Tatiana Dimitriu
banner
tatianadimitriu.bsky.social
Tatiana Dimitriu
@tatianadimitriu.bsky.social
@royalsociety University Research Fellow in St Andrews. Bacterial evolution, mobile genetic elements & defence systems, antibiotic resistance, social interactions. 🇫🇷 with some 🇷🇴 and 🇺🇦 roots. She/her
Pinned
Preprint below has been a long time coming, here just in time for #microbio25 ! (if the train wifi lets me)
With @andrewmatthews.bsky.social
#MicroSky
🧵
Stealth plasmids: rapid evolution of deleted plasmids can displace antibiotic resistance plasmids under selection for horizontal transmission. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.30.646151v1
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
The Ono lab at the University of Nottingham is seeking a postdoc to investigate mating and gene flow of the opportunistic pathogen Candida albicans.

For more details and to apply visit jobs.nottingham.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx... The closing date is 1 December, 2025.

#yeast #evolution #candida #mating
Job Vacancy at the University of Nottingham: Research Associate/Fellow (Fixed-Term)
Applications are invited to the above role to support the principal investigator Dr Jasmine Ono in conducting research in the area of fungal biology, specifically in investigating mating and gene flow...
jobs.nottingham.ac.uk
November 20, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
What is the best strategy to win any contest?

Eliminate your opponents of course.

Recently, my friend @fernpizza.bsky.social showed how plasmids compete intracellularly (check out his paper published in Science today!). With @baym.lol, we now know they can fight.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 20, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
Hot off the press! Our latest paper led by @fernpizza.bsky.social, understanding how plasmids evolve inside cells. These small, self-replicating DNA circles live inside bacteria and carry antibiotic resistance genes, but also compete with one another to replicate. 1/
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Intracellular competition shapes plasmid population dynamics
From populations of multicellular organisms to selfish genetic elements, conflicts between levels of biological organization are central to evolution. Plasmids are extrachromosomal, self-replicating g...
www.science.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
Very happy to see this piece out in @plosbiology.org, on the bacterial immune systems and microbial communities. It was a great team effort with Rafael Custodio, @brockhurstlab.bsky.social , @brownlab.bsky.social, and Edze Westra! 🦠🧫 #phagesky #mevosky

journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Bacterial immune systems as causes and consequences of microbiome structure
Bacterial immune systems have evolved in response to diverse molecular "parasites", yet their ecological roles remain poorly understood. This Essay explores how interactions between mobile genetic ele...
journals.plos.org
November 19, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
PhD studentship opportunity! Join us at St Andrews to study the factors controlling plasmid transmission in the gut. Competition-funded as part of the EASTBIO DTP, co-supervised with Dr Jaclyn Pearson. Please share & pass on to anyone interested! 🦠🧫 Deadline 15th December👇
www.findaphd.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
New preprint: we looked into production of the bacterial toxin colibactin and found that MDR E. coli from the global north have co-evolved with endemic colibactin producers, acquiring colibactin resistance genes before undergoing clonal expansions.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Co-evolution between colibactin production and resistance is linked to clonal expansions in Escherichia coli
Specific strains of Escherichia coli employ the polyketide synthase island to produce a metabolite called colibactin that is implicated in colorectal tumorigenesis via its genotoxic effect on human DN...
www.biorxiv.org
November 18, 2025 at 6:41 AM
PhD studentship opportunity! Join us at St Andrews to study the factors controlling plasmid transmission in the gut. Competition-funded as part of the EASTBIO DTP, co-supervised with Dr Jaclyn Pearson. Please share & pass on to anyone interested! 🦠🧫 Deadline 15th December👇
www.findaphd.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
🚨 PhD opportunity! 🚨
Join us at St Andrews to study how multiple prophages shape bacterial behaviour & AMR.
Co-supervised with @tatianadimitriu.bsky.social
This is a competition-based EASTBIO PhD.
Full details and the application link are in the advert 👇
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
EASTBIO: When Phages Collide: Understanding How Multiple Prophages Shape Bacterial Behaviour at University of St Andrews on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - EASTBIO: When Phages Collide: Understanding How Multiple Prophages Shape Bacterial Behaviour at University of St Andrews, listed on FindAPhD.com
www.findaphd.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
📣New preprint alert! We report the alarming finding that stringent response mutations found in clinical isolates increase the frequency of donation of multiresistance plasmids in S. aureus 😱 Great team effort @microclaire.bsky.social @paulrjohnston.bsky.social

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 13, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Cats have finally joined me in Scotland and seem to be settling well. Although they still don't trust us to not impose a 12h drive on them again soon.
November 11, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
Thinking about your first steps to independent research? We'd love to hear from you. More details below, or contact me directly for details - reposts appreciated!

www.nature.com/naturecareer...
Biomolecular Science Fellowship Day - St Andrews, Fife (GB) job with UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS | 12848597
The School of Biology at the University of St Andrews is inviting applications from outstanding visionary Research Fellow and Future Leader candida...
www.nature.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
JOB OFFER #PhageSky

We have a postdoc position opening in my group to investigate phage-MGE interactions !

We're based in the very nice city of Lyon, France @mmsb-lyon.bsky.social

Contact me for more info !

>> Apply on the CNRS webpage emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U...
Portail Emploi CNRS - Offre d'emploi - Postdoctoral researcher Microbiology (M/F)
emploi.cnrs.fr
October 22, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
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
September 30, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
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
October 9, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
Imagine we could travel back in time ⏪⌛️to explore the world of bacterial pathogens before humans discovered and industrialised antibiotics

We just did that to study the history of #AMR spread @science.org
doi.org/10.1126/scie...

If you like time travel & biology, this 🧵is for you👇
Pre- and postantibiotic epoch: The historical spread of antimicrobial resistance
Plasmids are now the primary vectors of antimicrobial resistance, but our understanding of how human industrialisation of antibiotics influenced their evolution is limited by a paucity of data predati...
doi.org
October 6, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
So a small update on French politics for my English speaking followers the guy who had been charged with forming a government and came up with the same government than the previous government has quit this morning following the announcement of his government and is now in charge of forming a new one
October 6, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
Published in Current Biology! P. aeruginosa can use its filamentous phage to inhibit competitors but high phage production is susceptible to cheater miniphage invasion. Subsequent phage tragedy of the commons can lower bacteria and phage fitness. Link: authors.elsevier.com/c/1lt5I3QW8S...
October 2, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
Now peer-reviewed, improved and published in @microbiologysociety.org Microbiology - thanks to editor and reviewers!

www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
September 26, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
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
September 25, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
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
September 25, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
Exclusion systems, far from slowing down plasmid spread, are in fact essential to preserve host cell viability and thereby ensure the successful dissemination of conjugative plasmids and antibiotic resistance genes.

@nfrk92.bsky.social
@narjournal.bsky.social

academic.oup.com/nar/article/...
Exclusion systems preserve host cell homeostasis and fitness, ensuring successful dissemination of conjugative plasmids and associated resistance genes
Abstract. Plasmid conjugation is a major driver of antibiotic resistance dissemination in bacteria. In addition to genes required for transfer and maintena
academic.oup.com
September 17, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
Super paper from the mighty Mia Winkler, @genomarit.bsky.social and Iren Lohr.
"We have previously shown that there were relatively few strain-sharing events across ecological niches...plasmid-sharing is considerably more common across niches than strain-sharing. "
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A One Health study of Klebsiella pneumoniae species complex plasmids shows a highly diverse and ecologically adaptable plasmidome
Plasmids play a pivotal role in the horizontal gene transfer of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and virulence determinants among bacteria. Members of the Klebsiella pneumoniae species complex (KpSC) ca...
www.biorxiv.org
September 17, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
Delighted to share our recently published work!
Ever wondered how Klebsiella (and others) deals with capsule production’s costs ?
The paper: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Thread👇
Phenotypic heterogeneity of capsule production across opportunistic pathogens | mBio
The polysaccharidic capsule is present in ~50% of species across the bacterial phylogeny, including all ESKAPE microorganisms, the six most significant multidrug-resistant (MDR) nosocomial pathogens. It is also an important virulence factor and a major ...
journals.asm.org
September 5, 2025 at 1:49 PM