It’s tough lesson to learn that you’ve been living your entire life the wrong way…

Deadline soon! Registration is now FREE for graduate students and postdocs for the 14th Annual Yosemite Symbiosis workshop. THANKS to the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation! Space is limited. Learn more and REGISTER here
snri.ucmerced.edu/form/symbios...

We've upgraded to a new conference location!

How a tiny bacterium turns itself into a “tunneling machine” Some symbiotic bacteria can invade micron-scale host passages by wrapping their flagella around themselves and moving like a tunneling machine. Our study reveals how this clever motion enables them to overcome extreme confinement and successfully colonize their hosts.

How a tiny bacterium turns itself into a “tunneling machine”

http://dlvr.it/TRGZ7c

http://dlvr.it/TRGZ7k

Calling all researchers working on *Genomics of Adaptation to Extreme Thermal Environments*
I'm serving as a guest editor of an upcoming collection in BMC Genomics and am eager to read your submission! More on scope and how to contribute here: bit.ly/4kH3PIx 🧪 @springer.springernature.com

How specific are heritable symbioses?

And what can we learn from swapping obligate symbionts across host species?

We address this in our latest, led by @inespons.bsky.social & in our collaboration w/ @microbiome.bsky.social 🦠🪲 Out today in @natcomms.nature.com!

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www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The visualization of two bacterial genomes, of 50 and 52kb, representing independent instances of extreme genomic reduction in ancient heritable endosymbionts of planthoppers.

Our new paper in @natcomms.nature.com is now online-early!

We describe independent evolution of bacterial genomes of only ~50–52 kb — the smallest known outside cellular organelles — revealing striking convergence toward minimal gene sets.

🔗 doi.org/10.1038/s414...

NEW: Registration is now FREE for graduate students and postdocs for the 14th Annual Yosemite Symbiosis workshop. THANKS to the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation! Space is limited. Learn more and REGISTER here: snri.ucmerced.edu/form/symbios...

Symbiotic entrenchment through ecological Catch-22 A symbiotic rove beetle develops a stealth phenotype by silencing production of its hydrocarbon pheromones, enabling it to infiltrate ant colonies, steal ant pheromones, and achieve social acceptance ...

www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...

Please join the @symbiosisalumni.bsky.social during our next Alumni Network seminar to learn about the origin and complexities of mealybug endosymbioses from @filiphusnik.bsky.social:

🗓️ February 25th
🕥 8am WET
📍on zoom (PM for link)

symbnet.bsky.social
moorefound.bsky.social
mblscience.bsky.social

Had a blast nerding out about beetles (& The Beatles) on Switzerland’s daily news program/Tagesschau 🪲

Thankful for the chance to wax lyrical about our favorite bugs at the Aha Festival, and with the wonderful folks of Lucerne 🇨🇭

Plant Pathogens Moonlighting as Beneficial Insect Symbionts Herbivorous insects can shape the epidemiology of disease in plants by vectoring numerous phytopathogens. While the consequences of infection are often well-characterized in the host plant, the extent...

Can plant pathogens boost vector fitness?

Together with @hassansalem.bsky.social, we review how phytopathogens can spread further by moonlighting as insect symbionts 🪲 More on this nifty lifestyle in @annualreviews.bsky.social!

www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

Thanks! 😳

*correct link
Very excited to share a preprint from stellar lab postdoc, Dr. Younghwan Kwak.

“Intrahost mutational dynamics parallel long-term genome evolution in endosymbionts”

Cool, skillful work and a nifty story!
#symbiosis #insects #evolution

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Very excited to share a preprint from stellar lab postdoc, Dr. Younghwan Kwak.

“Intrahost mutational dynamics parallel long-term genome evolution in endosymbionts”

Cool, skillful work and a nifty story!
#symbiosis #insects #evolution

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

New preprint! Symbionts provide critical functions—but how do they impact host phenotypes in nature? We show a horizontally transferred plasmid in a heritable symbiont drives divergence in defensive traits across insect populations, revealing how mobile DNA rapidly shapes pathogen resistance. 👇

Hidden genetic diversity among Blochmanniella endosymbionts of closely related carpenter ant populations Abstract. Carpenter ants (Family Formicidae; Genus Camponotus) are a globally distributed, arboreal clade. They harbor an intracellular obligate bacterial

A little late due to re-establishing a Bluesky presence… but! here is another recent pub from a terrific and talented grad student.

A fun project from a beautiful place. Love (y)our National Parks! #nationaparks #symbiosis #insects

academic.oup.com/jeb/article/...

Characterizing a Novel Symbiopectobacterium purcellii MEX Strain at the Early Stages of Establishing a Symbiotic Relationship Abstract. Insects ally with microbial symbionts for a diversity of services. The range of these interactions is wide, spanning from beneficial to pathogeni

Gunasekaran, Sicard, Almeida & @symboevo.bsky.social report a novel symbiotic interaction between a leafhopper and a bacterium; they analyse the genome of the bacterium, inferring it is in the early stages of establishing a host-dependent symbiosis.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...

#genome #evolution

Lophophytum pyramidale. Photo credit: M. Virginia Sanchez Puerta

Happy to share this work with Virginia Sanchez-Puerta (not on bsky) and colleagues on how loss of photosynthesis in these (strange!) plants affects translation and tRNAs in plastids and mitochondria....

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

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Characterizing a novel Symbiopectobacterium purcellii MEX strain at the early stages of establishing a symbiotic relationship Abstract. Insects ally with microbial symbionts for a diversity of services. The range of these interactions is wide, spanning from beneficial to pathogeni

I’m excited to share a new paper by a super talented graduate-student-now-postdoc. Grateful to work with old and new collaborators!

Characterizing a novel Symbiopectobacterium MEX strain at the early stages of establishing a symbiotic relationship url: academic.oup.com/gbe/article/...