Excited to launch our ERC project ImmuneCellState 🚀 We’ll investigate how individual plant cells respond to pathogens and explore new dimensions of plant immunity research by integrating single-cell/spatial omics, deep learning and genome editing. @thesainsburylab.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu

European Research Council (ERC)@erc.europa.eu · last wk.

📣 Good news! 📣 Results of the ERC 2026 Starting Grant call are out! Funding worth a total of €705 million will go to 421 early-career researchers across Europe. Discover who, what and where 👉 link.europa.eu/9M3MmN 🧪 #ERCStG #FrontierResearch #HorizonEurope 🇪🇺 @scienceinnovation.ec.europa.eu

VACANCY - Funded by @European Research Council (ERC), we have three exciting opportunities for Postdoctoral Researchers to join the newly appointed Dr @hassansalem.bsky.social Group. These roles span: Developmental biology - https://okt.to/nq50wC 🧵

Looking for BGCs in large metagenomic datasets? Our new biorxiv preprint introduces metaSMASH, a scalable fork of antiSMASH designed specifically for metagenome-scale BGC detection and analysis : www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/... Thanks @canerbagci.bsky.social and @kblin.bsky.social ❤️

metaSMASH: Scalable Biosynthetic Gene Cluster Detection for Large Metagenomic Assemblies

antiSMASH is widely used for biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) detection and annotation, but its standard workflow is poorly suited to large metagenomic assemblies, where massive contig counts create severe runtime bottlenecks and complicate downstream result exploration. We present metaSMASH, a re-engineered fork of antiSMASH for metagenome-scale BGC analysis. metaSMASH preserves the original antiSMASH detection and annotation logic while introducing streaming, memory-bounded execution, record-level parallelisation, optional output filtering, and an interactive dashboard for large result sets. Across 25 benchmark metagenome datasets, metaSMASH reproduced identical BGC detection results while dramatically reducing computational cost. Relative to the default antiSMASH configuration, metaSMASH was a geometric-mean 38x faster. It also outperformed an ad hoc chunked antiSMASH workflow: in the default configuration it achieved a geometric-mean 2.9x speed-up and 1.7x lower peak memory, and with extended-analysis modules enabled it was 2.7x faster and used 3.1x less memory while completing all datasets, whereas the ad hoc workflow ran out of memory on the two largest assemblies. By substantially reducing the computational burden of large-scale metagenome analysis without sacrificing result equivalence, metaSMASH makes routine mining of assembled metagenomes more practical and provides a scalable foundation for natural product discovery from complex microbial communities. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. German Center for Infection Research, TTU Novel Antibiotics 09.716 Volkswagen Foundation, 0072511-00

biorxiv.org

⭐Postdoc position available⭐ How do symbionts evolve new beneficial functions? Join the Henry Lab to investigate how horizontal gene transfer drives host–microbe symbioses. 🦠 Apply below Enquiries: l.henry@qmul.ac.uk Please share! #Postdoc #EvolutionaryBiology #Symbiosis henry-lab.co.uk

Really excited to have this work out as a preprint. Great experiment with great colleagues, special shout out to the fantastic job done by Brian Trevelline and Andrew Moeller www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Gut microbiota promote early-life digestive function in songbirds

The vertebrate digestive tract harbors complex microbial communities whose influences on phenotypes and fitness in non-model organisms remain poorly understood. Here, we show that colonization with gu...

biorxiv.org

Our research in a nutshell 🧬🌱🦠🔬 Visit our lab website to learn more: noborilab.org

The Sainsbury Laboratory@thesainsburylab.bsky.social · 2mo ago

What happens when plants are attacked by microbes, and how do they defend themselves without specialised or mobile immune cells? Watch the video to learn more about how the @tatsuyanobori.bsky.social group is decoding plant immunity, cell by cell: www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1wT...

Wonderful opportunity in an incredibly supportive team!!

Joris M. Koene@joriskoene.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Are you a biologist with experience in and enthusiasm for imaging and -omics techniques? Apply for working in Amsterdam (@vuamsterdam.bsky.social) on the exciting topic of socially transferred materials! 🐌 🐸 🐜🧬🔬 workingat.vu.nl/vacancies/po...

We are excited to announce that @berasymbionts.bsky.social's group is fully operational at TSL, with their beetles now happy in the insectary! Aileen's research program focuses on the three-way molecular dialogue between fungi, insects and plants 🍄‍🟫🪲🌱 Full video here: buff.ly/PEk4PAJ

Our paper "Gene ancestries reveal diverse microbial associations during eukaryogenesis.” is finally out in Nature. Eukaryogenesis was likely a gradual process shaped by multiple microbial partners and virus-mediated gene transfer, rather than a single binary symbiosis. doi.org/10.1038/s415...

We are proud to share that Ruth Ley @microbiome.bsky.social , Director of the Department of Microbiome Science, has been elected Fellow of The Royal Society @royalsociety.org . Congratulations!!!

Ruth Ley elected Fellow of the Royal Society

bio.mpg.de

Another fantastic science night at @pintofscience.uk, with speakers from @uniofeastanglia.bsky.social and @johninnescentre.bsky.social 🧪🌱 Grab some tickets for the last night (tonight) before they're gone! pintofscience.co.uk/event/you-ar... #pint26

Welcome @tinaschreier.bsky.social 🎉🎊 Excited to have you in Norwich & @johninnescentre.bsky.social soon!!

John Innes Centre@johninnescentre.bsky.social · 4mo ago

NEWS - New group leader to shed light on supercharged photosynthesis We are pleased to announce that Dr Tina Schreier will join the John Innes Centre as a tenure-track Group Leader in July 2026: www.jic.ac.uk/news/new-gro...

An exciting opportunity to join Dr Schreier's new group as a postdoctoral researcher is open for applications until 15 June 2026: www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/po...

Postdoctoral Researcher | John Innes Centre

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the newly starting Schreier group at the John Innes Centre, working on cutting-edge science in the field of photosynthesis…

jic.ac.uk

NEWS - New group leader to shed light on supercharged photosynthesis We are pleased to announce that Dr Tina Schreier will join the John Innes Centre as a tenure-track Group Leader in July 2026: www.jic.ac.uk/news/new-gro...

GetGenome wiki A living, open science database of bacterial, fungal and plant genomes sequenced through the GetGenome programme for global genomic equity. getgenome-wiki.net/campaigns/

📣 New preprint on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social: Bacteria rewire fungal antimicrobial gene expression in microbial arms races www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/... This work, led by outstanding @jinyi-zhu.bsky.social, shows that bacteria suppress fungal antimicrobial protein expression to evade antagonism

Fungi deploy antimicrobial proteins (AMPs) to compete with microbes, including bacteria. But can bacteria fight back? We @teamthomma.bsky.social found that some AMP-sensitive bacteria can repress AMP deployment, suggesting an unrecognized bacterial–fungal arms race. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Spotted in Nairobi: Paederus beetle! This tiny insect harbors symbiotic bacteria that produce pederin, a potent toxin used for defense. 🤩 #Symbiosis #beetles 🇰🇪

Join the EMBO Global Lecture "Genome dynamics across environmental and cellular reprogramming" by Gianni Liti at the National Health Research Institutes in Miaoli #Taiwan on 28 April. 🧪

🎉New paper out from the lab, led by @baptistepiqueret.bsky.social: ant larvae chemically suppress the reproduction of their caregivers. bit.ly/4t8uZLG An example of how social interactions are regulated at the molecular level. The work was made possible by the unique environment @mpi-ce.bsky.social

Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology@mpi-ce.bsky.social · 5mo ago

A research team from @yukoulrich.bsky.social‘s lab at our institute has identified the first brood pheromone in ants—thereby proving that larvae of clonal raider ants actively influence the colony’s reproduction cycle. www.ice.mpg.de/550783/PR_Pi...

We’re in for a treat today. Our seminar speaker is Christine Strullu-Derrien: “Early terrestrial microorganisms revealed through advanced imaging techniques.” Exploring the insane hundreds-of-millions-of-years timescales that we rarely think about.

New preprint out! 🚀 biorxiv.org/content/10.6... We mapped how septins organise infection in the rice blast fungus—and found they are far more dynamic than previously thought. Thread 👇 #FungalPathogenesis #CellBiology #septins

I will probably be hiring either a PhD or a Postdoc in the near future. If you are interested in deep biochemical history or molecular mechanisms of evolution please get in touch.

What an amazing #Fungal26✨ Feeling very inspired– thank you to everyone who shared science and ideas! Thank you to the organisers for my poster award, @gensocuk.bsky.social for sponsoring my attendance and huge thank you @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social for these past years! I will miss the Talbot Lab.

Ants are experts at telling nestmates from foreigners via subtle differences in odor profiles. In this new paper, we explore the conditions under which ants develop and maintain tolerance to foreigners. Turns out the ant recognition system is surprisingly plastic. www.cell.com/current-biol...

Tolerance toward foreigners in ants requires chronic exposure for establishment but only sporadic exposure for maintenance

Bailly et al. show that ants learn to tolerate genetically distinct non-nestmates through prolonged exposure. Once established, this tolerance persists with occasional re-encounters with ants of the s...

cell.com

My first podcast 😅 on how decoding the smell of organisms could help us to find solutions to protect crops in agriculture, and improve plant, animal, and human health by detecting diseases before symptoms appear! @Cornell @CornellEnto @CornellAgriTech youtu.be/szTAWwYC5bc

How can scent molecules identify stressed plants and offer clues about human and animal health?

YouTube video by Cornell University

youtu.be

Here is the Cornell Chronicle article about our PNAS paper on the evolution of milkweed toxins (N,S-cardenolides), to which the monarch butterfly is sensitive, despite being co-evolved with milkweeds! @cornellentomology.bsky.social news.cornell.edu/stories/2026...

Milkweed evolves ‘mind-blowing’ tactic to fight monarchs | Cornell Chronicle

Milkweed has found a new strategy in its epic evolutionary battle with monarch butterflies: structurally upgrading its toxins to outmaneuver monarchs' resistance.

news.cornell.edu

Exciting news! New findings from TSL and international collaborators reveal that the wheat receptor WAI3 forms an octameric resistosome, offering fresh insights into plant immune system structures and functions 🌱 @jonathandgjones.bsky.social @kamounlab.bsky.social www.tsl.ac.uk/news/breakth...

Breakthrough study in plant immunity reveals previously unsuspected…

The wheat WAI3 receptor forms a novel defence-activating resistosome made of eight molecules, as revealed by an international collaboration led by The Sainsbury Laboratory

tsl.ac.uk

That’s a wrap on our Mechanics of Symbiosis meeting in Heidelberg 🎉 Had an amazing time organizing this with @berasymbionts.bsky.social, @floravincent.bsky.social & Tom Richards. Safe trip home everyone! #EESSymbiosis @events.embl.org

EMBL Events@events.embl.org · 6mo ago

Welcome to Day 1 of #EESSymbiosis! ✨ 🔬🧫 From host cells to insects and marine unicellular eukaryotes, today’s discussions showcased innovative methods in symbiosis research. We’re excited to take you along on this journey as we explore the fascinating complexities of symbiotic function.

We found that Rickia wasmannii, known from Myrmica workers, also infects queens, males, and larvae, with spillover to nest associates (incl. Lomechusa). doi.org/10.1007/s000... Complex dynamics in the ant microcosm --> more ant–fungus work coming @insectessociaux.bsky.social @dhaelewa.bsky.social