Spatial structure: shaping the ecology and evolution of microbial communities Spatial structure naturally emerges in microbial communities, shaping growth, interactions, and evolution, and revealing how microscale processes scale up

Most microbes don't live in shaking flasks; spatial structure shapes how microbes interact and evolve at every scale, as we discuss in our recent review @jeroenmeijer.bsky.social @simonvanvliet.bsky.social @bedutilh.bsky.social @bramvandijk.bsky.social and others
academic.oup.com/femsre/artic... 🧵👇

Horizon Awards 2025: Professor Joana Falcao Salles named as winner of Basil Jarvis Award Professor Joana Falcao Salles, a professor of Microbial Community Ecology at the University of Groningen, has been named as the newest winner of the Basil Jarvis Food Security and Innovation Award.

Professor Joana Falcao Salles, a professor of Microbial Community Ecology at the University of Groningen, has been named as the newest winner of the Basil Jarvis Food Security and Innovation Award. @rug.nl www.the-microbiologist.com/news/horizon...

Around 10% of your Nanopore reads (SQK-RBK114) are incorrectly trimmed. Here is why, and how our new tool Barbell solves it:

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Want to get started? github.com/rickbeeloo/b...

I’m very happy this is finally out! Here, we showcase the combination of BONCAT and SIP metaproteomics to uncover rare and active microbes driving anaerobic acetate turnover. We are excited to see what other microbial metabolisms and ecosystems this approach can help to illuminate! 🦠

Big thanks to our collaborators at IOW (Theodor Sperlea, Matthias Labrenz), all co-authors, and people who helped in the project 🙌

From the Baltic coast to the lab in Jena, we combined Nanopore sequencing 🧬 with a custom demultiplexing approach 🖥️ (@rickbitloo.bsky.social) to uncover the rules of microbial mixing in estuaries.

Bacterial community adaptation after freshwater and seawater coalescence Microbial community coalescence, the merging of entire microbial communities, is common across ecosystems, particularly in estuaries where freshwater and seawater mix. The complexity of these habitats...

💧🌊 What happens when freshwater bacteria meet their salty counterparts?
Our new preprint explores the ecological factors driving community coalescence 👉www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.... @bedutilh.bsky.social @microverse.bsky.social

Harnessing microbiome-plant synergies: microbiome-interactive traits enhance plant growth and support sustainable agriculture - npj Sustainable Agriculture npj Sustainable Agriculture - Harnessing microbiome-plant synergies: microbiome-interactive traits enhance plant growth and support sustainable agriculture

The work from my first postdoc is finally out www.nature.com/articles/s44... 🎉 It was great to work together with Tianci Zhao www.rug.nl/staff/tianci..., @joana-salles.bsky.social, and our collaborators on the potatoMETAbiome project 🥰 Many thanks also to those who helped us during the field trial ✨

We are on the lookout for postdocs for two different projects at the intersection of ecology, evolution, and the human microbiome.

See thread for more information and reach out!

Droplet microfluidics for single-cell studies: a frontier in ecological understanding of microbiomes Abstract. Recent advances in single-cell technologies have profoundly impacted our understanding of microbial communities—shedding light on cell-to-cell va

New Review Out!
We explore how droplet microfluidics is opening new doors in microbial ecology - enabling single-cell functional insights into growth, metabolism & interactions.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/fems...
#MicrobialEcology #DropletMicrofluidics #Microbiology

New online! A model ‘organism’ split to uncover microbial symbiosis

🧬Viromics🧬 = using (meta-)genomics to study uncultivated viruses has yielded unprecedented insights into the diversity and global distribution of viruses

@jgi.doe.gov's @simrouxvirus.bsky.social and Clement Coclet review the state of the field, available tools, and remaining challenges

Join the Aquatic Ecology Special Interest Group (SIG) for an inclusive forum hosted by ZSL. This event will focus on sharing the latest research in marine and freshwater ecology, as well as providing networking opportunities.

You can now register and submit your abstracts.

Microbiomes exist across aquatic environments, from frozen glaciers to flowing rivers & open oceans. This #WorldMicrobiomeDay, our new blog spotlights the importance of different aquatic microbiomes and why it’s time to recognize their invisible work. buff.ly/eFmmYXT

Angela Muraya (centre) examines her plants with Natia Geliashvili (left) and Bas E. Dutilh (right).

Researchers led by @bedutilh.bsky.social at the Cluster of Excellence @microverse.bsky.social investigate #phages, showing how viruses not only cause harm but also create the basis for diversity & balance. Read more in the #UniJena research magazine.

➡️ www.lichtgedanken.uni-jena.de/en/3157/smal...

Understanding and predicting microbial evolutionary dynamics 2025 26 - 27 November 2025 - Liverpool, UK

Registration for Understanding and predicting microbial evolutionary dynamics 2025 is now open! Join us in Liverpool on 26–27 November 2025. Secure your tickets: microb.io/MicroEvo25 #MicroEvo2025

A microbiome perspective of Grime’s triangle and plant ecological trade-offs Mutualistic interactions between plants and microbiomes are vital for plant growth and resilience. However, traditional breeding has undermined these …

Our forum article is now online!
We offer a microbiome perspective on Grime’s triangle and explore plant ecological trade-offs.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

FEMS Summer School for Postdocs 2025 - FEMS Menu: Introduction – Applications – Programme This has been the most valuable and enjoyable scientific event I’ve attended so far. The atmosphere was incredible, with inspiring co-directors and mentor...

more info can be found from here fems-microbiology.org/about_fems/n...

FEMS Summer School for Postdocs 2025 - FEMS The FEMS Summer School for Postdocs aims to foster a mindset of translating cutting-edge technologies from the research bench to scalable industrial applications. It focuses on state-of-the-art techno...

fems-microbiology.org/opportunitie...

FEMS Summer School for Postdocs 2025 - FEMS Menu: Introduction – Applications – Programme This has been the most valuable and enjoyable scientific event I’ve attended so far. The atmosphere was incredible, with inspiring co-directors and mentor...

Microbiology Postdocs from all over Europe and the Globe!
🦠😎👍
Application for the FEMS SSPD 2025 “Harnessing microbial solutions in environmental research and One Health” is now open 👇
2 – 10 Sept 2025 on Lake Ohrid, North Macedonia
Co-Directors: Joana Falcao Salles and @luederslab.bsky.social

Xiu Jia @xiujia.bsky.social from Bas Dutil group at FSU Jena on When river meet the sea: bacterial community dynamics after coalescence
#NIME2025

🚨 Moved from last week to next Friday 28/02 at 15:30 EU time, Rinke van Tatenhove-Pel (TU Delft) talking about

Population dynamics in spatially structured environments

at the Population Dynamics Seminars!

To get the zoom link sites.google.com/view/popdyn/