#Manchester #MEEhubs26 Day 2 is on! Fantastic talks from @olimeacock.bsky.social @melissalawson.bsky.social @evokait.bsky.social on microbial community interactions with keynote by @dundee.ac.uk's Prof. Sarah Coulthurst 🦠↔️🦠

#MEEHubs is go! So excited to hear about the latest in Microbial Ecology and Evolution Research at @manchester.ac.uk and worldwide ❤️

I'm not crying, you're crying ❤️🦠

Check out our latest T7SS toxin story. These reverse toxins aren’t as rare as we thought!

bioRxiv Microbiology@biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · last mo.

A novel reverse lipase toxin substrate of the Staphylococcus aureus type VII secretion system https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.22.733114v1

Excited to share our new preprint on a question that has puzzled us for a long time: How can the bacterial nano-weapon, type VI secretion system (T6SS), load and deliver so many antibacterial toxins that are completely different in structure and function? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Eye-opening work by @olimeacock.bsky.social (former postdoc, now PI in Sheffield). He presents an exact mapping from steady-state consumer-resource to generalized Lotka-Volterra models, revealing that cross-feeding can lead to competition for other limiting resources. Feedback pls!

Oliver Meacock@olimeacock.bsky.social · 2mo ago

New preprint from @saramitri.bsky.social and me: tinyurl.com/3dsjnm4d The headline result - we derive a general way to connect mechanistic ecosystem models to the gLV equation. This reveals that strengthening cooperative mechanisms can make effective gLV interactions increasingly competitive. Weird!

Thanks to all the folks who came to see @mermanchester.bsky.social at @manchester.ac.uk Universally Manchester Festival! We had a blast, send us pics of your petris ❤️

MERMan Research Group (University of Manchester)@mermanchester.bsky.social · 2mo ago

We’re at the Universally Manchester Festival today with colonies to count, bacteria to infect with phage & your very own microbes to create! 🧫 @socialresponuom.bsky.social

It's arrived!!!! #LTEE

It's funny how we stigmatize being wrong in science. There's nothing better in science than being wrong and getting to change your mind about something. Any day you were wrong is a day you get to learn something new!

Registration is open for the Biotic Control of Bacteria meeting, hosted by MGen Deputy Editor-in-Chief Dr Conor Meehan. Explore innovative approaches to controlling bacterial growth and network with leading researchers in the field. Find out more: https://microb.io/3Qv6k5B

MEEHubs26 abstract deadline has been extended to April 26th. Come showcase your awesome Microbiology w. scientists worldwide! meehubs2026.oa-event.com 🦠 What: awesome conference in microbial ecology and evolution, with hubs around the world 🦠 Where: Sunny* Manchester 🦠 When: 3rd-5th August 2026

🚨 Calling all microbiologists! 🚨 The MEEHubs abstract submission deadline (19/04) is fast approaching. Come showcase your science!! Submission portal is here: app.oxfordabstracts.com/auth?redirec...

It was a huge pleasure to welcome my former mentor, @unimelb.edu.au 's Prof James Osborne, to @mermanchester.bsky.social this week! Here I am seconds after having embarrassingly dropped several of my cryos on the floor

Outstanding MathBio seminar by @olimeacock.bsky.social today at @manchester.ac.uk! Thanks Carl Whitfield and @mermanchester.bsky.social members for great chats Oli has developed beautiful eco theory on how microbes interact via environmental change 1/2

Here’s the latest preprint from my work on evolved resistance to Type VI Secretion system (T6SS) weaponry, funded by a @wellcometrust.bsky.social Sir Henry Wellcome Fellowship. So happy to see this out! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

🚨 Calling all UK microbiologists 🚨- MEEHubs Registration is now OPEN! Come join our hub at ☀️ @manchester.ac.uk ☀️

MEEhubs@meehubs.bsky.social · 5mo ago

MEEHubs2026 registration and abstract submission is now online! 🚨🦠✨ Join us Aug 3 - 5, 2026 at one of the 7 hubs or online. We are incredibly excited about our lineup of speakers, and hope that you submit an abstract to contribute too! More information and registration links at: meehubs.org

How does treatment induced antibiotic resistance happen in real-world infections? We analysed 25k Pseudomonas isolates from 180 patients in a clinical trial to find out! TLDR: The ecological and evolutionary paths are surprisingly diverse & complex even in patients receiving identical treatment…

Matthew J Shepherd@matthewjshepherd.bsky.social · 6mo ago

🚨 New pre-print! 🚨 In the largest study of its kind to-date, we investigate the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms driving within-patient evolution of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Read here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... , and follow along with this thread, discussing our findings (1/21)

New preprint! Ever wondered why only a fraction of genomes encode CRISPR immunity? 🧬 🦠 Turns out CRISPR is rarely beneficial against virulent phages, being most beneficial against those for which resistance mutations are rare! An epic effort by Rosanna Wright www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Resistance mutation supply modulates the benefit of CRISPR immunity against virulent phages

Only a fraction of bacterial genomes encode CRISPR-Cas systems but the selective causes of this variation are unexplained. How naturally virulent bacteriophages (phages) select for CRISPR immunity has...

biorxiv.org

🚨 PhD Studentship available! 🚨 We're hiring a UK student to start in Oct '26 via the BBSRC CODEM scheme. Full studentship plus £10k top-up PA. Study the mysterious ZOMBIE PHAGES 🧟 🦠 with our fabulous @mermanchester.bsky.social and @uommib.bsky.social communities! www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

(CODE M) Losing your head: how do bacterial viruses evolve into anti-competitor weapons? at The University of Manchester on FindAPhD.com

PhD Project - (CODE M) Losing your head: how do bacterial viruses evolve into anti-competitor weapons? at The University of Manchester, listed on FindAPhD.com

findaphd.com

Congratulations also to MERMan's new Bicentenary Fellows, Dr. @matthewjshepherd.bsky.social and Dr. Ryan R Cochrane! Names on doors!!! 🎉 @mermanchester.bsky.social @manchester.ac.uk

Huge congratulations to @mermanchester.bsky.social 's latest graduate, Dr. Rana Alruthaya, who passed her PhD viva today! Well done Rana!

Fantastic talk about the impact of inflammation on Pseudomonas aeruginosa evolution by @taoranfu.bsky.social #MicroEvo25

Find out more about DNA repair protein single-molecule tracking from @bexlowrypalms.bsky.social at poster 18🔬 #MicroEvo25

Come chat to Dan at poster 22 to learn about endosymbiosis evolution #MicroEvo25

Had the best day at #MicroEvo25 yesterday! Excited for day two and to be chatting more about hot spring microbial community coalescence 🌋 find me at poster 62 (likely with a coffee in hand)

Come and see @willpjsmith.bsky.social at poster 71 to find out more about microbial warfare! #MicroEvo25

Happy to share our latest T6SS review: nature.com/articles/s41... Thank you, Jan, Danny (@dannyjamesward.bsky.social), Joana (@joanampereira.bsky.social), as well as reviewers and editors @natrevmicro.nature.com!

The type VI secretion system and associated effector proteins - Nature Reviews Microbiology

In this Review, Basler and colleagues examine the type VI secretion system (T6SS), focusing on the diversity of antibacterial T6SS effectors and the evolutionary forces that shape them. They explain h...

nature.com

Can we leverage bacterial competition for targeted replacement of harmful strains? Maybe! Our recent piece in @natmicrobiol.nature.com provides a theoretical framework and a set of experiments to show what it might take: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Strain displacement in microbiomes via ecological competition - Nature Microbiology

Mathematical modelling and experimental tests reveal principles that govern displacement of a resident strain by an invader in microbial communities.

nature.com