🦠 A gene resistant to one of our last-resort antibiotics has been found somewhere no one was looking: polluted sediment, not a hospital. Researchers at Macquarie University and The University of Sydney discovered mcr-12, the first ever to be found in an environmental setting. Story: bit.ly/4pwlchC

Antbiotic resistance found in surprise source - ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology

Scientists have found a new source of antibiotic resistance in an unexpected place: polluted freshwater sediment in NSW. Researchers at Macquarie University and The University of Sydney discovered a g...

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Exciting news for antifungal research and for translating great science into real-world impact. Congratulations to Centre researchers Professor Amy Cain @flamycain.bsky.social, Dr Hue Dinh and the team! 🎉 Read the story: www.coesb.com.au/exclusive-de... @arc-gov-au.bsky.social

Exclusive deal to advance therapies for fungal infection - ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology

Centre researchers whose work showed cannabis-derived compounds can kill dangerous fungal pathogens have secured a commercial partner to take those findings toward clinical use. Australian life scienc...

coesb.com.au

Excited to host A/Prof Lars Barquist @lbarquist.bsky.social from @utoronto.ca and @helmholtz-hiri.bsky.social at Macquarie University for a fantastic workshop on RNAseq experimental design and analysis! Thanks to the FSE Multiomics Centre for sponsoring!

From battling typhoid to fighting plastic pollution, Professor Amy Cain’s career has been driven by microbial mysteries. 👉 Read our Annual Report story 'How a moth's microbiome could hold the answer to plastic pollution' now: bit.ly/4rfYFou @flamycain.bsky.social

How a moth's microbiome could hold the answer to plastic pollution

When Associate Professor Amy Cain was just a young girl, her mother introduced her to the idea that her skin was covered with microbes. Some children might have been freaked out by the notion, but you...

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First paper of this year is out now! 📢 Very happy to present work with my collaborators Andrew Whitelaw and Mae Newton-Foot and especially great work from PhD student Kedisaletse Moloto at Stellenbosch University: journals.plos.org/plospathogen...

Carbapenem resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates at a tertiary hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, are dominated by specific local clones rather than previously described international lineages

Author summary Carbapenem resistant K. pneumoniae (CRKP) have emerged as a cause of hospital and community acquired infections, posing a significant threat to public health, and have hence been listed...

journals.plos.org

📢 Senior Editor role opportunity available with the Microbiology Society for the Pathogens & Epidemiology section. This role supports journal strategy, section development & community engagement. More info: Voluntary Opportunities: microb.io/Vacancies

Jobs

View the current job vacancies at the Microbiology Society.

microb.io

1. Postdoc in plant-fungal interactions: jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Research... 2. Postdoc in molecular plant-microbe interactions: jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Research... 3. Research technician: jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Technici... (Pls share!)

ARC says Discovery Projects outcomes will be tomorrow (Tuesday). Linkage Projects (2025, round 1) on Wed. Over past ~year, it's often been at about 11am (Canberra). My bot will pick up the change to RMS & post immediately. ARC should email outcomes to lead CIs, but might take an 1hr or so for DPs

Excited to share our preprint led by Carlos Voogdt et al We developed new genetic tools & genome-wide libraries for species of the Bacteroidales order; constructed saturated barcoded transposon libraries in key representatives of three genera. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Check out my PhD student Fiona Facey’s first first-author paper on finding microbes that can degrade multiple types of plastics in the Galleria mellonella gut microbiome 👇 enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Characterising the Multiple‐Plastic Degrading Strain of Bacillus subtilis GM_03 From the Galleria mellonella Microbiome

A novel strain of Bacillus subtilis has been isolated from plastic-fed Galleria mellonella larvae, which shows evidence of degradation of both LDPE and PU plastics. Genes potentially associated with ....

enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

🌟 Applications are now open for the 2025 ASM NSW-ACT Branch Summer Student Research Awards! 🌟 Are you an undergrad, Honours, or Masters (Coursework) student? Apply for a $1,500 research award to support a 4-week summer project. Deadline: 5pm, Fri 5 Dec Learn more & apply: asm-nswact.org.au/awards/

Delighted to share that @evgeniamaslova.bsky.social passed her PhD viva today with only minor corrections. Her project focused on novel models to study wound infection. Thank you to the @nc3rs.bsky.social for funding her PhD and @flamycain.bsky.social and Anthony Tsolaki for being superb examiners.

At the @asm-nswact.bsky.social AGM hosted by our outgoing Chair Karl Hassan and Secretary Tom Jeffries 🫡 Our post AGM speaker @bill-lab.bsky.social giving a fantastic post AGM talk with some eye candy microscopy! Thanks to all who joined!

Come join us on the ASM NSW committee! All you have to do is email back the committee form below!

ASM NSW-ACT Branch@asm-nswact.bsky.social · last yr.

📢 Reminder: ASM Committee Nominations Are Open! 📝 Nomination form: asm-nswact.org.au/wp-content/u... 📅 AGM details: www.trybooking.com/events/landi... We’d love to see more members getting involved and helping shape the future of ASM. ✨

📢 Reminder: ASM Committee Nominations Are Open! 📝 Nomination form: asm-nswact.org.au/wp-content/u... 📅 AGM details: www.trybooking.com/events/landi... We’d love to see more members getting involved and helping shape the future of ASM. ✨

@livingseawalls.bsky.social is a finalist in the NSW DCCEEW Eureka Prize for Environmental Research. Learn more: youtu.be/9yrRzgyZqoI #EurekaPrizes @sims-australia.bsky.social @melaniejbishop.bsky.social @cariocamayer.bsky.social @marialvozzo.bsky.social

The Fission Chips Team from Macquarie University is a finalist in the @ansto.bsky.social Eureka Prize for Innovative Use of Technology. Learn more: youtu.be/6yf27LdQkhw #EurekaPrizes

Ian Paulsen has transformed #syntheticbiology from a niche science in Australia to a national strength. Under his leadership, our Centre has spun out ten startup companies that have raised more than $200 million in venture capital. Join us in congratulating Ian on this fantastic achievement! 🎊

Australian Museum Eureka Prizes@eurekaprizes.bsky.social · last yr.

Distinguished Professor Ian Paulsen @arccoesb.bsky.social is a finalist for the Eureka Prize for Leadership in Science. Learn more: youtu.be/NeQn8TR9GYk #EurekaPrizes

Water everywhere 😜 - with Mario @feldmanlab.bsky.social & Amy @flamycain.bsky.social at Acinetobacter conference in Niagara Falls

Very excited about our latest combining advanced cell culture, transposon-insertion sequencing, and statistical modeling to map Shigella virulence determinants in organoid models. Great collaboration w/ @mldm.bsky.social @sellinlab.bsky.social in @natgenet.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A scalable gut epithelial organoid model reveals the genome-wide colonization landscape of a human-adapted pathogen - Nature Genetics

A genome-wide screen using human gut epithelial organoids combined with transposon-directed insertion sequencing identifies over 100 Shigella flexneri genes required for epithelial colonization.

nature.com

I'm excited to present our latest study in @plos.org NTDS, collaborating with @sydney.edu.au and UNSW that uncovers the potent antifungal activity of phytocannabinoids against life-threatening Cryptococcus and tinea/athletes foot fungi: lighthouse.mq.edu.au/article/may-... Reach out for more info!

Cannabis extract shows promise as treatment for fungal infections

lighthouse.mq.edu.au

Very pleased to share this preprint! "Characterisation of Ornithobacterium hominis colonisation dynamics and interaction with the nasopharyngeal microbiome in a South African birth cohort" 🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Characterisation of Ornithobacterium hominis colonisation dynamics and interaction with the nasopharyngeal microbiome in a South African birth cohort.

Ornithobacterium hominis is a recently described Gram-negative bacterium that colonises the human nasopharynx and may be associated with poor upper respiratory tract health. Here, we describe the isol...

biorxiv.org

Congratulations to Associate Professor Amy Cain @flamycain.bsky.social of our #MacquarieUniversity node on being awarded The Australian Academy of Science (#AAS) 2025 #GottschalkMedal — in recognition of her pioneering work in the fight against #antibioticresistance 🦠💊

Anyone interested in joining us @quadraminstitute.bsky.social as part of @norwichmicro.bsky.social we’re recruiting for group leaders! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMF274/g...

Group Leader (Microbes and Food Safety) at Quadram Institute Bioscience

Start your UK & international job search for academic jobs, research jobs, science jobs and managerial jobs in leading universities and top...

jobs.ac.uk

🎉 Congratulations to Centre startups Levur, Newera Bio, Swan Genomics and Wild Yeast Zoo on securing Australia's Economic Accelerator (AEA) Ignite Grants! Read the full story 👇 bit.ly/3DM9BY2

Centre startups secure AEA grants - ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology

Four startups from the Centre have successfully secured Australia’s Economic Accelerator (AEA) Ignite Grants, providing a shot in the arm for the local synthetic biology ecosystem.NewEra Bio, Levur, S...

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🦠 Job Opportunity in Microbiology! 🦠 UNSW Sydney is hiring a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer (Education Focused) in Microbiology! 🎓 📅 Apply by: March 31st, 2025: url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/F9dHCRONg6... Please share with your networks or anyone interested!

✨ Exciting new Lancet role ✨ This autumn, our Group is launching an OA journal dedicated to the unique health challenges on the African continent: The Lancet Regional Health—Africa 🌍 To lead this important endeavour, we are searching for an Editor-in-Chief. Find out more & apply ⤵️ bit.ly/3Xp919w

Editor-in-Chief, The Lancet Regional Health - Africa

Do you enjoy using science to drive change in the world? Would you like to develop and launch an online-only gold open access journal for The Lancet. About our Team The Lancet Regional Health -Africa ...

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📣Students and ECRs of Microbiology in NSW! The ASM travel award application deadlines are coming up on the 28th Feb and 17th March 2025. Make sure you apply below: Student Nancy Millis: asm-nswact.org.au/wp-content/u... ECR BD Award: asm-nswact.org.au/wp-content/u...

🌍 A global research collaboration, including Macquarie University’s Associate Professor Amy Cain, has been awarded €1 million to combat the growing crisis of antifungal resistance. Congratulations! 👏👏👏 bit.ly/4jkB6YO

Major Funding Boost for Combating Fungal Infections - ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology

An international research collaboration, including Macquarie University's Associate Professor Amy Cain, has received €1 million to tackle the growing global crisis of antifungal resistance. This escal...

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Super excited to announce that we’ve successful in an important new NHMRC/JPIAMR grant developing new metal-containing antifungals. Looking forward to working with some fantastic collaborators across Europe! url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/Ur_tCWLVn6...

Angelo Frei@angelofrei.bsky.social · 2y ago

Happy to announce that we were awarded a JPIAMR grant to investigate Metalloantifungals in an international collaboration with Prof. Amy Cain ( 🇦🇺 @flamycain.bsky.social), Prof. Michaela Wenzel (🇸🇪) and Dr. Michael Bromley (🇬🇧). A PDRA position in York tba soon! www.york.ac.uk/chemistry/ab...