Great talks from PhD students this week at #PASS2026 and many congratulations to the organisers on putting together a fantastic conference. Very proud of Sara Çakaj for speaking about her hard work🌟
Lucy Crouch
@lucyicm.bsky.social
🦠Scientist 🧪loves gut microbes and CAZymes. Sir Henry Dale fellow at the IMI, University of Birmingham.
Excited to be speaking at the new ‘Microbes in Microbiomes’ @microbiologysociety.org meeting in Florida International University Miami ☀️🌴many thanks to School of Infection, Inflammation and Immunology, CMH, and the Global Engagement team for supporting this trip @unibirmingham.bsky.social 🦠🌎 #MiM26
I was so lovely to meet people @molmicrosheffield.bsky.social and chat about science with @iandealidbury.bsky.social and co, thanks so much for the invite
Molecular Microbiology, University of Sheffield@molmicrosheffield.bsky.social · 8mo agoLast thursday we had the pleasure of hosting @lucyicm.bsky.social for our seminar series. #glycobiology #infantmilkoligos #gutmicrobtiota
💎MRC AIM PhD advert💎 Uncharted territory - the Akkermansia muciniphila import system. Liang Wu, David Tourigny, and I are looking for someone to work on how A. muciniphila imports mucin. www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Uncharted territory - the Akkermansia muciniphila import system at University of Birmingham on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - Uncharted territory - the Akkermansia muciniphila import system at University of Birmingham, listed on FindAPhD.com
findaphd.com
Absolutely delighted to have been awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship! I will be moving to the University of Manchester @mermanchester.bsky.social to research early endosymbiont evolution #microsky #symbiosky
The Royal Society@royalsociety.org · 9mo agoMeet the new cohort of exceptional researchers who have been awarded more than £83 million worth of early career fellowships by the Royal Society, working on research spanning the sciences: #RSGrants: https://bit.ly/49jMkKx
Our group has a PhD position available in 'The vaginal microbiota – understanding how this microbial community forms'. warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fa... There are also many other amazing projects to choose between from other groups, so check out the MIBTP website!
Dr Lucy Crouch
Dr Lucy Crouch
warwick.ac.uk
Excited to share our @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social led by Magda showing how Bif has co-evolved with different animal hosts 🐒🐭🐷🐦 Key takeaways: 🔹 Host ancestry + diet shape Bif evolution 🔹 Mammals enriched for carb-busting enzymes 🔹 Untapped diversity in non-human hosts = new probiotic potential
Cell Host & Microbe@cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social · 11mo agoBifido adaptations across hosts @halllab.bsky.social survey insects, reptiles, birds & mammals to uncover how Bifidobacterium adapts to hosts. Bifidobacterium & host exhibit strong co-phylogenetic associations, driven by vertical transmission & dietary selection www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...
There is a new position open in the Department of Microbes, Infection and Microbiomes! This is for someone in the area of microbial genomics 🧬 Please re-post and send to people, thank you! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOO184/a...
Assistant Professor (Research and Education) in Bacterial Genomics at University of Birmingham
Recruiting now: Assistant Professor (Research and Education) in Bacterial Genomics on jobs.ac.uk. Click for details and explore more academic job opportunities on the top job board
jobs.ac.uk
New paper! The characterisation of PNGaseL published in The Royal Society Open Science New Talent Collection. This paper describes a successful bioprospecting-to-commercialisation project royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... #glycotime @cassiebakshani.bsky.social
PNGaseL from Flavobacterium akiainvivens targets a diverse range of N-glycan structures | Royal Society Open Science
Peptide:N-glycosidases (PNGases) are used by a wide range of organisms to remove N-glycan structures from proteins for use as either nutrients or in glycoprotein processing. PNGaseF is the most well-characterized enzyme of this family and is widely used ...
royalsocietypublishing.org
A new 4 year PostDoc position in our lab! Modeling + experiments to explore dynamics of carbon fixing hot-spring microbiomes. Part of an exciting multidisciplinary team with Sophie Nixon, @brockhurstlab.bsky.social & others Please share & get in touch if interested! tinyurl.com/e7j7bha3
Research Associate in Microbiome Ecology:Oxford Road
jobs.manchester.ac.uk
Feeding Britain is circulating a petition to urge the Government to extend the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme during the school holidays in England through to the next general election. Please do sign and circulate the petition: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Petition to extend The HAF Programme
Dear Prime Minister, We are writing to urge you to extend the Government’s support for the provision of meals and activities, for children and young people during school holidays, through to the next...
docs.google.com
New Pre-print! “PNGaseA-mediated N-glycan stripping from peptides by infant-derived Bifidobacterium bifidum”. This is the first manuscript from the Bifidobacterium and breast milk project🍼🤱👶in collaboration with van Sinderen and Lovering groups www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
PNGaseA-mediated N-glycan stripping from peptides by infant-derived Bifidobacterium bifidum
N-glycans are highly common sources of nutrition for human colonic-dwelling bacteria. These microbes have evolved a several methods to remove N-glycans from proteins; herein we describe the biochemica...
biorxiv.org
The latest publication from our lab! The famous "glomalin" from arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi is not a protein but a polysaccharide from AM fungi, so we renamed it "glomalose". Glomalin-related proteins are bacterial proteins stuck in this glomalose. nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Very pleased to present the next pre-print from our lab #glycotime We showcase PNGaseL from Flavobacterium akiainvivens that we hope will be a useful tool for the glyco community 🍬🧪👩🔬 Special shout out to @cassiebakshani.bsky.social and Paulina (Ludger) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
PNGaseL from Flavobacterium akiainvivens targets a diverse range of N-glycan structures
PNGases are used by a wide range of organisms to remove N-glycan structures from proteins for use as either nutrients or in glycoprotein processing. PNGaseF is the most well-characterised enzyme of th...
biorxiv.org
🍄The Last of Us - NIHR HPRU PhD opportunity🍄 Very exciting project on developing a genomic epidemiology toolkit for fungal outbreaks with @mcdonaldmeganc.bsky.social @drjorhodes.com @scalene.bsky.social and the Mycological Reference Lab Bristol www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
The Last of Us: Developing a Genomic Epidemiology Toolkit for Fungal Outbreaks at University of Birmingham on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - The Last of Us: Developing a Genomic Epidemiology Toolkit for Fungal Outbreaks at University of Birmingham, listed on FindAPhD.com
findaphd.com
I got hit by some rather sudden and extreme financial hardship so if anyone is in need of remote wetlab contract research, strictly BSL1, do let me know. Currently scrambling for gigs. Plant, Bacterial, Archaeal Non-model Bioeng Custom Lab Hardware Turn Key Genetic Design Please repost for reach 💚
Our lovely project student Sophia Hill is taking part in Pint of Science @pintofscience.uk this year! 21st May 7.30 pm The Night Owl Digbeth 🧪👩🔬 @unibirmingham.bsky.social pintofscience.co.uk/event/molecu...
Molecular Battlefield: Microbes, Mutations & Medical Frontiers
Life’s smallest players spark its biggest challenges—and breakthroughs. From decoding how infant gut bacteria thrive on human milk, to battling antibiotic-…
pintofscience.co.uk
www.independent.co.uk/life-style/h...
An unusual gut bacteria can help prevent obesity. But how do you keep it happy?
Researchers have known for years that this friendly bacteria is associated with good health
independent.co.uk
Lucy Crouch@lucyicm.bsky.social · last yr.How to keep mucus-loving gut bacteria happy, in my new article with @uk.theconversation.com theconversation.com/this-mucus-l...
Leah Burgess has joined the group this week #glycobiology 🍬 @leahburgess.bsky.social Leah will be exploring Clostridium perfringens CAZyme activity against host glycans also supervised by @halllab.bsky.social
How to keep mucus-loving gut bacteria happy, in my new article with @uk.theconversation.com theconversation.com/this-mucus-l...
This mucus-loving gut bacteria is important for health – here’s how to keep it happy
Akkermansia muciniphila is a friendly bacteria which is linked to good immune function.
theconversation.com
I'm recruiting a PhD student - details on the project and how to apply at this link 🤓 stockholmcazyme.com/2025/03/21/p...
PhD position available: Stable enzyme technologies for a sustainable bioeconomy
Application deadline April 17th 2025! In brief: We have a PhD position available in our group, ideally to start in the autumn of 2025. Email Lauren with questions. Full details below. You must appl…
stockholmcazyme.com
PhD position available! The aim is to develop New Generation Prebiotics by incorporating microbiome research 🧫and biomaterials engineering 💊 with Rich Horniblow and Zhibing Zhang. www.birmingham.ac.uk/study/postgr...
125th Anniversary Scholarships for Black British Researchers - University of Birmingham
This new scholarship scheme will fund up to 10 talented Black students who want to pursue a postgraduate research degree in Autumn 2025.
birmingham.ac.uk
A҉L҉T҉R҉U҉I҉S҉T҉I҉C҉ ҉Z҉O҉M҉B҉I҉E҉ ҉B҉A҉C҉T҉E҉R҉I҉A҉🦠🧟 Fascinating Nat Comm paper Martin Cann Lab Durham UK Dead bacteria encode post-mortem protein catabolism via Lon protease—provides nutrients promoting growth of surviving bacteria No benefit of Lon to live bacteria to account for this www.nature.com/articles/s41...
ÅNGSTRÖM-RESOLUTION IMAGING OF CELL-SURFACE GLYCANS🍬🍬🍬 For the first time, we are able to image the molecular architecture of the glycocalyx at Ångström resolution. A dream come true! Read the preprint: biorxiv.org/content/10.110… And find our tweetorial below! #glycotime
biorxiv.org
Luciano A. Masullo@lumasullo.bsky.social · last yr.ÅNGSTRÖM-RESOLUTION IMAGING OF CELL-SURFACE GLYCANS 🧬🎨🍬 The glycocalyx, our cells' sugar coat, holds secrets in immunology, cancer, viral infections, and more. Visualizing its molecular architecture was impossible… until now. #glycotime #microscopy www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
New paper out today from the lab on Akkermansia muciniphila 🦠and how it breaks down host glycans! Very proud of my group, especially @cassiebakshani.bsky.social who did an amazing job. @naturemicrobiol.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Carbohydrate-active enzymes from Akkermansia muciniphila break down mucin O-glycans to completion - Nature Microbiology
Biochemical characterization of 66 carbohydrate-active enzymes from the gut microorganism Akkermansia muciniphila reveals that these enzymes can break down a range of host glycans, including mucin, wh...
nature.com
1/ 🚨 New preprint alert! 🚨 We’re thrilled to share our latest work exploring microbiome & genomic #Bifidobacterium co-evolutionary & functional signatures across diverse animal hosts. This has been a long time coming, & huge credit to Magda for her incredible hard work as first author! 🐾✨👇
Host-specific microbiome and genomic signatures in Bifidobacterium reveal co-evolutionary and functional adaptations across diverse animal hosts
Animal hosts harbour divergent microbiota, including various Bifidobacterium species and strains, yet their evolutionary relationships, and functional adaptions remain understudied. By integrating tax...
doi.org
Thrilled we are now able to share our investigation into whether new AI protein design tools can fool DNA synthesis screening! 🥳 A great collaboration between Microsoft, the DNA synthesis industry and DNA screening providers to answer a pressing question in #AIsafety www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Toward AI-Resilient Screening of Nucleic Acid Synthesis Orders: Process, Results, and Recommendations
Fast-moving advances in AI-assisted protein engineering are enabling breakthroughs in the life sciences that promise numerous beneficial applications. At the same time, these new capabilities are crea...
biorxiv.org