So cool!

Joshua Weitz@joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 3w ago

Over time we learned more (and more to come) about how chemotaxis drives bacteria forward, and how by killing bacteria in the center, the phage leave a zone of relatively high nutrients & chemoattractants. Bacteria migrate to this zone, and yet, it is a (moving) trap.

Viruses have parasites too. Our new preprint shows how phages use VIPR to silence parasitic satellites, and how the satellites fight back with its own decoy VIPR RNAs that redirect VIPR to DNA REP elements in the host genome!! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

I'm excited to share that my first paper is finally out and about! We unpack how the resource cost of traits varies across environments. I did this work during my MSc at UBC @ubcbiodiversity.bsky.social, @zoology.ubc.ca. I'm grateful for all I learned from @sarperotto.bsky.social in this journey.

PLOS Biology@plosbiology.org · 3w ago

Physiological trade-offs make traits costly, but resource requirements vary. This study by @sarperotto.bsky.social @javadmeghrazi.bsky.social &co uses a unified energy-proteome allocation framework to predict costs and growth across environmental conditions. 🧪 #AcademicSky plos.io/4k5TlUA

Our review from the @uti-revisited.bsky.social consortium is out in @lancetmicrobe.bsky.social 🥳. We bring together the urinary tract microbiome and its (often overlooked) role in infections. Understanding this could improve UTI diagnosis and treatment. 🦠🔗👤 www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Role of the urobiome in urinary tract infections: current knowledge and research prospects

Urinary tract infections (UTIs), particularly cystitis, are among the most common bacterial infections worldwide, with a disproportionate burden on adult female individuals, who often have recurrence....

thelancet.com

It's alive! Excited to share the preprint of our PLT regeneration paradox research, where we uncover how the dosage of PLT is translated into regeneration competence of the root apex 🌱 @binfutrecht.bsky.social @kalikaprasad.bsky.social @violawillemsen.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Thrilled to share this pre-print from an exciting collaboration with @bnashby.bsky.social, @asherleeks.bsky.social and @bramvandijk.bsky.social! Viral cheats that emerge through social evolution, under vertical transmission as proviruses, become defense systems to their hosts.

Bram van Dijk 🏳️‍🌈@bramvandijk.bsky.social · 4w ago

New preprint from our lab, with @sultannazir.bsky.social! 🚨 Defense systems in pro- and eukaryotes are often derived from the very parasites they now defend against. Here we show how this all starts with the emergence of cheaters in parasite populations! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Out Now! Bacterial growth rate in populations and single cells #MicroSky

Bacterial growth rate in populations and single cells

Nature Microbiology, Published online: 17 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02449-6In this Perspective, Levin and Wang give a brief history of bacterial growth rate and discuss how it is connected to nutrient availability and macromolecule synthesis, with a focus on (p)ppGpp as a central hub regulating resource allocation and, indirectly, growth rate at the single-cell level.

go.nature.com

Meet GEValT! Germline Engineering by Viral transduction! No more injections www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Infectious transgenesis in arthropods

In the last decade, there has been an explosion in the development of in vivo germline genetic editing technologies in arthropods, first pioneered by the Receptor-Mediated Ovary Transduction of Cargo ...

biorxiv.org

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

🚨 New paper with @bramvandijk.bsky.social, out now in Genome Biology and Evolution! Why do accessory genes so often hitch a ride on temperate phages? We show that spatial structure alone can tip selection toward a prophage locus over a chromosomal one. doi.org/10.1093/gbe/... 🧵 Two mechanisms:

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

Thousands of young people from India’s Cockroach Janta Party are marching on parliament. It’s the latest protest movement that has been sweeping across the Global South - the young who feel they’re being ignored by the elite.

Jantar Mantar, CJP, parliament: Thousands of youth-led 'cockroach' protesters march in Delhi

Delhi police say the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protesters, who want education reforms, don't have permission for the march.

bbc.co.uk

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

Thrilled that our paper "Eco-evolutionary dynamics of massive, parallel bacteriophage outbreaks in compost communities" is out! 🎉🦠🧬 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... w/ @paulbrainey.bsky.social, Petros Skiadas, Paulien Hogeweg, @bedutilh.bsky.social

Eco-evolutionary dynamics of massive, parallel bacteriophage outbreaks in compost communities

A single bacteriophage can dominate microbial communities yet only evolves when migration changes its ecological context.

science.org

Some snaps from trails around the SFU and UBC campuses from the last 2 months. Vancouver is beautiful 😭

Proud of @ehauptfeld.bsky.social for receiving the Young Investigator Award by @biosb.bsky.social, in recognition to her PhD achievements in research and education! Very well deserved, and congratulations! @ubc-uu.bsky.social @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social

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!

With Eugene Koonin, we wrote a rather comprehensive review on the origin, evolution and organization of the #virosphere. We describe all 10 viral realms and the logic behind them, and so much more. Check it out! comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/biologies/ar...

The Social Lives of Viruses is coming to Vancouver, Canada, from 4th-8th August 2026! This is a free meeting dedicated to all aspects of virus-virus interactions & evolution. To apply: socialviruses.zoology.ubc.ca @sociovirology.bsky.social #socialviruses #evosky #lovevirology #virosky

Very excited with the online publication of our modeling work on the evolution of sexual reproduction during obligate endosymbiosis: doi.org/10.1098/rstb.... The first publication of Alkmini Zania 🎉; together with Paulien Hogeweg.

Phd Position alert 🚨 Join our project ASTRAfun (Adaptation and Starship Traffic in Root-Associated fungi), in which we will use computational models to unveil the hidden dynamics of fungal evolution. It’s not going to be just regular fun. It’s going to ASTRAfun. 🤓 www.uu.nl/en/organisat...

PhD Position in Computational Modelling of Fungal Evolution

How do giant mobile elements called ‘Starships’ reshape fungal plant pathogens? Help us computationally model their spread and impact in nature and agriculture!

uu.nl

With @saramitri.bsky.social, @sonjalehtinen.bsky.social and L. Lehmann we’ve launched the UNIL Center for Theory in Ecology and Evolution @unil.bsky.social🇨🇭 To kick things off, we’re offering short visiting fellowships for theorists in ecology & evolution. Apply & pls RP 😀 tinyurl.com/2wem36zz

➡️ preprint from the lab! Bacteria have loads of antiviral defences in their mobile genetic elements (MGEs). So when MGEs move between bacteria, the defences move with them, generating a fast turnover of defences in bacteria. But what about the antiviral defence turnover in the MGEs themselves? 🤔 🧵👇

In case you missed it: our review titled "Spatial structure: shaping the ecology and evolution of microbial communities" is out! 🚨 Let me hit you with some highlights on why spatial structure matters. (and why you should care!) Sharing is appreciated 🙏 🧵👇 doi.org/10.1093/fems...

Most microbes don't live in shaking flasks; spatial structure shapes how microbes interact and evolve at every scale, as we discuss in our recent review @jeroenmeijer.bsky.social @simonvanvliet.bsky.social @bedutilh.bsky.social @bramvandijk.bsky.social and others academic.oup.com/femsre/artic... 🧵👇

Spatial structure: shaping the ecology and evolution of microbial communities

Spatial structure naturally emerges in microbial communities, shaping growth, interactions, and evolution, and revealing how microscale processes scale up

academic.oup.com

Now officially published in Current Biology 🥳🥳 @mfseidl.bsky.social @binfutrecht.bsky.social www.cell.com/current-biol...

Extensive horizontal transfer of transposable elements shapes fungal mobilomes

Romeijn et al. reveal that horizontal transposon transfer is widespread in fungi, contributing up to 70% of transposon content in some taxa. The authors uncover thousands of events across diverse line...

cell.com

Josje Romeijn@jromeijn.bsky.social · last yr.

The first paper of my PhD is now available as a preprint! 🎉 Transposable elements (TEs) don't just jump within fungal genomes, they also move extensively between species. In this study, we screened over 1,300 fungal genomes and found a conservative estimate of 5,500+ horizontal transfer events.

Welcome to Bluesky, @pieterhart.bsky.social! Pieter just joined my group as a PhD student studying bacterial genome evolution—exciting years ahead! Here he is enjoying a chat about his MSc work (w/ @kassipan.bsky.social & @ettema.bsky.social) at Science4Life @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social 🧬🦠✨

🚨#PhD studentship opportunity! Plasmids provide bacteria with antimicrobial resistance, but do they have more fundamental effects on behaviour? 🧫🦠💫🧟‍♂️ Apply for a 4y funded MRC DiMeN position with me and Jamie Wheeler @livuni-ives.bsky.social www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Resistant zombies: how drug-resistance plasmids manipulate the behaviour of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa at University of Liverpool on Fin...

PhD Project - MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Resistant zombies: how drug-resistance plasmids manipulate the behaviour of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa at University of Li...

findaphd.com

Followed by more interesting science about phages by @sultannazir.bsky.social

Excited to present work from my preprint at #SMBI2025 @uni-jena.de on September 18th. I will be speaking on how spatial structure can explain the association of microbial accessory genes with inducible prophages. asb-conference.hki-jena.de/schedule/

Schedule – Applied Systems Biology Symposia

Emmanuel Saliba, University of Würzburg, Germany.

asb-conference.hki-jena.de

Excited to share new #program, STEPS, which can simulate #dynamics of the E. coli Long-Term Evolution Experiment (#LTEE) or other microbes in serial transfer regime. telliamedrevisited.wordpress.com/2025/08/12/s... STEPS developed by @devinmlake.bsky.social, Zachary Matson, Minako Izutsu, and me.

STEPS To It

Announcing a new program, called STEPS, to simulate the dynamics of evolving microbial populations.

telliamedrevisited.wordpress.com