and now sharing updates here.
Since Feb 2025, I’ve started my new PI position at UESTC, studying microbial interactions using culturable communities, microfluidics, and modelling.
👉 www.iffs.uestc.edu.cn/iffs_en/info...
Come to follow me!