Our pQBR plasmid paper is out! A model environmental plasmid collection that contains no known AMR genes and worldwide relatives! @jpjhall.bsky.social @ellieevolves.bsky.social @dwrivett.bsky.social and Rosanna Wright @microbiologysociety.org microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/mgen/10.1099

The pQBR mercury resistance plasmids: a model set of sympatric environmental mobile genetic elements

Plasmids are extrachromosomal mobile genetic elements that can facilitate rapid bacterial adaptation by transferring genes between individuals. Whilst plasmids are known to exist in diverse habitats a...

microbiologyresearch.org

Join our team at IBMC in Strasbourg as a postdoctoral fellow to develop/assess new familles of Shigella vaccine. Please RT. emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U...

It took years after my masters to publish BaGPipe, now it's out! It's a Nextflow pipeline to run end-to-end bacterial GWAS, heavily tested and benchmarked on different datasets, and now in good hands of the Sanger's Pathogen Informatics Team. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

BaGPipe: an automated, reproducible, and flexible pipeline for bacterial genome-wide association studies - BMC Microbiology

BMC Microbiology - Microbial genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are crucial for linking genetic variation to phenotypic traits in bacteria. However, current tools often involve complex manual...

link.springer.com

And @paulturnermicro.bsky.social

By popular demand we have now added the option to watch the Shigella 2026 conference online! Check out virtual registration options here 🖥️ 🧫 www.shigella2026.conferences-pasteur.org/registration...

Great news for those who aren't able to attend in person

The Shigella Meeting@shigellameeting.bsky.social · 5mo ago

By popular demand we have now added the option to watch the Shigella 2026 conference online! Check out virtual registration options here 🖥️ 🧫 www.shigella2026.conferences-pasteur.org/registration...

It is a pleasure to announce the 4th UK MGE workshop will be in York on 23rd-24th June 2026! Registration is free and we are actively looking for contributors. Interested? If so, please register via the website and select the talk option www.ukmgeworkshop.org We look forward to seeing you in York!

MGE-UK-4

We are thrilled to invite you to the fourth edition of the MGE UK Workshop, hosted this year in the historic City of York. Mobile Genetic Elements (MGEs) are the ultimate architects of biology. MGEs i...

ukmgeworkshop.org

MENI is back! Join us in Dublin this August 2026 for our 3rd Meeting for Microbial Evolution in Ireland. We are delighted to have @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social @drrebeccajhall.bsky.social @jpjhall.bsky.social and @tweethinking.bsky.social join us as keynote speakers this year. miniurl.com/MENI

To make sure the whole Shigella community will be gathered at this inaugural meeting, we have re-opened abstract submission for poster presentation until the end of the month. Please RT! www.shigella2026.conferences-pasteur.org/registration...

Registration - EMBO Workshop Shigella: from biology to prevention

EMBO Workshop Shigella: from biology to prevention

shigella2026.conferences-pasteur.org

Did you know shigellosis also transmits as a sexually transmissible illness? This has increased since the early 2000s with marked AMR. Read the back story on ST shigellosis emergence here, and come to Paris for #Shigella2026 to find out more! doi.org/10.1099/mgen...

The natural history of the emergence of sexually transmissible shigellosis

Shigellosis is a gastrointestinal illness caused by bacteria belonging to one of four species of Shigella. Sexually transmissible (ST) shigellosis was first reported in 1974, but recently there has be...

doi.org

Happy New Year Shigellophiles! There's only 105 days to go ... don't forget to get your abstract in!

The Shigella Meeting@shigellameeting.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Come and visit me in Paris! #Shigella2026 - travel bursaries deadline tomorrow. Submit your abstracts at www.shigella2026.conferences-pasteur.org/home

Come and join us at @shigellameeting.bsky.social in Paris 2026. Registrations are now open! www.shigella2026.conferences-pasteur.org/home and follow the Shigella starter pack go.bsky.app/6Vbwhjc (message to be added)! 215 days to go!

Happy to share the published version of our genetic toolbox, EASY-edit, for simple, flexible and efficient targeted editing in E. coli! Feel free to to try it, we can send strains and plasmids! academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

EASY-edit: a toolbox for high-throughput single-step custom genetic editing in bacteria

Abstract. Targeted gene editing can be achieved using CRISPR–Cas9-assisted recombineering. However, high-efficiency editing requires careful optimization f

academic.oup.com

“…we demonstrate that although human use may affect the prevalence and mobility of genomic resistance in clinical isolates, for most antibiotics, genomic resistance existed within the pangenomes of sampled pathogens prior to clinical introduction.” Really neat stuff!

Michael Baym@baym.lol · 11mo ago

What was antibiotic resistance like before we ever used antibiotics? How did we change what antibiotic resistance genes looked like over 100 years? Our paper looking at resistance genes from a century of NCTC historical isolates now out in mGen: www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...

Is the era of microbial metagenomics over? Check out our new preprint on using species abundance distributions to predict plasmid maintenance in bacterial communities: arxiv.org/abs/2509.01695

Heterogeneity drives plasmid maintenance in large microbial communities

Microbiomes are complex systems comprised of many interacting species. Species can survive harsh or changing conditions by rapid adaptation, a process accelerated by the exchange of genetic material b...

arxiv.org

New preprint with my HFSP collaborators. Network structures for bacterial and plasmid interactions determine community structure and evolvability: doi.org/10.32942/X21...

Plasmids can be lost from a bacterial community even under positive environmental selection: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Species interactions determine plasmid persistence in a 3-member bacterial community

Microbial communities are shaped by complex forces, including interspecies interactions and the effects of mobile genetic elements such as plasmids. How these forces interact to affect community respo...

doi.org

At last ! A tool specifically for phage-plasmid hunters. Check tyPPing by @karinailchenko.bsky.social and @eugenpfeifer.bsky.social

Karina Ilchenko@karinailchenko.bsky.social · 11mo ago

🚨 New preprint! 🧬 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐠𝐞-𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐬 (𝐏-𝐏𝐬) are fascinating elements: both 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 and 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐬 ➡️ tricky to detect. We present 𝐭𝐲𝐏𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐠 — the first 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥 🛠️designed specifically for P-Ps: ✅ Accurate ✅ Sensitive ✅ Easy to use 📖 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Vacancy! We have a postdoc position at UEA to explore the microbiology of metal resistance in Gram-positive pathogens. 📍 Norwich UK 🗓️ Apply by 21st September 25 🔗 tinyurl.com/mrssbd7f RPs appreciated! @microbiologysociety.org @asm.org @aussocmic.bsky.social @femsmicro.org @norwichmicro.bsky.social

Senior Research Associate (RA2346) in University of East Anglia | UEA

View details and apply for this Senior Research Associate (RA2346) vacancy in University of East Anglia. Faculty of Science School of Biological Sciences Senior Research Associate Ref: RA23...

tinyurl.com

Vacancy! We have a Technician role at UEA to support research on metal resistance in Gram-positive pathogens. 📍 Norwich UK 🗓️ Apply by 21st September 25 🔗 tinyurl.com/mr3ev3ke RPs appreciated! @microbiologysociety.org @asm.org @aussocmic.bsky.social @femsmicro.org @norwichmicro.bsky.social

Research Technician (TC923) in University of East Anglia | UEA

View details and apply for this Research Technician (TC923) vacancy in University of East Anglia. Faculty of Science School of Biological Sciences Research Technician (Part-Time, 0.6 FTE) R...

tinyurl.com

How should #XDR #shigellosis cases be treated? Our new education piece at #BMJ #SexuallyTransmittedInfections explores specific empirical treatment. Our recommendations are subsequent to our microbial genomic, phenotypic #AMR, and clinical/pharmacological analyses. sti.bmj.com/content/earl... 🧫💻🛟🧪🧬🦠

Antimicrobial treatment options for extensively drug-resistant (XDR) shigellosis in men who have sex with men

The sexual transmission of Shigella s onnei and Shigella flexneri has been observed since the 1970s between men who have sex with men (MSM) associated with living with HIV, sexually transmitted infect...

sti.bmj.com

232 days to go ...

New paper in collaboration with the @asantoslopez.bsky.social lab! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Plasmids promote antimicrobial resistance through Insertion Sequence-mediated gene inactivation

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is a major threat to public health. Plasmids are mobile genetic elements that can rapidly spread across bacterial populations, promoting the dissemination of AMR genes i...

biorxiv.org

Jorge Sastre Domínguez@jorgesastred.bsky.social · 12mo ago

New paper out! 🔈🔈📣📣 Plasmids promote antimicrobial resistance through Insertion Sequence-mediated gene inactivation. Combining experimental and computational approaches, we unveil how two of the most prevalent bacterial MGE accelerate the evolution of AMR. 🧵👇🏻 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Why not follow our @shigellameeting.bsky.social starterpack of people who are speaking at and attending the conference - please message to be added to the starter pack if you're planning on coming or we haven't found you yet! go.bsky.app/6Vbwhjc

I hope all my fellow #shigellaphiles have 20 - 24 April 2026 blocked out in their diaries for @shigellameeting.bsky.social next year in Paris! In the meantime, check out (and join) our starter pack to start community building now 🧫

The Shigella Meeting@shigellameeting.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Why not follow our @shigellameeting.bsky.social starterpack of people who are speaking at and attending the conference - please message to be added to the starter pack if you're planning on coming or we haven't found you yet! go.bsky.app/6Vbwhjc

Finally out!! It was a long time in the making, I hope you enjoy it!! #salmonella #iNTS #AMR

Kate Baker@ksbakes.bsky.social · last yr.

There are half a million cases of invasive non-Typhoidal Salmonella (iNTS) every year and while you might know S. Typhimurim and Enteritidis, you may not have heard of S. Panama 💩 🩸 🧫 💊 Check out our latest in @lancetmicrobe.bsky.social doi.org/10.1016/j.la... and the 🧵 below to find out more 1/n

It was great fun writing this review with @gemccallum.bsky.social , even if our conclusions are rather scary. Lots of important pathogen evolution must be occurring outside of the infection context...

Greg McCallum@gemccallum.bsky.social · last yr.

Delighted to have this review out with @jpjhall.bsky.social! We discuss the risk of transmission of antimicrobial resistance in the hospital sink drain microbiome, highlight studies providing evidence of transfer, and consider strategies to mitigate these risks 🪠🦠 doi.org/10.1038/s442...

Huge amount of work in this paper, very proud of Hugh getting through all these benchmarking tests. We’re much more confident now using ONT-only data for our clinical questions

Hugh Cottingham@hughcottingham.bsky.social · last yr.

Pleased to say that our preprint benchmarking Nanopore data for MLST, cgMLST, cgSNP & AMR typing from bacterial isolates is out! TL;DR you can get almost perfect results from 50x depth using live SUP basecalling with a GPU in under 20 hours #microsky#IDsky 🦠🧬🖥️ /1 www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Delighted to have this review out with @jpjhall.bsky.social! We discuss the risk of transmission of antimicrobial resistance in the hospital sink drain microbiome, highlight studies providing evidence of transfer, and consider strategies to mitigate these risks 🪠🦠 doi.org/10.1038/s442...

The hospital sink drain microbiome as a melting pot for AMR transmission to nosocomial pathogens - npj Antimicrobials and Resistance

npj Antimicrobials and Resistance - The hospital sink drain microbiome as a melting pot for AMR transmission to nosocomial pathogens

doi.org

There are half a million cases of invasive non-Typhoidal Salmonella (iNTS) every year and while you might know S. Typhimurim and Enteritidis, you may not have heard of S. Panama 💩 🩸 🧫 💊 Check out our latest in @lancetmicrobe.bsky.social doi.org/10.1016/j.la... and the 🧵 below to find out more 1/n