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Rachel M. Wheatley

@rachelmwheatley.bsky.social

1.8K followers 1K following 300 posts

Evolutionary microbiologist interested in AMR & microbiomes 🦠 UKRI Future Leaders Fellow & Group Leader @ Queen’s University Belfast. she/her. Ex-GB athlete 🇬🇧

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Rachel M. Wheatley @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social · 24d

Delighted to share that I’ve been awarded a Future Leaders Fellowship to investigate the impact of microbial interactions on antimicrobial resistance evolution 🎉 🧫 really grateful for this investment in my lab and excited to start my fellowship in Jan’26!

www.ukri.org/news/ukri-an...

UKRI announces winners of £120 million Future Leaders Fellowships

Research into the causes of lung cancer and Alzheimer’s disease are among 77 projects to be funded by UKRI’s Future Leaders Fellowships.

www.ukri.org

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Rachel M. Wheatley @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social · 12h

And for all of us looking at the microbiome…. Don’t forget the viruses! ( @connorggbamford.bsky.social I know you’ll appreciate this 😆)

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Rachel M. Wheatley @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social · 14h

So enjoyable to work with both @bkoskella.bsky.social & @dholtappels.bsky.social on this project! Which started as a brilliant idea from Britt at the Wiko, and has continued remotely since (ft also a lovely trip to Berkeley!) ☺️ yay for team science!

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Rachel M. Wheatley @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social · 14h

Overall, while specific viral taxa as signatures might be limited as highly disease or condition specific, we think there is promise for the use of existing ecological theory in predicting / explaining microbiome health when considering compositional changes in the virome 🦠

Rachel M. Wheatley @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social · 14h

We saw that the relationship between viral and bacterial alpha diversity breaks down under dysbiosis - raising the question that could this itself be a useful signature of disturbance?

Rachel M. Wheatley @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social · 14h

What did we find? Well, changes to virome alpha diversity accompany dysbiosis around half of the time. Shifting virome composition is a more consistent signature, with significant changes to virome beta diversity accompanying dysbiosis ~70% of the time.

Rachel M. Wheatley @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social · 14h

We did both a qualitative analysis of author-reported metrics and a quantitative analysis of changes to virome alpha diversity. We also looked at the correlation between bacterial and viral alpha diversity across “healthy” and “dysbiosis” states.

Rachel M. Wheatley @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social · 14h

We wanted to test the ability of measurements of viral communities to reflect signatures of microbiome health - and used a large collection of previously published data where the virome had been compared between some measure of disturbance and a control group (with absence of that disturbance)

Rachel M. Wheatley @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social · 14h

Inspired by this brilliant review on the role of parasites in shaping the ecology and evolution of their hosts ….. we ask this question in the microbial world, where the primary parasites of bacteria are bacteriophage viruses

www.cell.com/trends/ecolo...

Is a healthy ecosystem one that is rich in parasites?

Historically, the role of parasites in ecosystem functioning has been considered trivial because a cursory examination reveals that their relative biomass is low compared with that of other trophic gr...

www.cell.com

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Rachel M. Wheatley @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social · 14h

Is a healthy microbiome one that is rich in phages? 🦠 Excited to share our paper out in Lancet Microbe with @bkoskella.bsky.social & @dholtappels.bsky.social where we test whether virome diversity can be used a broad signature of microbiome health 📈

The Lancet Microbe @lancetmicrobe.bsky.social · 1d

New research article

Evaluation of bacteriophages as a signature of #microbiome health: a systematic review and meta-analysis

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

#IDSky #ClinMicro #ViroSky #Phage #OpenAccess #OA

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Reposted by Rachel M. Wheatley

Michael Brockhurst @brockhurstlab.bsky.social · 1d

Three Bicentenary research fellowships on offer at @officialuom.bsky.social @fbmh-uom.bsky.social for exceptional ECRs with <3y postdoc experience

3yrs salary + £30k pa research expenses

Do you have a great idea & want to join @mermanchester.bsky.social?

www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/research/sup...

Bicentenary Early Career Research Fellowships | Biology, Medicine and Health | University of Manchester

Find out about and apply for a Bicentenary Early Career Research Fellowship.

www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk

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Reposted by Rachel M. Wheatley

Craig MacLean @craigmaclean.bsky.social · 1d

New pre-print www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Plasmid-dependent phage (PDPs) are ubiquitous, but the selective pressures that they impose on plasmids are not well understood. Project led by Daniel Cazares in collaboration with @brockhurstlab.bsky.social!
#phagesky#microsky

Trade-offs between phage resistance and conjugative ability shape the ecological and evolutionary response of a multidrug resistance plasmid to plasmid-dependent phage

Phage therapy is a promising alternative to antibiotics to treat multidrug resistant infections. Plasmid dependent phages (PDPs) are particularly attractive as therapeutics because they can both kill ...

www.biorxiv.org

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Rachel M. Wheatley @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social · 2d

So fun to attend the FLF starting meeting in Glasgow and meet the rest of the round 9 cohort! This very well may be what happens when you try and submit your intro info at 4 weeks postpartum… but…. can anyone spot the error on my intro board? 😂😁

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Reposted by Rachel M. Wheatley

Filip Husnik @filiphusnik.bsky.social · 3d

OIST is seeking up to four tenure-track or tenured faculty in Ecology, Environmental Science, Earth Science, and Oceanography. Application deadline: Oct 15. Please share. Thx!
www.oist.jp/careers/facu...

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Reposted by Rachel M. Wheatley

Michelle Buckner @bucknerlab.bsky.social · 8d

Job opportunity in my lab! We're looking for a post-doc to come join us for an exciting project exploring the evolution of #AMR and #hypervirulence in #klebsiella. Please share!! @unibirmingham.bsky.social Details: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOV067/r...

Research Fellow at University of Birmingham

Apply now for the Research Fellow role on jobs.ac.uk - the leading job board for higher education jobs. View details.

www.jobs.ac.uk

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Reposted by Rachel M. Wheatley

Arianne Babina @ariannebabina.bsky.social · 8d

🚨PHD PROJECT!🚨
Interested in #bacteria, #RNA, #evolution, #biotech, #EnvironmentalMicro?

Opportunity for a fully-funded #PhD with me, @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social, & @walllabuoglasgow.bsky.social via the NorthWestBio DTP:

www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate...

Deadline 21 Nov. #MicroSky Please share!

University of Glasgow - Postgraduate study - Centres for Doctoral Training - NorthWest Biosciences - Our Projects - Underpinning Bioscience - Arianne Babina

www.gla.ac.uk

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Reposted by Rachel M. Wheatley

Craig MacLean @craigmaclean.bsky.social · 10d

New pre-print
Competition between phage constrains adaptation to thermal fluctuating temperatures.
More work led by Sam Greenrod in collaboration with @kayla-king.bsky.social lab.
#Phagesky#Microsky

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Rachel M. Wheatley

Paul Hoskisson 🧫 🦠🐸 @paulhoskisson.bsky.social · 10d

Come and work with me and @ariannebabina.bsky.social on #Streptomyces evolution and antibiotic production

Origins of a tangled bank: Adaptation and evolution in antibiotic-producing Streptomyces

www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate...

please repost

University of Glasgow - Postgraduate study - Centres for Doctoral Training - NorthWest Biosciences - Our Projects - Underpinning Bioscience - Paul A Hoskisson

www.gla.ac.uk

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Rachel M. Wheatley @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social · 9d

🔊 Fully-funded 4yr PhD studentship with the NWB DTP, working on novel regulators of bacterial nitrogen metabolism 🦠
Primary supervisor: @ariannebabina.bsky.social (University of Glasgow)
Co-supervisors: myself (Queen’s Belfast)+ Dónal Wall (Glasgow)
🌟 please share 🌟

www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate...

University of Glasgow - Postgraduate study - Centres for Doctoral Training - NorthWest Biosciences - Our Projects - Underpinning Bioscience - Arianne Babina

www.gla.ac.uk

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Reposted by Rachel M. Wheatley

Zamin Iqbal @zaminiqbal.bsky.social · 15d

Delighted to see our paper studying the evolution of plasmids over the last 100 years, now out! Years of work by Adrian Cazares, also Nick Thomson @sangerinstitute.bsky.social - this version much improved over the preprint. Final version should be open access, apols.
Thread 1/n

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Rachel M. Wheatley @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social · 15d

Thanks Joao ☺️ ps one of my group members is reading a bunch of your defence system papers at the moment! They are a big fan

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Rachel M. Wheatley @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social · 15d

Very cool postdoc project with a brilliant and very supportive PI 🌟 please share around! 🔊

Craig MacLean @craigmaclean.bsky.social · 15d

New ERC funded computational postdoc position in my lab! We are looking for someone who will study the genomics of bacterial evolution using samples from experimental evolution and clinical trials. Lots of opportunities for interesting and fun collaboration!
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

Job Details

my.corehr.com

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Rachel M. Wheatley @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social · 16d

Thank you!! ☺️

Rachel M. Wheatley @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social · 21d

Thank you so much!

Reposted by Rachel M. Wheatley

Kate Baker @ksbakes.bsky.social · 23d

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!

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Rachel M. Wheatley @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social · 23d

Thank you Varsha!! Miss our runs!