New Preprint 🚨: Led by Ph.D student, Ashlynn Bruder, we explore how feast/famine cycles in our LTRS system influence temporal selection on new mutations. Reconstruction of mutations reveals environment-dependent epistasis + increased fitness during both feast and famine conditions. Summary Fig ⬇️

bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology@biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · yesterday

Environment-dependent epistasis shapes adaptation to fluctuating resources. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.31.742109v1

Cool Black Hawk helicopter landing outside our window today. #ViewFromTheLab

I talked about these papers #smbe2026. If you are interested in doing research (PhD or Postdoc) on this topic, get in touch! (if were there, sorry for the abrupt end; somehow timing got off) pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41763210/ pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39146405/ pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41699381/

Nadia Aubin-Horth@naubinhorth.bsky.social · last mo.

Really enjoyed @christianlandry.bsky.social talk on Evolutionary biochemistry of gene duplication at #smbe2026 (yes he’s my husband but the second part of the talk was new results I hadn’t seen!)

Our lab is looking to hire a RA to contribute to experimental evolution studies on anaerobic & aerotolerant bacteria! This is a great opportunity for recent grads looking to gain experience before perusing graduate training. Info at this link: ecsr.fa.us2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

Talks by: @christianlandry.bsky.social @nadavmishol.bsky.social Jia Zheng @rmuniztrejo.bsky.social Olivier Tenaillon Solomon McShea Yiqiao Sun @megbehri.bsky.social Florian Mattenberger @ariannebabina.bsky.social Aleksandra Nivina

#SMBE2026 S06: Synthetic and Systems Biology Approaches to Dissecting the Molecular Mechanisms of Evolution 🗓️ Mon Jun 29, 3:50pm 🔗 smbe2026.org/programme

She’s beautiful, let’s sequence her 😍🧬🧫

Animalcules@bacteriophile.bsky.social · 3mo ago

bbc.com/news/article... Five millions times of real version! #microsky

Comparative analysis of monocultures vs cocultures for >600 generations reveals that cross-feeding can limit the emergence of loss-of-function mutations. Congrats to Dr. Ying-Chih (Ella) Chuang and coauthors (@megbehri.bsky.social +others)! journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Reciprocal cross-feeding between bacteria can limit the emergence of metabolic dependencies | Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Bacteria commonly engage in cross-feeding, where nutrients are transferred between neighbors. Cross-feeding is thought to alleviate energy expenditures for genes whose role can be met by cross-fed nutrients, leading to eventual gene loss. However, few examples have been documented, especially in comparison to monocultures that lack a cross-feeding partner. We grew cocultures pairing phototrophic Rhodopseudomonas palustris with fermentative Escherichia coli alongside corresponding monocultures for 650–800 generations. While coculture conditions required obligate exchange of nitrogen and carbon, additional cross-feeding of adenine and iron likely occurred. Contrary to expectations, dependencies for iron and unknown compounds emerged in monocultures, but expected iron and adenine dependencies were not observed in cocultures. Low expression of iron scavenging and adenine synthesis genes in cocultures suggested that cross-feeding repressed expression, thereby lowering gene cost. Thus, although cross-feeding can sometimes make costly genes dispensable, there are also cases where cross-feeding lowers gene cost, thereby promoting gene retention.

journals.asm.org

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and how organized sports prepares you academic science. Sports instill key skills like coachability, practicing on your own time, rebounding from failure, pushing yourself to keep improving, & knowing that results take time and consistent effort.

Springer Nature@springernature.com · 3mo ago

In his previous career as a goalkeeper, failure felt clear. Thinking that his sport taught him how to handle failure during his PhD, Javier Nion Fieira found his experiences in elite sport were easier to analyse and process than those in the lab: spklr.io/63325EKlXR #PhDSky #AcademicSky

Yes! Let’s go! All aboard the microbial epigenetics train! 🚂

Nirodha Weeraratne@nirodhaweeraratne.bsky.social · 3mo ago

🦠 Can microbes think? 🍄 Can they learn, remember, and react? 🤔 "Cognition without brains? Learning and memory in microorganisms" by @kostchristian.bsky.social lab raises some legit #Points2Ponder. #MicrobeMatters #MicrobialMemory

Behringer lab is heading into summer on the highest note possible. 🎼 1) William McLaughlin got the NOA for his USDA-NIFA predoctoral fellowship! 2) I received the NOA for the NSF CAREER! 3)Manuscript led by Wenhan Zhu’s lab w/ contributions from @owenfhale.bsky.social & I is online now at Cell!

Why does antibiotic resistance evolution vary between patients? Come to @officialuom.bsky.social @mermanchester.bsky.social to help us find out! 2.5 year @wellcometrust.bsky.social postdoc position in experimental evolution Closing 15 May. Apply here: www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

Research Associate in Microbial Evolution:Oxford Road

jobs.manchester.ac.uk

Every young genome biologist around 2007 knew just how influential and complicated Craig Venter was. Learning about the human genome, and yacht expeditions collecting ocean microbiomes, were major contributors to my interest in bioinformatics when I was an undergrad finding my way in science. RIP.

J. Craig Venter Institute@jcvi.org · 3mo ago

It is with great sadness that we announce J. Craig Venter has died. 🧪🧬 www.jcvi.org/media-center...

The feeling when you get reviews back on your manuscript and the comments from all three reviewers are extremely thorough, constructive, and highly actionable.

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...

Is it too much to ask to just have a freaking physician as surgeon general?!

The PopGen Vienna Seminar series schedule is ready for the next term (March-June). It's jam-packed with fantastic speakers in #evolution, #genetics, #genomics, #popgen, and more! Details and streaming link signup can be found on our website popgen-vienna.at/news/seminars/

There’s a new Ph.D. In the house! Congratulations Dr. Stone @starlcone.bsky.social ! First doctoral student from the Behringer Lab! Amazing presentation today on the bacterial methylome and longitudinal rbTnSeq. We’re immensely proud of him!

Excited to share this new Preprint from our lab led by PhD Candidate Carl Stone (defending Tuesday). Here we present a framework for longitudinal rbTn-Seq and apply it to the Microbial extended growth curve to resolve the fitness seascape through growth, death, and long-term stationary phase!

bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology@biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Bayesian analysis of longitudinal RB-TnSeq resolves the fitness seascape in fluctuating environments https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.11.703069v1

We're excited to be recruiting an NIH funded postdoc to work in the Coop lab at UC Davis. We're specifically interested in candidates who are want to work at the intersection of human genetics, GWAS, and population genetics modeling. Please RT

Historical contingency limits adaptive diversification in a spatially structured environment @evolletters.bsky.social from @megbehri.bsky.social academic.oup.com/evlett/artic...

Historical contingency limits adaptive diversification in a spatially structured environment

Abstract. Understanding how genotype-by-environment (G × E) interactions influence evolutionary trajectories and contribute to historical contingency is ke

academic.oup.com

Now that we’re back, I want to promote this awesome work from our group led by former UG Researcher, Gillian Patton (now a Ph.D student at Wash U) published in Evol. Letters! We blocked a first step mutation that typically promotes biofilm formation to see how this roadblock influences evolution.

Evolution Letters@evolletters.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Evolution isn’t always forward-looking. Experiments show that an early, beneficial mutation can trap E. coli on a local fitness peak, preventing ecotype diversification in structured environments and highlighting the role of G×E interactions. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

Attending the most important college football event of the year. #PopTartsBowl

Behringer Lab put a heck of a holiday door submission together with Skiing the Finess Slopes. Even has a little E. coli fishing for jackpot mutations! ⛷️ 🧫 🧬

This is a huge honor and we’re so excited to get started on this new direction for our group stemming from the work of William McLaughlin, a Ph.D. Candidate in our lab! Major thanks to our scout, Paul Turner and Hypothesis Fund for seeing the potential in this project! Time to get to work! 🧬🧫🧪

Hypothesis Fund@hypothesisfund.bsky.social · 8mo ago

2/ Awardee @megbehri.bsky.social will study how chaotic dynamics arise in microbial🦠 populations. Her research could transform how we predict microbiome dysbiosis across human health and beyond. 🥳 Congrats Dr. Behringer! @vuartsci.bsky.social 🙏 #HFScout @paulturnerlab.bsky.social

Excited to share our latest paper led by Ph.D. Candidate, Owen Hale, titled Elevated rates and Biased Spectra of Mutations in Anaerobically Cultured Lactic Acid Bacteria out now in mBio! journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Elevated rates and biased spectra of mutations in anaerobically cultured lactic acid bacteria | mBio

Despite Earth’s oxygen-free origins and the abundance of microorganisms that thrive without oxygen, little is known about the rates and patterns of mutations in anaerobic species. This study directly ...

journals.asm.org

Beautiful morning in the Smokies at SEPEEG 2025. Listening to Fisher’s geometric model, with coffee, in the mountain air, just hits different. 🏔️ ☕️

Our lab is hiring!! We are looking for a research assistant who will be involved with our experimental evolution studies on how stress affects population dynamics in E. coli. Great opportunity for recent grads! E-mail for more info and apply here: ecsr.fa.us2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

Eis: machine learning to reverse-engineer #evolution. Brassington (@amandalea.bsky.social): Evolutionary mismatch. Rose: Genome-scale models. Bruder (@megbehri.bsky.social): Computational & experimental microbial evolution.

Really proud of Owen Hale, a Ph.D. Candidate in our group who was awarded the Gut Microbiome, Yogurt and Probiotic Fellowship by Danone North America. Owen’s research focuses on E. coli / Lactic Acid Bacteria interactions! www.prnewswire.com/news-release...

Danone North America Invests in the Future of Microbiome Science with 2024-2025 Fellowship Awards

/PRNewswire/ -- Danone North America, a leading purpose-driven food and beverage company and one of the world's largest Certified B Corporations®, is proud to...

prnewswire.com