Phenazine Pride #PrideMonth #bacterial_pigments Agar art by Marina Smiley

New preprint from the lab led by Alex Dobrila! We show that butyrate-dependent toxin release in C. difficile is mediated by a broadly-conserved endolysin (EndD), which is under the control of the sporulation sigma factor SigK. Excited to share this story! 👇 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

EndD mediates butyrate-dependent toxin release in Clostridioides difficile

Clostridioides difficile is an urgent threat to human health. Current treatments for C. difficile infections (CDIs) are antibiotics and microbiome restoration therapy (MRT) for recurrent cases. Howeve...

biorxiv.org

“Who would benefit from the proposed [OMB] rules? For one, politically connected industries — including those that may want to obscure scientific links between their products and harmful health effects.” Good op-ed in @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/06/09/o...

Opinion | Trump’s Assaults on Scientific Research Just Got Worse

nytimes.com

Cultivating the Pride in Microbiology Network

Cultivating the Pride in Microbiology Network

Rising anti-2SLGBTQIA+ hostility creates a crisis of exclusion in science. Queer and Trans microbiologists often navigate their careers in isolation, facing systemic barriers that limit their retention. To counter this, we established the Pride in Microbiology Network in 2023. Here, we share strategies for building safe, decentralized networks beyond institutional and geographic borders and argue that resilient scientific ecosystems depend on diversity, inclusion, and support structures that enable 2SLGBTQIA+ scientists to remain, connect, and lead.

dlvr.it

tl,dr; Scientists no longer allowed to use federal funding to publish, attend meetings, or talk to the public. They cannot collaborate internationally. Grants can be cancelled for any reason, at any time, political appointees have a final say over what gets funded, and who gets funded.

Science Magazine@science.org · 2mo ago

The White House today announced it plans to make major changes in how the U.S. government manages research funding. https://scim.ag/43HgW4s

🧵 Public science in the US has taken some heavy hits over the last year, but the White House OMB is proposing a series of changes that will result in a TKO for science as we know it unless we fight back. Here's what's happening, and why it matters. 1/n

🧪More information will be forthcoming about this *critical* development, and the Federal Register website will be open for public comments tomorrow. Thanks to @standupforscience.net for sounding the alarm. Background: an op-ed from @cdelawalla.bsky.social et al www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Trump’s new ‘gold standard’ rule will destroy American science as we know it | Colette Delawalla

The new executive order allows political appointees to undermine research they oppose, paving the way for state-controlled science

theguardian.com

Stand Up for Science!@standupforscience.net · 2mo ago

BREAKING: New proposed OMB regulation, applying to all federal grants, requiring grant reviews by senior political appointees and re-emphasizes that "peer review remains advisory and does not replace agency discretion". #standupforscience public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-10817.pdf

“Units of the NIH are privately directing grantees to request permission in advance for any co-authorship with a scholar affiliated with a foreign institution, even if all the work was done in the United States.” Grantees also told to remove papers with foreign authors from progress reports.

U.S. researchers face new restrictions on publishing with foreign collaborators

NIH, NASA grantees are confused and concerned amid agencies’ piecemeal communication

science.org

Nice piece that includes my colleague Kevan’s pioneering research. Yet another reason to fund more science, not less! How an ‘Impossible’ Idea Led to a Pancreatic Cancer Breakthrough www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/h...

How an ‘Impossible’ Idea Led to a Pancreatic Cancer Breakthrough

nytimes.com

Demographics of the PIs of suspended NIH grants drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2026/05/06/d...

Demographics of the PIs of suspended NIH grants

A new paper in the Lancet by Fielding-Miller and colleagues reports on the principal investigators of grants that were terminated from January to May in 2025. This includes terminations based on th…

drugmonkey.wordpress.com

Fabulous work from @amelia-mckitterick.bsky.social using phages to better understand the bacterial cell envelope! #phagesky

Amelia McKitterick@amelia-mckitterick.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Happy to share the finalized version of my paper on phage lysis in bacteria with unique envelopes! 🎉 Bacteriophages target membrane-anchored glycopolymers to promote host cell lysis and progeny release www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

The next International Conference on Gram-Positive Bacteria will take place between 29 June – 2 July 2027 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. #subtiwiki

The Bourgeois Lab is recruiting a postdoc to work on our DoD-funded human genetics project aimed at understanding Lyme disease outcomes. wpi.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/WPI_External...

My NIH update Let me start by saying again how glad I am that NIH is now posting these curves on the Reporter front page. It is satisfying that leading by example from outside has led to this change and (I hope) reflects a commitment for NIH_leadership™ to hold itself accountable for this. 1/6

NIH Fellowship awards for FY2025 by race drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2026/03/19/n...

NIH Fellowship awards for FY2025 by race

The NIH Data Book page reporting Research Project Grants (RPG) and Fellowship awards by race has been updated for FY2025. Completely unsurprisingly, despite the impression that may have been convey…

drugmonkey.wordpress.com

Congress rejected massive cuts to US science budgets for 2026, but much of the money still isn’t flowing to researchers. The culprit? The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is quietly slow-walking the release of funds. 🧵👇

White House stalls release of approved US science budgets

The US Congress rejected sweeping cuts to science agencies. But the NIH, the NSF and NASA have had their spending slowed.

nature.com

BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide. This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.

The CspC:CspA heterodimer transduces germinant and co-germinant signals during Clostridioides difficile spore germination dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

The CspC:CspA heterodimer transduces germinant and co-germinant signals during Clostridioides difficile spore germination

Unlike other bacteria, C. difficile must detect both a germinant signal and a co-germinant signal to trigger spore germination, but how these cues are sensed is unknown. This study finds that the CspC...

dx.plos.org

This Friday, February 13th, we'll have our first ☕️ Coffee Hours ☕️ event of the year at 12-1 PM (EST)! Check your emails for the Zoom link. If you're not yet signed up for our newsletter, you can do so at prideinmicrobiology.github.io! 🏳️‍🌈 #PrideInSTEM #Microbiology #PrideinMicrobiology

Do you: 1) Live near/in Buffalo? 2) Like to organize stuff? 3) Hate what the government is doing to science? If you answered yes, help me organize the Stand Up for Science rally on March 7th! I need reps from UB, Buff State, Canisius, D’Youville to spread the word. I need general support. DM me!

Postdoc position available in my lab! Project will focus on how the microbiome-derived metabolite butyrate shapes C. difficile fitness and pathogenesis & will build on our previous/ongoing work in this space. Apply here: hr.wisc.edu/postdoc-and-...

Postdoc, Postgrad, and Research Intern Vacancies

Browse Postoc and Research Intern vacancies at UW–Madison.

hr.wisc.edu

Very cool analysis of sporulation genes in the Paenibacillaceae from the @heatherfeaga.bsky.social group! 🤩

George O'Toole (he/him/his)@geiselbiofilm.bsky.social · 6mo ago

rince & JB Editor's Choice: Lin, Prince & Feaga identified sporulation genes via analyzing almost 1500 genomes. They show that that an unusual membrane-localized variant of Spo0B is found throughout Paenibacillaceae. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... @asm.org #JBacteriology

rince & JB Editor's Choice: Lin, Prince & Feaga identified sporulation genes via analyzing almost 1500 genomes. They show that that an unusual membrane-localized variant of Spo0B is found throughout Paenibacillaceae. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... @asm.org #JBacteriology

We are hiring postdocs :)

Unlike other #bacteria, C. difficile must detect both germinant & co-germinant signals to trigger #spore #germination. This study finds that the CspC:CspA complex is a key signaling node that integrates environmental cues to regulate #Cdifficile spore germination @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4rtCKdZ

My department at Washington State University is recruiting an Assistant or Associate Professor in vector-borne disease 🕷️🦟🦠 Full job description is linked below. Come join us on the Palouse!

📢 🏳️🌈🦠 We are expanding our matching program for 2SLGBTQIA+ microbiologists! Whether you need a mentor, a collaborator, or community support, we can help you. 🔗 Mentorship & Geo-matching: tinyurl.com/5cdyppys 🔗 Research Interest Groups: tinyurl.com/4p88bm4k #Microbiology #QueerInSTEM

You may have voted for him. You may have supported what he said Operation Metro Surge was going to be. But it’s okay to say you changed your mind. It’s okay to say he’s gone too far.

Can’t do good science in an unfree country. Defund ICE.

Mark Peifer (He, him)@peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 6mo ago

If you are a scientist funded by NIH and agree that if the HHS/NIH bill is held hostage by linkage for funding to DHS/ICE, we need to shutdown both and save lives, its time to speak up. Right now, with a few exceptions, the silence is deafening

Donald Trump and Kristi Noem think you will believe them over your own eyes. No. Alex Pretti wasn't a terrorist. He was a VA nurse. When agents pushed a woman to the ground, he tried to help her up. His last words were “Are you okay?” Enough. Kristi Noem should resign.