Amelia Barber
@ameliabarberphd.bsky.social
1.6K followers 600 following 67 posts
Junior group leader at the University of Jena (@uni-jena.de) CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar Fungal pathoecology, antimicrobial resistance, and genome stuff. Always up for an adventure or bike ride. https://barber-lab.com
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Reposted by Amelia Barber
annemakerofhats.bsky.social
If you saw my talk on the population structure of #Aspergillus flavus at Fungal Genetics in 2024, you might have heard someone ask "how does Aspergillus oryzae fit into the picture?"
If so, you heard my answer was "wait and see--we're working on this exact topic"
Well, the wait is over! Preprint ⬇️
biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social
Population-Specific Transcriptomic Shifts Underlie Secondary Metabolic Diversification in Aspergillus flavus and the Domestication of Aspergillus oryzae https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.02.680074v1
ameliabarberphd.bsky.social
Wow, congrats Megan and great to have you closer to 🇩🇪!!
Reposted by Amelia Barber
keyfm.bsky.social
Open postdoc position in in my lab in Berlin @mpiib-berlin.mpg.de.

Join us to push the frontier in ancient microbial genomics. Please apply until Oct 17th. Reach out in case you have any questions.

www.mpiib-berlin.mpg.de/2193291/job_...
ameliabarberphd.bsky.social
Fabio doing some excellent scicomm about his postdoc project in the group!
palmierif.bsky.social
🌱🔥🫁 From compost heaps to human lungs: Understanding how Aspergillus fumigatus has acquired the ability to infect humans

Opportunistic fungal pathogens like Aspergillus fumigatus primarily live in the environment, thriving in very diverse ecosystems such as soils and compost heaps.
Reposted by Amelia Barber
ameliabarberphd.bsky.social
Just a few more days to apply! ⏰
ameliabarberphd.bsky.social
My group at is hiring a PhD student to explore how fungal pathogens that live in the environment will adapt their genomes, acquire new phenotypes, and perhaps even increased infectivity as a result of climate change. Please share!

More info and applications at @ jobs.uni-jena.de/vrbup
AI-generated drawing of a woman looking through a microscope with DNA and fungi drawn in the background. The text contains the same content as the bsky post.
ameliabarberphd.bsky.social
I thought the Aspergillus fumigatus pan-genome was pretty wild when we started this project.

Aspergillus flavus said, "hold my beer..." Not only does it have a strong population structure with differences between environmental and clinical strains, only 58%of genes are conserved across the species!
Reposted by Amelia Barber
annemakerofhats.bsky.social
Really interesting work. Bottom line: re-annotate everything using the same pipeline for pangenome studies!
jotlovell.bsky.social
Determining presence-absence variation (PAV) across reference genomes is a major goal of pangenome analysis. It turns out that A LOT of gene PAV is due to methodological artifacts.

We explore the causes of this in soybean and cotton datasets in our recent preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
pangenome 'expansion' curves for cotton and soybean
ameliabarberphd.bsky.social
A nice walkthrough on the limitations of generic slide titles and how assertive titles really help keep you on track and your audience following your desired narrative.

My group can attest that I agree 💯% that slides should have a concrete summary statement as the title, with very few exceptions.
ameliabarberphd.bsky.social
Aspergillus fumigatus reference strain Af293 carries a mycovirus that boosts heat+oxidative stress resistance and infection fitness. 😲💥

I encourage you to check out Neta's thread and I'm delighted my group could play a small role in this exciting study!!
shlezingerlab.bsky.social
🚨 Fungi + viruses + mammalian lungs? Buckle up! Our new paper in
@natmicrobiol.nature.com
uncovers the story of a deadly fungus and its gnarly viral hitchhiker — and how this duo may change how we diagnose & treat fungal disease 🍄🫁🚨 doi.org/10.1038/s415... ⬇️
Aspergillus fumigatus dsRNA virus promotes fungal fitness and pathogenicity in the mammalian host - Nature Microbiology
A mycovirus infecting the pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus enhances its stress tolerance and virulence in mice.
doi.org
ameliabarberphd.bsky.social
It was wonderful having you visit! I enjoyed learning what the lab has been up to since I left and it was extra special that you could meet my group and hear about their projects.
Reposted by Amelia Barber
microverse.bsky.social
New PhD position @uni-jena.de and at our #ClusterOfExcellence! Join @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social's group to study #ClimateChange & #FungalPathogens. Interdisciplinary training, vibrant research network & great working conditions. Apply by Aug 31: jobs.uni-jena.de/jobposting/a... @uni-jena.de
Doctoral Researcher in the areas of Microbial Pathogens and Climate Change
jobs.uni-jena.de
Reposted by Amelia Barber
ameliabarberphd.bsky.social
My group at is hiring a PhD student to explore how fungal pathogens that live in the environment will adapt their genomes, acquire new phenotypes, and perhaps even increased infectivity as a result of climate change. Please share!

More info and applications at @ jobs.uni-jena.de/vrbup
AI-generated drawing of a woman looking through a microscope with DNA and fungi drawn in the background. The text contains the same content as the bsky post.
ameliabarberphd.bsky.social
My group at is hiring a PhD student to explore how fungal pathogens that live in the environment will adapt their genomes, acquire new phenotypes, and perhaps even increased infectivity as a result of climate change. Please share!

More info and applications at @ jobs.uni-jena.de/vrbup
AI-generated drawing of a woman looking through a microscope with DNA and fungi drawn in the background. The text contains the same content as the bsky post.
ameliabarberphd.bsky.social
Last week we enjoyed a lovely day of socialising and networking with the groups of @mgblango.bsky.social and @slavi-jan.bsky.social. We broke into teams for a scavenger hunt and visited a palace outside Weimar. We were even joined by special guest @mulveylab.bsky.social while he was visiting!
Two rows of people wearing active or outdoors clothing stand in a lush green forest. One person in the front row holds a map of the area.
Reposted by Amelia Barber
slavi-jan.bsky.social
📣 I’m recruiting a #Postdoc to help us further our understanding on the infection strategies of our human fungal pathogen. If you’re enthusiastic about research, our interdisciplinary group @leibniz-hki.de will be a good fit for you! Please share!
jobs.hki-jena.de/jobs/Postdoc...
Job opportunity Postdoctoral Researcher (m/w/div) in “Microbial Infection Strategies” at Leibniz HKI Jobportal
Wissenschaft/Forschung in Jena
jobs.hki-jena.de
ameliabarberphd.bsky.social
Very exciting! All the best for the next chapter!!
Reposted by Amelia Barber
palmierif.bsky.social
I’m happy to share with you that I’m now Postdoctoral Researcher at the FSU Jena @uni-jena.de in the group of Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social
Reposted by Amelia Barber
teamthomma.bsky.social
📣 We have a postdoc position in fungus-microbiota interactions! Apply here: jobportal.uni-koeln.de/bewerben/2197

For more details, visit: bewerbungsmanagement.uni-koeln.de/ausschreibun...
bewerbungsmanagement.uni-koeln.de
Reposted by Amelia Barber