Heterogeneity in microbial antibiotic responses: genetic basis and within-host evolution
@cp-trendsgenetics.bsky.social review by Qingyun Liu and Liang-Dong Lyu (吕亮东)
www.cell.com/trends/genet...
Congratulations Nela!
Enjoying that diet coke? Ever wondered what it is doing to bacteria living in your body? Here we examine the current evidence on how artificial sweeteners influence the microbiome and bacterial physiology & the gaps in research. @cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
I just published Don’t Perish! A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a Scientific Paper (2026 edition)
Great science deserves to be read—not buried under unclear writing. This is the updated 2026 edition of your favorite guide to writing scientific papers.
medium.com/p/dont-peris...
Come join us! 4 year PhD position in infection biology/microbiology available associated to our newly funded Clinical Academic Group “Patient-tailored management of bacterial infections in the age of antimicrobial resistance”. Applications via: www.jobbnorge.no/en/available.... @cansuit.bsky.social
DefensePredictor: A machine learning model to discover prokaryotic immune systems
#microbiology #prokaryotes #CRISPR #MicroSky
@science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Excited to share our new paper out today in @science.org 🎉
We show that HGT via natural competence drives diversification of chromosomal integrons in V. cholerae 🤩
Below a 🧵 on key findings incl. background on natural competence in V. cholerae 1/
#microsky #phagesky
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
And the preprint is out! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We compared plasmid conjugation in liquid and on solid across 13 AMR plasmids with different types of conjugative pili.
This paper started as an idea @albertomarina.bsky.social had many years ago… which of course means he was right all along 😄. Some of us just needed a few years (and a lot of experiments) to catch up.
Grateful (and slightly humbled) to be part of this. Thanks Alberto!
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
@ckellison.bsky.social this study is so cool! Congrats!
I am pleased to share my lab’s latest publication - Acinetobacter species lack canonical DNA repair pathway activation mechanisms, and we discovered a conserved transcriptional activator that fills this role: academic.oup.com/nar/article/...
Here’s the latest preprint from my work on evolved resistance to Type VI Secretion system (T6SS) weaponry, funded by a @wellcometrust.bsky.social Sir Henry Wellcome Fellowship. So happy to see this out!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Madness. A bacterium with a 10kb genome, lost replication initiation, translation.., relies on symbiotic host.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
It is a pleasure to announce the 4th UK MGE workshop will be in York on 23rd-24th June 2026! Registration is free and we are actively looking for contributors. Interested? If so, please register via the website and select the talk option
www.ukmgeworkshop.org
We look forward to seeing you in York!
People keep (wrongly) claiming the overturning of the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology by discoveries like reverse transcription
Crick predicted such modes of information transfer were perfectly possible
Reverse translation is where he drew the line. Nature has never invented it. But we now have
Horizontal gene transfer is often depicted as a process distributing pre-existing functions to novel genetic backgrounds. Yet HGT can also increase the rate of functional innovation after transfer. Here's a brief review on the topic: ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v... #evosky #microsky
Still not in the final format but couldn't wait to share it with you, after a long jpurney to get here. Our latest work (with @davidalbesa.bsky.social lab) on Tke5 T6SS toxin from my favourite bug P. putida KT2440. 🧵 1/5 www.nature.com/articles/s42...
Cyclic tri-adenylate signalling by a Panoptes anti-phage guard system with a CARF-TM effector www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03...
Selection-free whole genome transplantation revives dead microbes www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03...
"En biología, usamos mutantes para entender cómo funcionan las células y qué pasa cuando algo falla".
Artist’s impression of two large spinosaurus dinosaurs standing in shallow water during a smoky prehistoric wildfire scene, with flying reptiles overhead and one dinosaur roaring while the other stands nearby. Credit: Anthony Hutchings.
wearing round glasses, a green tweed jacket, white shirt, and patterned tie, smiling while seated in an office or lab workspace. Behind him are shelves with files, a computer monitor, and a fossil-like sculpture
Proud to celebrate our dinosaur expert Dr Neil Gostling and former student Thomas Land for their parts in the new Spielberg documentary The Dinosaurs on Netflix 🦕
Dr Gostling researched Spinosaurus habits, and Thomas was a science researcher.
Find out more: www.southampton.ac.uk/news/2026/03...
In our latest work, we characterise the Tmn defence system. We reveal plasmolysis as a new way to block phage infection, dramatically reducing secondary infections.
I’ve spent a lot of time over the past two years thinking about genome evolution and how recent research revealing complex gene-gene interactions has complicated traditional ‘gene-centric’ genomic approaches to evolution. So here is a review that consolidates these thoughts!
rdcu.be/e6pHY
I just made an account and voted for this biology laboratory made of LEGO to "promote biological research and inspire more people into the world of biology". They need 10K votes. Reposting and/or voting below would be helpful. 🤗
beta.ideas.lego.com/product-idea...
New pre-print with @wtmatlock.bsky.social!!!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
What shapes the distribution of plasmids across bacteria? Our paper shows that conjugative plasmids actually have a very narrow distribution compared to mobilizable plasmids. Conjugative systems restrict plasmid transfer!
Two cartoon images of children with plasmids for faces about to fight. Commentators are saying "Plasmid-borne CRISPR-Cas systems provide significant defensive benefits" and "Yes, but toxin-antitoxin systems on competitor plasmids constrain the offensive CRISPR-Cas benefit"
Out now in @plosbiology.org : our big joint effort on the role of #CRISPR in plasmid competition. Read on for a really fun (I’m biased ok) analysis of how a defence system has new selective pressures when it’s mobile
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/... 1/6
Xiaofeng combined 2D live-cell single-particle tracking with 3D simulations to specifically measure the bacterial nucleoid accessibility and viscosity! Our preprint describes how these nucleoid properties respond to cellular processes! Code is available too.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🚨 New pre-print! 🚨 In the largest study of its kind to-date, we investigate the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms driving within-patient evolution of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Read here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... , and follow along with this thread, discussing our findings (1/21)
