www.dwscientific.com/blog/how-dws...

A Genomic Analysis of Community-Associated C. difficile Infection Demonstrates Integration With National and International Strain Clusters and Limited Direct Transmission AbstractBackground. Clostridioides difficile is a life-threatening gastrointestinal infection. Once predominantly associated with healthcare exposure, comm

Genomic Analysis of Community-Associated C. difficile Infection Demonstrates Integration With National and International Strain Clusters and Limited Direct Transmission academic.oup.com/jid/article-...

A set of genetic tools for use in Clostridioides difficile and related species The Clostridia are a phylogenetically diverse group of anaerobic, spore-forming bacteria that include species of medical, veterinary and industrial importance. The last two decades have seen major adv...

New paper from us.

If you're interested in genetic manipulation of Clostridia, we have a few new tools for you! 36 new plasmids - all available from @addgene.bsky.social

www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...

#microsky

An update on Clostridioides difficile population structure and genomics | Clinical Microbiology Reviews SUMMARYSince its first isolation in 1935, several thousand Clostridioides difficile isolates have been collected and analyzed. These isolates belong to a diverse phylogeny consisting of five main clad...

Wonderful review: An update on Clostridioides difficile population structure and genomics | Clinical Microbiology Reviews journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... @thejoesorg.bsky.social

Our workflow is set-up for copper; in our hands au seems to behave quite different...

#cryosky crowd: for a project we are looking for Quantifoil R0.6/1 copper grids that are currently unavailable from the manufacturer. If anybody has any stock to spare, please let me know! #cryoEM

CenIR, an essential BlaIR-family regulatory system in C. difficile www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

From Asgard to Earth: Tiny tubes may reveal the moment complex life began Stromatolites—and their close relatives, microbial mats—could be mistaken for what seems like a bunch of old dark rocks. But instead, they are dense, layered communities of microbes. Long before compl...

Our paper is out today! See this news article on it. Asgard archea have some cool proteins. If you are interested in protein evolution it’s a really exciting space. I’m lucky to be a structural biologist in the age of DL🧬🧶 @brendanburns999.bsky.social @iduggin.bsky.social @debnathghosal.bsky.social

Second that for anaerobic cabinets; ours are named Ma Baker (Baker Ruskinn Concept 1000), Big Don (Whitley VA1000), Whitley Houston (Whitley A55 HEPA), Dr. Who (Whitley A35) and Turdis (Whitley A135GMP) :) all decided by lab nominations and popular vote

Big update for #gbdraw!
- Multi-record circular plots: Genomes with multiple replicons can now be displayed in a single view!
- Advanced linear plots: Focus on regions of interest with granular control over feature selection and color-coding!
Try now: gbdraw.app #microbiology #bioinformatics

A class of metallohydrolases expands bile salt hydrolase activity in the gut www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Hallucinated citations are polluting the scientific literature. What can be done? Tens of thousands of publications from 2025 might include invalid references generated by AI, a Nature analysis suggests.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

3CdF 2026 Join 3CdF 2026, June 4-5, 2026. Learn more on Fourwaves.

Are you a #Cdiff researcher in Europe? Join us for the 3rd #3CdF meeting in Leiden, Netherlands on 4-5 June for an informal meeting to discuss latest research, network and meet colleagues!
event.fourwaves.com/3cdf-2026/

Processing of Reversed Replication Forks is Required for the Resolution of Replication-Transcription Conflicts www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Genomic evolution and re-emergence of a multidrug-resistant Clostridioides difficile RT027 clone with reduced vancomycin susceptibility driving a prolonged hospital outbreak Following an extended period of declining prevalence of the epidemic Clostridioides difficile ribotype 027 (RT027) in Portugal, a genetically distinct, multidrug-resistant (MDR) RT027 strain with r...

Full article: Genomic evolution and re-emergence of a multidrug-resistant Clostridioides difficile RT027 clone with reduced vancomycin susceptibility driving a prolonged hospital outbreak www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/...

FEBS Press The bacterial dynamin-like protein DynA from Bacillus subtilis plays a key role in phage defense. It binds the plasma membrane through a unique paddle domain in its D1 subunit. This membrane associat...

Binding of Bacillus subtilis dynamin‐like protein DynA to the bacterial membrane is essential for effective phage defense - Shafqat - 2026 - The FEBS Journal - Wiley Online Library febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Lineage dynamics of invasive Escherichia coli isolates in the Netherlands from 1975 to 2021: a retrospective longitudinal genomic analysis Escherichia coli is a common cause of invasive infections such as bloodstream and cerebrospinal fluid infections in neonates. Strains positive for the…

Am stoked and thrilled that our latest paper is now out. A longitudinal study of invasive E. coli from children in the Netherlands over 50 years

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

Our recent work is now available in bioRXIV!

(bacterial) chromosome segregationists take note 👇

membrane-anchoring of the 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘊 region to ensure proper daughter chromosome segregation after replication initiation – proposed decades ago but never substantiated... 👉now shown for 𝘚. 𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘶𝘴 by mariana pinho's lab

Dual activation of the cytoplasmic sensor ComR by XIP pheromone or aromatic amino acid catabolites in salivarius streptococci. Left: Classical activation of the ComRS system by XIP for intraspecies QS, leading to a coactivation of competence (DNA uptake) and predation (salvaricin production). Production of salivaricins takes place in a pulse mode due to a combined positive and negative feedback loop through ComS and the ComX-PepF relay (XIP degradation), respectively. Right: Pheromone-independent activation of ComR by aromatic amino acid catabolites for interspecies dysbiosis-sensing, leading only to the activation of predation. Production of salivaricins takes place in a continuous mode due to an absence of a negative feedback loop.

Microbial #dysbiosis alters chemical cues in the oral #microbiome, but how do commensals sense these? This study shows that #Streptococcus salivarius detects dysbiosis metabolites & repurposes a peptide #QuorumSensing receptor to drive antibacterial predation @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4rtVSbf

Bile acid dependent attenuation of toxin mediated disease is independent of colonization resistance against C. difficile www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Very insightful!

Antibiotic use and gut microbiome composition links from individual-level prescription data of 14,979 individuals - Nature Medicine Using individual-level data from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register and fecal metagenomes of 14,979 individuals in Sweden, the authors examined the association between oral antibiotic use over 8 yea...

🚨 New paper! Very excited to have been part of this collaborative work looking at the effect of antibiotics on the gut microbiota even years after prescription. Amazing effort led by Gabriel @tovefall.bsky.social and many others published today in Nature Medicine!
🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Stay or stray? Why some gut microbes persist after fecal transplants Scientists have identified why some gut microbes successfully stay in the gut after fecal transplants, while others are much more transient. The King's College London discovery could help make the…

Why some #gut #microbes persist after #fecal #transplants ...

| #Bacteria | #microbiota | #MicroSky | #poop | By @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social via @sciencex.bsky.social

How can we tap into the enormous functional diversity of microbes on this planet?

Join us at EMBL Heidelberg (8–10 Dec 2026) to learn about ongoing efforts to decode gene function and organisation in human gut microbes, and present your science.

A virus hiding inside bacteria may help explain colorectal cancer The gut bacterium Bacteroides fragilis has long presented researchers with a paradox. It has been associated with colorectal cancer, yet it also lives quite happily in most healthy people. A study by…

#Virus hiding inside #bacteria may help explain #colorectal #cancer ...

| #Bacteroides | #microbiome | #bacteriophages | #phage | Via @sciencex.bsky.social

This is so cool:

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

Discovery of a Genetic Toxin-Antidote System in Vertebrates

hat tip to @asaflevylab.bsky.social

How to set up and manage a microbiome research facility The increasing number of therapeutic intervention studies in the microbiome field has sparked broad interest among clinicians and scientists to incorp…

Paper 🚨: in this Narrative Review we describe the challenges and opportunity of a microbiome research facility, based on our experiences at LUMC with Center for Microbiome Analyses and Therapeutics (CMAT) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #ESGHAMI @escmid.bsky.social @cmijournal.bsky.social

After >10 years of our lab studying bacterial cGAS-like enzymes, @hobbslabutah.bsky.social finally reconstitutes viral sensing in vitro and discovers how these ancient receptors sense phage protease enzymes to detect virion assembly and activate antiviral immunity

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