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Sam Brown

@brownlab.bsky.social

Evolutionary microbiologist. Bacterial social life, virulence, drug resistance.

6 Posts317 Follower158 Folgt
Sam Brown@brownlab.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Congrats @emehlferber.bsky.social and team! This is one of my fave visualizations: summarizing how PA “sees” some environments as more or less similar based on shared genomic signatures. Chronic infections cluster tightly, but are still distinguishable by a smaller set of features.

Force-directed network where each node is an environment category and edges indicate stronger similarity in model-derived genomic signatures (shared directionally consistent features). Chronic lung environments cluster closely; acute infection categories form a looser cluster; non-host environments are more separated.
Eli Mehlferber@emehlferber.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Hey all! Happy to finally join everyone here on Bluesky, and also to share the culmination of my longest-running postdoc project, now on bioRxiv: “Apparent generalism in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is underpinned by convergent cryptic specialization.” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

David Sünderhauf@davvi36.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I also often think "hang on, is this defence system actually there for phage defence?" Great work both!

Ellinor Alseth@ellinoralseth.bsky.social · 3mo ago

When is an antiphage mechanism an evolved defence adaptation? This question has been on my mind for so long, because despite the field’s rapid progress there is currently no widely agreed framework in place to answer it. So @brownlab.bsky.social and I wrote this, and I'm happy to share the preprint!

Sam Brown@brownlab.bsky.social · 3mo ago

This was a really fun collaboration and I learnt a ton, including how much more we have to learn about defense mechanisms (or are they attack mechanisms? or alt-hypothesis-here mechanisms?). Such a great arena for interdisc. work. Thanks @ellinoralseth.bsky.social for getting me on board!

Ellinor Alseth@ellinoralseth.bsky.social · 3mo ago

When is an antiphage mechanism an evolved defence adaptation? This question has been on my mind for so long, because despite the field’s rapid progress there is currently no widely agreed framework in place to answer it. So @brownlab.bsky.social and I wrote this, and I'm happy to share the preprint!

Sheyda Azimi@sazimi.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Recent work from the lab showing how presence of O-antigen deficient Pseudomonas variants change aggregate assembly and microbiogeography of infection journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Whole-tissue imaging reveals intrastrain diversity shapes the spatial organization of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a murine infection model | mSphere

Intrastrain genetic and phenotypic diversity within Pseudomonas aeruginosa populations is common in chronic pulmonary infections. While this intrastrain heterogeneity is a hallmark of chronic infection, its consequences for the spatial organization of P. aeruginosa within the airways remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that the loss of O-specific antigen in a subpopulation of P. aeruginosa significantly alters the spatial architecture of P. aeruginosa, without changing the total population size or composition. Using a combination of tissue clearing and hybridization chain reaction RNA-FISH in a murine lung infection model, we mapped the localization of genetically distinct P. aeruginosa variants in mixed populations in vivo. These findings reveal that genetic diversification within a strain can reshape the infection landscape at the micron scale, highlighting the overlooked role of intrastrain dynamics in shaping the microbiogeography of infections and influencing host-pathogen interactions.

journals.asm.org

Center for Microbial Dynamics and Infection@cmdi.bsky.social · 8mo ago

A bacterial predator, Halobacteriovorax, acts as a living "probiotic" that halts Vibrio-induced disease progression in endangered Caribbean corals. This shows microbial predators are promising new tools for coral disease therapy! #CoralReefs #MicrobialEcology #ISMEJ academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...

Halobacteriovorax halts disease progression in endangered Caribbean corals

Abstract. Predation is a top-down regulator of ecosystem integrity and a key driver of community structure and evolution in plants and animals. Despite our

academic.oup.com

Ellinor Alseth@ellinoralseth.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Very happy to see this piece out in @plosbiology.org, on the bacterial immune systems and microbial communities. It was a great team effort with Rafael Custodio, @brockhurstlab.bsky.social , @brownlab.bsky.social, and Edze Westra! 🦠🧫 #phagesky #mevosky journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Bacterial immune systems as causes and consequences of microbiome structure

Bacterial immune systems have evolved in response to diverse molecular "parasites", yet their ecological roles remain poorly understood. This Essay explores how interactions between mobile genetic ele...

journals.plos.org

PLOS Biology@plosbiology.org · 9mo ago

The ecological roles of bacterial #immune systems are poorly understood. Rafael Custodio @ellinoralseth.bsky.social @brockhurstlab.bsky.social @brownlab.bsky.social & Edze Westra explore how mobile genetic elements and bacterial defenses shape #microbiome structure and function 🧪

Bacterial immune systems as causes and consequences of microbiome structure

Bacterial immune systems have evolved in response to diverse molecular "parasites", yet their ecological roles remain poorly understood. This Essay explores how interactions between mobile genetic…

plos.io

Sam Brown@brownlab.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Thanks Andrew, @jrchandler.bsky.social and @ajaidandekar.bsky.social for great commentary! I totally agree, so much more to do. One exciting prospect is using regulatory wiring knowledge to improve our abilities to predict bug behaviors 'in the wild'. Our fig 7B is encouraging start, IMO.

Ajai Dandekar@ajaidandekar.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Andrew Frando, @jrchandler.bsky.social, and I wrote a primer about excellent work done in Sam Brown's group @brownlab.bsky.social journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...