How do macrophage and bacteriophage interactions change over ecological and evolutionary timescales? We find that macrophages initially decrease the efficacy of phage on bacteria populations, but this effect diminishes as bacteria establish and evolve phage resistance. doi.org/10.1093/isme...

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!

Short-term antagonism between bacteriophages and macrophages decreases with bacteria-phage coevolution #ISMEJournal by @mcastd.bsky.social et al with Angus Buckling academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...

Short-term antagonism between bacteriophages and macrophages decreases with bacteria-phage coevolution

Abstract. Phage therapy, the use of viruses that infect bacteria (bacteriophages), is a promising complement to antibiotics during the antimicrobial resist

academic.oup.com

The last piece of work from my PhD has been accepted for publication - feels very strange but cathartic to be moving that folder out of my 'active projects' file path 🥲

It's Over Manul Meme

ALT: It's Over Manul Meme

static.klipy.com

A four-year postdoc focusing on "plant growth-promoting bacteriophages" available in my group. Skills in metaviromics and metagenomics essential. Application deadline: 2.2.2026. For more info, see the link.

Postdoctoral Researcher in discovering the benefits of plant growth-promoting bacteriophages

Postdoctoral Researcher in discovering the benefits of plant growth-promoting bacteriophages

jobs.helsinki.fi

Very happy to say I will be starting a NERC Independent Research Fellowship in April with the University of Exeter 🥳 This 5-year project will be looking at how environmental conditions determine the impact of phage on microbial communities 🧫🦠 Thank you to the lovely ppl who helped along the way!

Thank you everyone who has donated so far! This will be closing at the end of the month so still time to enter for a chance to name a phage! This is open worldwide with all currency conversions accounted for. For GBP it is £2 an entry and all funds go directly to The Cystic Fibrosis Trust 💚

Meaghan Castledine@mcastd.bsky.social · last yr.

Want to name a real virus? I have recently discovered 9 new phages which now need names! To enter, you simply need to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust on my JustGiving page (£2 = 1 entry) and share your email with me on donation (see link info). Please share 💚 www.justgiving.com/page/meaghan-c-1

So much of this article is full of hope then, "About 43% of respondents had experienced some form of discrimination or harassment.. in around four out of ten bullying cases, a student reported bullying by their supervisor." We need safeguards in place to stop this from happening.

What makes PhD students happy? Good supervision

Supervisors who invest in positive mentoring relationships with their PhD candidates also reap the benefits for their own research.

nature.com

Filamentous cheater phages drive bacterial and phage populations to lower fitness Pseudomonas aeruginosa VS Pf phage @currentbiology.bsky.social by @nanamikubota.bsky.social, @shellyscrib.bsky.social and @vscooper.micropopbio.org www.cell.com/current-biol... #PhageSky

Filamentous cheater phages drive bacterial and phage populations to lower fitness

Kubota et al. show that bacteria can use their filamentous phage to outcompete other bacteria, but increased phage production enables the evolution of cheater miniphages with truncated genomes. Miniph...

cell.com

I have an MRC-funded PhD project available (www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin...) on how warming will change the problem of AMR. Join a small and friendly group (padpadpadpad.netlify.app/about) in (sometimes) sunny Cornwall. 🧪🦠 #microsky Please share the ad below with anyone who may be interested.

PhD fellowship in biofilm-phage interactions - with Mette Burmølle at University of Copenhagen 🇩🇰 deadline 1 October 2025 employment.ku.dk/faculty?show... #phagesky #microsky

PhD fellowship in biofilm-phage interactions

employment.ku.dk

Now peer-reviewed, improved and published in @microbiologysociety.org Microbiology - thanks to editor and reviewers! www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...

Chromosomal resistance mutations facilitate acquisition of multidrug-resistant plasmids in Escherichia coli

Bacteria can gain multiple resistance mechanisms in a single step by the acquisition of multidrug-resistant (MDR) plasmids, but it is unclear how antibiotic selection during the acquisition of MDR pla...

microbiologyresearch.org

Michael Brockhurst@brockhurstlab.bsky.social · last yr.

New preprint with nice detective work by PhD student Khadija Hanga: gain of pOXA MDR plasmid is facilitated by chromosomal mutations affecting OmpF which act synergistically with the plasmid’s carbapenamase to give high level resistance. Led by @mbottery.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

In case you are wondering how you can enrich your science classes by using our educational resources - for primary and secondary schools alike. In English, Welsh, Irish and Gaelic. #ScienceIsFun 🦠🧫🔬🧑🏼‍🔬

Teacher's Corner — Superbugs - The microbial world in, on and around us

superbugs.online

Don’t miss the inaugural Conference on Bacteriophages: Biology, Dynamics, and Therapeutics, October 12–14, 2025, in Washington, DC. A 2.5-day program of invited talks, symposia, workshops, and abstracts will highlight the latest advances. For more info: bit.ly/3JUKLYL

PhD opportunity, please share: We are looking for a prospective PhD student to start in October 2026 who is excited about bacteria (Klebsiella pneumoniae), how they interact, and how they exchange DNA. All details can be found on the funder website 👉 gw4biomed.ac.uk/developing-c...

New preprint reveals bacteria can't just collect all resistance genes like Pokemon cards. We found mutually exclusive evolutionary pathways to multidrug resistance in E. coli & P. aeruginosa - some resistance mechanisms actively prevent others from coexisting www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Genomic constraints shape the evolution of alternative routes to drug resistance in prokaryotes

Background Variation within the prokaryotic pangenome is not random, and natural selection that favours particular combinations of genes appears to dominate over random drift. What is less clear is wh...

biorxiv.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

Apply if you want to work with the nicest phage person ever!

Ellinor Alseth@ellinoralseth.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Feels surreal to say but: I'm hiring! If you are or know anyone interested in looking at the evolution of phage resistance using A. baumannii and natural transformation, then this might be for you www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...

📝New preprint! We investigated how spatial structure affects cooperation between phages, combining mathematical modelling and experiments. A short thread 🧶

bioRxiv Microbiology@biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · 12mo ago

The ambivalent effect of spatial structure on the spread of cooperative anti-CRISPR phages https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.06.668856v1

Want to name a real virus? I have recently discovered 9 new phages which now need names! To enter, you simply need to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust on my JustGiving page (£2 = 1 entry) and share your email with me on donation (see link info). Please share 💚 www.justgiving.com/page/meaghan-c-1

✍️ We had a great time writing this Spotlight article on one of our favorite topics: how phages interact with each other! 🦠 From cooperation to competition, phage-phage interactions reveal a fascinating layer of microbial life that’s often overlooked. A piece crafted by the talented Josie Elliott!

lenabue.bsky.social@lenabue.bsky.social · last yr.

Honored to have our paper featured in the Spotlight of @cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social by authors @josie-e.bsky.social & @annechevallereau.bsky.social Thank you for making our work more accessible and highlighting its relevance! www.cell.com/trends/microbiology/fulltext/S0966-842X%2825%2900158-1

It’s really important for EDI that ECRs and PIs can have open, empathetic discussions about feedback and behaviour, without intimidation. Respect from lab members comes from being able to challenge negative behaviour, and being listened to without discussions becoming a competition.

Matthias C. Rillig@mrillig.bsky.social · last yr.

From bench to big boss: mitigating the widening gap between PI and lab Laboratory dynamics can change as the age and experience of the principal investigator increase. But there are ways to combat this. Read our piece in Nature, with @sprekeler.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/d41...

From bench to big boss: mitigating the widening gap between PI and lab Laboratory dynamics can change as the age and experience of the principal investigator increase. But there are ways to combat this. Read our piece in Nature, with @sprekeler.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Our new paper on experimental evolution in wild tree-holes -Eco-evolutionary robustness of wild bacterial communities to experimental perturbation #ISMEJournal @duhitasant.bsky.social Tom Smith Edgar Wong Juli Cohen @kayla-king.bsky.social Tom Bell academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...

Eco-evolutionary robustness of wild bacterial communities to experimental perturbation

Abstract. Most knowledge about bacterial evolution and ecological interactions comes from laboratory studies. One difference between the wild and most labo

academic.oup.com

Please share! 🦠 Workshop on Phage Therapy in Liverpool on 25th November organised by Stineke van Houte, @jojofoth.bsky.social, @brockhurstlab.bsky.social, & Edze Westra. Limited FREE tickets & more info here: sites.exeter.ac.uk/vanhoutelab/... #MicroSky

Experimental evolution in an era of molecular manipulation #ExperimentalEvolution #evolution #evoSky www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Experimental evolution in an era of molecular manipulation - Nature Reviews Genetics

In this Review, Ascensao and Desai discuss how methodological advances in genotype and phenotype manipulation are transforming experimental evolution approaches and providing new insights into the und...

nature.com

How do macrophages influence the evolution of phage resistance? We show that macrophages reduce the efficacy of a bacteriophage cocktail 🦠, resulting in greater bacteria population densities which, in-turn, facilitate greater rates of phage resistance. Pre-print 👇 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Antagonism between bacteriophages and macrophages decreases efficacy of a bacteriophage cocktail and increases bacteriophage resistance

Phage therapy, the use of viruses that infect bacteria (bacteriophages), is a promising complement to antibiotics during the antimicrobial resistance crisis, but treatment success is very variable. Ev...

biorxiv.org

Fresh from peer review a new and improved version of @taoranfu.bsky.social’s paper out today in @asm.org mSystems journals.asm.org/eprint/8NWNW...

Inflammation-like environments limit the loss of quorum sensing in Pseudomonas aeruginosa | mSystems

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a common cause of chronic infections characterized by persistent inflammation. Host inflammatory responses alter within-host environments, including by increasing levels of antimicrobial stressors and releasing free amino acids ...

journals.asm.org

Michael Brockhurst@brockhurstlab.bsky.social · 2y ago

A nice way to wrap-up 2024: a neat preprint by @taoranfu.bsky.social (hot on the heels of her successful PhD viva) testing how inflammation-like environments shape Pseudomonas adaptation, limiting loss of quorum sensing www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Really exciting work! And comforting it supports our recent in vitro work that macrophages are “bad” for phage therapy ❤️

Bacteriophage Lab of Institut Pasteur@phagepasteur.bsky.social · last yr.

🚨NEW PAPER ALERT!!!🚨 The BBH lab is proud to present the latest www.nature.com/articles/s41... from our collaboration with @joshuasweitz.bsky.social (now at UMaryland), evaluating the importance of alveolar macrophages (AM) for the efficacy of phage therapy against P. aeruginosa Let's dig in (1/6)