Really happy to have this study led by @ashleyweiss.bsky.social and Jilarie Santos-Santiago published in the Journal of Bacteriology (@asm.org) over the holiday break!! Always awesome to team up with the amazing @ritatamayo.bsky.social lab! #Cdiff #enterococci

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

The emerging view on the roles of butyrate in Clostridioides difficile pathogenesis | Infection and Immunity The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classifies Clostridioides difficile as an urgent threat to the nation’s health, as it causes 450,000 infections, 15,000 deaths, and 1 billion dollars in excess healthcare costs per year in the United States (1, 2). Most C. difficile infections (CDIs) occur in healthcare settings, where CDI is the most common cause of infectious diarrhea (3). Known and suspected risk factors for CDI include antibiotics, proton pump inhibitors, impaired immune function, advanced age, and diet, all of which are associated with dysbiotic gastrointestinal (GI) microbiomes (4–6). Though most CDIs are associated with antibiotic treatment, 22% of individuals with community-acquired CDI have no recent history of antibiotic use. Factors affecting persistent and recurrent CDIs remain poorly defined (7, 8). Despite the morbidity and mortality caused by C. difficile, up to 15% of healthy adults are asymptomatic carriers of toxigenic C. difficile (9), highlighting the gaps in our understanding of C. difficile.

Thrilled to share @alex-dobrila.bsky.social’s new review in Infection & Immunity on how butyrate shapes C. difficile pathogenesis. A must-read for those interested in microbiome–pathogen interactions. 👉 journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Immune Aspects of Clostridioides difficile Infection and Vaccine Development

Excited to share our recent review in which @rcglover.bsky.social, @joeyzacks.bsky.social, @bordenlacy.bsky.social, and I discuss current advances in our understanding of immunity to C. difficile infection and what it will take to develop an effective vaccine 💉

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Excited to share this collaborative study with @ritatamayo.bsky.social showing that E. faecalis influences C. diff morphology through the phase variable CmrRST system! This work was co-led by the amazing team of @ashleyweiss.bsky.social and Jilarie Santos-Santiago!

I’m excited to share my recent study from the labs of @joeyzacks.bsky.social and @ritatamayo.bsky.social on the impact of E.faecalis on phase variable behaviors in C.difficile. This work was achieved through amazing co-leadership with PhD candidate Jilarie Santos-Santiago.

Thank you Emma!

I’m extremely honored to be included with this amazing group of scientists as a recipient of the 2025 BWF PDEP award!

Congratulations to @haidermanzer.bsky.social on being awarded the @bwfund.bsky.social Postdoc Diversity Enrichment Program Award!! So well deserved - we are very proud here in the Zackular Lab!

Incredibly honored to be selected as a @bwfund.bsky.social Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease. Thank you to @bwfund.bsky.social for supporting our work - I am thrilled to join this amazing community! And special thank you to my AMAZING team (past & present) for getting us here!

Excited to share our new work in @aga-gastro.bsky.social! We show that dietary fiber alters the window of susceptibility to C. difficile following antibiotic exposure. This really fantastic study was co-led by an amazing team @rinniehewlett.bsky.social @alhecht.bsky.social and Amanda PeBenito.

Clostridioides difficile is a bacterial priority pathogen

Important: if a bug does not make the WHO's priority list, this does not mean it is not relevant. We present arguments why investment in R&D for surveillance, control and treatment of C. difficile (CDI) is of critical importance: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Congratulations Valeria!

Global genome analysis identifies glycolipids and lipoteichoic acid alanylation as contributors to Group B streptococcal diabetic wound infection Individuals with diabetes frequently develop chronic, hyper-inflammatory, non-healing wounds, which are the leading cause of all non-traumatic amputations. Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a prominent b...

New preprint out! Here, we find that glycolipids and lipoteichoic acid alanylation are critical for Group B Strep survival against neutrophil killing during diabetic wound infection. We also define GBS-neutrophil interactions in this niche.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

ASM stands firm in its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, as such efforts are critical to advancing the microbial sciences for everyone. Read our statement: asm.org/Press-Releas...

Metal availability shapes early life microbial ecology and community succession | mBio Early life represents a critical window for microbial colonization of the human gastrointestinal tract. Surprisingly, we still know little about the rules that govern the successful colonization of in...

Excited to share our latest work led by Josh Soto Ocaña & Elliot Friedman in mBio today! Together with Gary Wu's team at UPenn, we suggest metals may be an important nutritional factor shaping early life microbial ecology in infants.

We are in our fifth year of NSURP, and we couldn't have done it without the mentors. You all help make this program great. We are once again calling on you. Visit NSURP.org to sign up as a mentor today. This is a great mentorship opportunity for trainees. Looking forward to seeing you this summer!

BilR is a gut microbial enzyme that reduces bilirubin to urobilinogen - Nature Microbiology BilR is identified as a bilirubin reductase encoded by gut bacteria, which reduces bilirubin to urobilinogen.

I’m so excited to see my undergraduate lab’s work published in #NatureMicrobiology ! It was a pleasure to work on this project with Dr. Brantley Hall and Dr. Xiaofang Xiang, and congratulations to the entire team! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New from NSURP

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Excited to share the latest from our lab, led by Alex Smith, out in mBio! Alex shows how Enterococci take advantage of C. diff toxin-mediated damage to thrive in the gut. Fun collaborative study with @dariavantyne.bsky.social Boone Prentice, Ahmed Moustafa, and team! journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

If that’s not already cool enough, we show that the dcm gene is phage-encoded, with genomic evidence of being horizontally transferred across strains!

An orphan DNA cytosine methyltransferase regulates global transcription, especially of genes involved in carbon metabolism. This directly impacts interaction with mucin and persistence of GBS within the vaginal tract.

I’m using my first Bluesky post to announce that my third thesis chapter is out! This one was so much fun to work on with Kelly Doran. I’ve always been fascinated by bacterial DNA methylation regulating gene expression, and got to study how it impacts GBS vaginal colonization: