Nazir & @bramvandijk.bsky.social demonstrate how phage lifecycle dynamics and spatial heterogeneity drive mobile genetic element–gene associations, providing new insights into the evolution of phage-encoded virulence. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evag181 #societyjournal #virus

Viral Lifecycle Dynamics and Spatial Structure Explain Why Accessory Genes Are Associated With Temperate Phages

Abstract. Genes encoding for virulence factors are frequently found on prophages, yet the evolutionary forces driving this association remain unclear. The

doi.org

Happy to share our latest review on @isme-microbes.bsky.social. We discussed how (intra- or interpopulation) cell-cell distances shape microbial interactions and enable community-level outcomes. Several hypotheses are proposed and we are testing them! doi.org/10.1093/isme...

Influence of cell-cell distance on the ecology and evolution of microbial communities

Abstract. Microorganisms assemble into spatially structured communities in which neighboring cells are separated by highly heterogeneous cell-cell distance

doi.org

🦠 #Bacteria organise themselves to hitchhike across large distances @susiegriggo.bsky.social @flinders.university.bsky.social #chemotaxis #metagenomics #EnvironmentalMicrobiology

Bacteria organise themselves to hitchhike across large distances

Microbes rarely travel alone. In any given environment, millions of microbial species compete with each other for resources while locked in an endless state of warfare […]

dlvr.it

Starting with the DNA sequence of a #phage genome, #PholdAPhage will create a 3D reconstruction of the complete phage, almost like you did cryoEM on it! Check out Renee's awesome software github.com/reneegreen81... to assemble unknown phage particles one protein at a time

🦠 #Bacteria organise themselves to hitchhike across large distances @susiegriggo.bsky.social @flinders.university.bsky.social #chemotaxis #metagenomics #EnvironmentalMicrobiology

Bacteria organise themselves to hitchhike across large distances

Microbes rarely travel alone. In any given environment, millions of microbial species compete with each other for resources while locked in an endless state of warfare […]

dlvr.it

Bacteriophage continue to have so much to teach us. It's in our interest to understand how they work and impact human & environmental health. New joint work led by @mariandm.bsky.social & @rantahan.bsky.social inferring single-cell latent period & burst size heterogeneity from population dynamics.

Inferring single-cell heterogeneity of bacteriophage lysis-associated life-history traits from population-scale dynamics

Theory-guided experiments reveal single-cell heterogeneity of lysis-associated bacteriophage traits from population scale data.

science.org

Thanks for having me! I really enjoyed the discussion as well.

Dr. Kat Napaaqtuk❄️@napaaqtuk.bsky.social · 3w ago

Ok, highly recommend this online journal club. The discussion was really thoughtful and the wide variety of perspectives was enlightening. Thank you @lavishaparab.bsky.social for organizing!

@jeroenmeijer.bsky.social is presenting today on this paper. They studied the eco-evo dynamics in 10 paired open and closed communities with a focus on viral communities. bsky.app/profile/paul...

Paul Rainey@paulbrainey.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Pleased to see this beautiful paper out. Kudos to @jeroenmeijer.bsky.social who took @stevenquistad.bsky.social data and dug deep, revealing a new phage that erupts to astonishing abundance. As theory predicts, the life of SGEs is fuelled by encounters with new hosts www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

If you are interested in microbiomes, this is an excellent group of international researchers coming together to discuss current research.

Lavisha Parab@lavishaparab.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Hi #microbiomesky and #mevosky and also #phagesky maybe? Some of us want a microbiome journal club to catch up on microbiology/evolution related microbiome research. Monthly@15:00 CET/09:00 EST/18:30 IST or so Please text my LMU email address if you're interested (not typing it here to avoid spam)

Bacterial community adaptation after brackish and freshwater coalescence academic.oup.com/ismecommun/a... #jcampubs

For some reason people had less difficulty finding my poster than usual

Excited to share our new paper! Emanuele and @benjaminraach.bsky.social combine experiments and modelling to show that phage-mediated lysis can increase the growth rate of surviving bacteria by releasing resources back into the environment. 👇 www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

Phage-mediated lysis increases growth rate of surviving bacterial cells

Microbiology

cell.com

Enjoyed speaking about viruses driving state shifts in microbial communities at #VoM2026. All 120 seconds of it. Catch me this afternoon at poster 236 if you want to know more. #phagesky

🚨The program for MEEHubs2026 is now online, as is more detailed information about the hubs! Check it out at meehubs.org and register‼️ Less than a month before the conference kicks off! 🦠

Home

A hub-based conference on Microbial Ecology and Evolution

meehubs.org

Interested in a PhD on bacteriophages? Check out www.academictransfer.com/nl/jobs/3623... #phagesky if you are interested and also happen to be at #VOM2026, send me a dm

How do phages kill dormant bacteria

Are you excited about exploring the biology behind phages infecting dormant bacteria? Join forces to uncover fundamental biology with great potential for clinical impact. We offer a fully funded PhD p...

academictransfer.com

Final version is out! 🎉 Community state shifts driven by total carbon availability over resource complexity in a synthetic microbial community In ISME Communications with @teppo-h.bsky.social and coauthors. academic.oup.com/ismecommun/a...

Community state shifts driven by total carbon availability over resource complexity in a synthetic microbial community

Abstract. Even though complex microbial communities are ubiquitous and provide essential services for natural and human-associated ecosystems, our knowledg

academic.oup.com

Snel ruilen met Macron voor de mosasaurus, voordat het toch niét d’Artagnan blijkt te zijn? www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2026/...

Nog onduidelijk of gevonden skelet in Maastricht van ‘vierde musketier’ d’Artagnan is: ‘veel informatie verloren gegaan’

Archeologie: Onderzoekers van de gemeente Maastricht zeiden donderdag nog zeker zes maanden nodig te hebben om te bepalen of de in maart onder een kerk gevonden botten toebehoren aan de beroemde graaf...

nrc.nl

Exciting news! After a wonderful four years at @uni-jena.de, I'm excited to announce the next chapter as a group leader at @fzborstel.bsky.social and professor at @uni-kiel.de.

Balance of the Microverse@microverse.bsky.social · last mo.

Congratulations to @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social on her next career step! From July 1, she joins @fzborstel.bsky.social & @uni-kiel.de as Group Leader and Professor. We'll miss her interdisciplinary spirit and fungal expertise. Best of luck in Kiel and Borstel, Amelia! 🦠💻

🚨New paper alert 🚨 Here we tried to leverage an (incredible) metagenome time-series to better understand MGE diversity and activity in soil across decade(s). @scbagby.bsky.social has an amazing thread about this work with all the details - bsky.app/profile/scba...

Mobile genetic elements shape microbial diversity and functions in thawing permafrost soils - Nature Microbiology

An 8-year soil meta-omic time series shows how mobile genetic elements shape permafrost microbial diversity and impact a range of functions, including carbon and nutrient cycling.

nature.com

Sarah Bagby@scbagby.bsky.social · last mo.

Out today in Nature Microbiology: a paper that started in 2021 with an email from @sullivan-lab.bsky.social. Subject line: "Crazy ideas". www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/23

Out today in Nature Microbiology: a paper that started in 2021 with an email from @sullivan-lab.bsky.social. Subject line: "Crazy ideas". www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/23

I really value: the dynamics of community assembly on 2 contrasting C sources. Daily sampling of communities derived from compost & maintained over 8 wks. No difference in diversity maintained on simple or complex C. AmaZinG. 🙏 all enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Diverse Microbial Communities Assemble on Both Recalcitrant and Labile Carbon Sources

Taxonomically and functionally distinct communities assemble on cellulose and its monomer, glucose. Although single carbon sources were provided, high and comparable diversity was maintained in both ...

enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Diverse Microbial Communities Assemble on Both Recalcitrant and Labile Carbon Sources enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #jcampubs

Diverse Microbial Communities Assemble on Both Recalcitrant and Labile Carbon Sources

Taxonomically and functionally distinct communities assemble on cellulose and its monomer, glucose. Although single carbon sources were provided, high and comparable diversity was maintained in both ...

enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

#microsky #phagesky Years ago a stray temperate #phage lysogenised an E. coli mutant of mine unable to take in a Sia. The small portion of lysed cells was enough to predigest the Sia into catabolites the cells could take in and use for growth!!! And here I was 1/2 academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...

Bacteriophage-mediated cell lysis externalizes a metabolically valuable nutrient to broadly modulate bacterial communities

Abstract. Cobamides, including vitamin B12, are essential cofactors exchanged between organisms across diverse ecosystems including oceans, soils, and the

academic.oup.com

1/4. Excited to share the first preprint from my PhD at @binfutrecht.bsky.social and @uti-revisited.bsky.social 🐥. In this work, we explored the urinary tract microbiome composition (urobiome) by combining data from multiple metagenomic sequencing studies 💛🦠. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Cross-study metagenomics analysis reveals distinct microbial signatures of urinary tract infections

Background Urinary tract infections (UTIs) represent a major public health concern, increasingly complicated by rising antibiotic resistance, diminishing treatment efficacy, and increasing prevalence ...

biorxiv.org

New on Academic Renewal: early-career voices. I’d like to include written interviews with ECRs on publication pressure, career strategy, mentoring, metrics, and the pursuit of knowledge. Named or anonymous contributions welcome. DM is interested academicrenewal.substack.com/p/early-care...

Early-career voices

Academic renewal cannot be a conversation among senior academics alone.

academicrenewal.substack.com

Can we use ecological principles to increase coexistence in synthetic bacterial communities? Our new paper is now out in @isme-microbes.bsky.social: "Environmental complexity shapes maintenance of bacterial diversity through context-dependent interactions among niche axes" doi.org/10.1093/isme...

Environmental complexity shapes maintenance of bacterial diversity through context-dependent interactions among niche axes

Abstract. Microbial communities are often more species-rich than predicted from classical ecological models. The high levels of coexistence observed in nat

academic.oup.com

Very excited to share our new preprint, led by Alyssa Henderson! We ask why auxotrophy is so widespread in bacteria, and find that phylogeny is the dominant predictor of autotrophy, as opposed to environmental context. Check it out! 👇

Amino acid auxotrophy is a feature of a distinct bacterial lifestyle across environments

Amino acid auxotrophy, the loss of biosynthetic potential for an amino acid, is a highly prevalent feature of microbial life, yet the evolutionary processes driving its distribution in nature remain u...

doi.org

I’ve started Academic Renewal, a Substack on research culture, scholarship and the pursuit of knowledge. The first post asks how private concerns about academic life might become an open conversation about incentives, assessment and responsibility. academicrenewal.substack.com/p/why-academ...

Why academic renewal?

From private concern to shared conversation

academicrenewal.substack.com

Belatedly sharing an opinion piece with Kuni Kaneko. We propose that 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗼𝗴𝗺𝗮 is one instance of a more general pattern that has evolved repeatedly across levels of biological organisation. doi.org/10.1098/rstb...

Generalizing the central dogma as a cross-hierarchical principle of biology

Abstract. The central dogma of molecular biology, as originally proposed by Crick, asserts that information passed into protein cannot flow back out. This

doi.org