Great to see this important study published. For some time I've pointed to the preprint version when students ask about co-evolution between humans and their microbiota. "Limited codiversification of the gut microbiota within humans"
Reinier Egas
@raegas.bsky.social
Postdoctoral researcher | Biotechnologist | Anaerobic microbiology | Methanotrophs | aSRB | Microbial Physiology group @cuwelte.bsky.social
A Chemically Defined Synthetic Cell Capable Of Growth And Replication https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.01.735724v1
Electrogenic #methane oxidation on a bioanode: putative extracellular electron transport system in #Methylobacter Ter Horst et al. part of @erc.europa.eu synergy project #MARIX #microbiology @cuwelte.bsky.social @carolineslomp.bsky.social @ribesresearch.bsky.social academic.oup.com/femsec/advan...
Electrogenic CH₄ oxidation on a bioanode: putative extracellular electron transport system in Methylobacter sp.
Abstract. Aerobic methanotrophs are frequently detected in oxygen-limited, stratified coastal environments. Known adaptations, including high-affinity term
academic.oup.com
Jumbo circular extrachromosomal elements of methane-oxidizing archaea with variably extensive metabolic and defense gene repertoires www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs
Thanks for sharing, glad to see it being picked up this quickly! Major credits to first author Peter ter Horst and @ianpgm.bsky.social, @cuwelte.bsky.social, @msmjetten.bsky.social @carolineslomp.bsky.social! The EET field is expanding into methylobacter and showcasing fascinating versatility!
Magda(lena) Wutkowska@wutkowska.bsky.social · last mo.New cool paper on previously unexplored metabolism in 🦠Methylobacter🦠 under oxygen-limited conditions that involve extracellular electron transfer: 'Electrogenic CH₄ oxidation on a bioanode: putative extracellular electron transport system in Methylobacter sp.' academic.oup.com/femsec/artic...
Oxygen production via nitric oxide dismutation in diverse ammonia oxidizers academic.oup.com/ismecommun/a... #jcampubs
Happy to share our latest article in Environmental Science & Technology! We show that the acidophilic sulfate-reducing bacterium Acididesulfobacillus acetoxydans remains metabolically active under AMD-like acidity through cation transport and membrane remodelling! doi.org/10.1021/acs....
Proton Stress Adaptation in Acidophilic Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria: Insights from Acididesulfobacillus Acetoxydans for Acid Mine Drainage Bioremediation
Acid mine drainage (AMD) waters are a global environmental threat due to their extremely low pH (<3) and high metal loads. Acidophilic sulfate-reducing bacteria (aSRB) can mitigate AMD by reducing sulfate to sulfide, a proton-consuming process that also precipitates metals as metal sulfides. Although sulfate reduction has been observed in AMD waters, most characterized aSRB are only moderately acidophilic. Here, we examined the pH tolerance and proton stress adaptation of the complete organic acid-oxidizing aSRB Acididesulfobacillus acetoxydans. Continuous chemostat cultivations were operated across a pH gradient, reaching steady states from pH 5.0 (optimum) to pH 2.9. In subsequent batch incubations, biomass from a pH 2.9 chemostat remained metabolically active at pH 2.5. Transcriptomic profiles remained remarkably stable across conditions, except for the upregulation of the K+-transporting ATPase (kdpABC) at lower pH, suggesting an increased reliance on the chemiosmotic gradient to impede proton influx. Lipid analysis revealed increased core lipid saturation, midchain methylation, and a shift in priming precursors from leucine to valine at low pH, indicating reduced membrane permeability and more energy-efficient biosynthetic pathways. Together, these adaptations likely reduce proton entry, explaining how aSRB adapt to AMD-like acidity and unlock the pH bottleneck for AMD bioremediation and metal recovery.
doi.org
Reinier Egas@raegas.bsky.social · 8mo agoNew preprint out: Although sulfate reduction at pH < 3 is reported in acid mine/rock drainage environments, isolated aSRB have never matched this limit. Using axenic planktonic chemostats plus DNA/RNA and lipid analyses, we demonstrate aSRB activity and underlying physiology at AMD-like pH.
Global warming boosts freshwater methane production. Now, a study shows that methane oxidizing bacteria cannot increase their methane consumption rates enough in response to warming-induced enhancement of methane availability, leading to higher emissions. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Methane eaters cannot speed up enough - Nature Climate Change
Global warming boosts freshwater methane production. Now, a study shows that methane oxidizing bacteria cannot increase their methane consumption rates enough in response to warming-induced enhancemen...
nature.com
Thermodynamic Evaluation of Dual Substrate Growth | Biotechnology & Bioengineering | doi.org/10.1002/bit....
Thermodynamic Evaluation of Dual Substrate Growth
Various C₁–C₂ compounds are increasingly available through electrochemical reduction of CO2. Although not always suitable as a sole substrate, these compounds can supplement a primary substrate like ....
doi.org
Congratulations to our esteemed colleague, Prof. dr. ir. @carolineslomp.bsky.social of #microbiology @ribesresearch.bsky.social, who received a Royal Decoration in the Order of the Netherlands Lion today 🇳🇱 for her exceptionel service to science & society. #biogeochemistry #oxygen @erc.europa.eu
New paper out: Robust ammonium oxidation across a broad pH range. Here, we show that “Ca. Nitrosacidococcus tergens” is a robust ammonium oxidizer across pH 2.5–7.0 (both ways: up/down). N-balances shifted at lower pH, having implications for acidic wastewater treatment. doi.org/10.1128/mbio...
Robust ammonia oxidation by “Candidatus Nitrosacidococcus tergens” across a broad pH range | mBio
The world is facing a climate crisis intensified by human-driven nutrient pollution. Ammonia and the bacteria that oxidize it are central both to the global nitrogen cycle and to wastewater treatment....
doi.org
Research by microbiologists @raegas.bsky.social and @cuwelte.bsky.social of @ribesresearch.bsky.social shows that many methane-consuming microorganisms actually prefer carbon monoxide over methane. When carbon monoxide is present, they consume far less methane. 1/2
Methane-consuming microorganisms are more selective than previously thought: they prefer carbon monoxide | Radboud University
Research by microbiologists Reinier Egas and Cornelia Welte of Radboud University shows that many methane-consuming microorganisms actually prefer carbon monoxide over methane. When carbon monoxide is...
ru.nl
Applications for the FEMS Summer School for Postdocs close very soon. ✅ Good luck to everyone who has already submitted. Your applications are now moving into the evaluation stage. 🗓 Still finalising your application? Submit by 23:59 CEST tonight buff.ly/8sPH1dF.
Grab a coffee and enjoy reading up on CO metabolism in methanotrophs! Freshwater ANME (own work): www.nature.com/articles/s41... Marine ANME (@Orphan lab): www.nature.com/articles/s41... Big thanks to our collaborators at QUT! @sjmcilroy.bsky.social (Heyu/Andy/Gene!) @cuwelte.bsky.social
Carbon monoxide metabolism in freshwater anaerobic methanotrophic archaea - Nature Communications
Anaerobic methane-oxidizing archaea mitigate methane emissions in anoxic environments. Here, Egas et al. show that these microbes can also oxidize carbon monoxide, prompting re-evaluation of their cla...
nature.com
Preprint out! Anaerobic methanotrophs are key methane oxidizers, but their activity/adaptation under acidic conditions remains unclear. We show that a freshwater ANME adapts to pH stress via shifts in lipid composition and remains metabolically active down to pH 5.65. Expanding the niche of ANME.
bioRxiv Microbiology@biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · 4mo agoAdaptation of the freshwater anaerobic methanotroph 'Ca. Methanoperedens vercellensis' to low pH levels reveals membrane lipid remodelling https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.04.11.717812v1
Beyond thrilled to share that our study has been published! This project encompasses years of work, including my thesis research on Asgard archaea in the @archaeal.bsky.social lab at @utmsi.bsky.social and @texasscience.bsky.social!!! #MicroSky #ArchaeaSky 1/12
OPINIE - De nieuwe strategie van RU is een gedurfde visie die de bescheidenheid van zich afschudt, schrijft Mike Jetten : 'we kunnen het ons niet veroorloven een generatie briljante talenten te verliezen omdat ze te uitgeput zijn door bureaucratie & gebrek aan budgetten www.voxweb.nl/opinie/meer-...
Meer dan mooie woorden: de universiteit heeft een strategie nodig met radicaal vertrouwen en een biologisch fundament - Vox magazine
OPINIE - De nieuwe strategie van de Radboud Universiteit ontvouwt zich als een gedurfde visie die de traditionele bescheidenheid van zich afschudt, schrijft hoogleraar microbiologie Mike Jetten. Maar ...
voxweb.nl
Our latest preprint: Together with the team of Jan Löwe, @danieltamarit.bsky.social and many others we discovered and characterized several Asgard tubulin genes and propose that microtubule architecture and dynamics evolved in Asgard archaea prior to eukaryogenesis www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Acetogenic methane-carbon monoxide comproportionation: an exergonic but unobserved microbial metabolism www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... #jcampubs
A newly discovered archaeal cell has a tiny genome and can’t metabolize biomolecules. It’s upending biologists’ definition of a living thing. “These types of organisms have been found before, but not as extreme as this,” said microbiologist Thijs Ettema.
A Cell So Minimal That It Challenges Definitions of Life | Quanta Magazine
The newly described microbe represents a world of parasitic, intercellular biodiversity only beginning to be revealed by genome sequencing.
quantamagazine.org
New preprint out: Although sulfate reduction at pH < 3 is reported in acid mine/rock drainage environments, isolated aSRB have never matched this limit. Using axenic planktonic chemostats plus DNA/RNA and lipid analyses, we demonstrate aSRB activity and underlying physiology at AMD-like pH.
bioRxivpreprint@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · 9mo agoProton stress adaptation in acidophilic sulfate-reducing bacteria: insights from Acididesulfobacillus acetoxydans for acid mine drainage bioremediation https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.06.686915v1
Direct carbon monoxide fixation via the bacterial and archaeal Wood-Ljungdahl pathways https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.29.685450v1
Coincidental and exciting! Anaerobic methanotrophic archaea (ANME) do like carbon monoxide - two independent studies showcasing CO metabolism across freshwater and marine ANME (ANME-2d and -2b). ANME-2d: doi.org/10.1101/2025... (Welte lab) ANME-2b: reposted (Orphan lab)
bioRxiv Microbiology@biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · 11mo agoCarbon monoxide oxidation expands the known metabolic capacity in anaerobic methanotrophic consortia https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.21.677609v1
Great new trait of #Methanoperedens archaea: Carbon monoxide metabolism in freshwater anaerobic #methanotrophic archaea #aom #anme Egas @cuwelte.bsky.social et al #microbiology @ribesresearch.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Carbon monoxide metabolism in freshwater anaerobic methanotrophic archaea https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.16.676500v1
Microbiologists Martijn Wissink and @cuwelte.bsky.social, among others, are helping us understand how microorganisms regulate the methane balance. 🦠 🫧 The scientists have demonstrated how a methane-converting enzyme (MCR) works in detail. www.ru.nl/en/research/... #science #microbiology #enzymes
New insights into how microbes regulate methane balance | Radboud University
Research by microbiologists Martijn Wissink and Cornelia Welte of Radboud University, among others, is helping us understand how microorganisms regulate the methane balance .
ru.nl