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hemara.nz
Lauren Hemara
@hemara.nz
550 followers 800 following 10 posts
🦠 Postdoc in the Microbiome Manipulation Lab @ University of Toronto 🥝 Previously studying plant pathogen evolution with everyone's favourite P. syringae pathovar - Psa! ✨ 🌿 hemara.nz
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Reposted by Lauren Hemara
surtlab.bsky.social
Dave Baltrus 🦦 @surtlab.bsky.social · 2d
Here’s published version of our manuscript using GWAS to investigate tailocin sensitivity in Pseudomonas syringae. TL:DR pretty clear LPS is tailocin receptor but also that P.syringae often completely swaps out its entire O antigen biosynth pathway w/ recombination

academic.oup.com/g3journal/ad...
Genomic correlates of tailocin sensitivity in Pseudomonas syringae
Abstract. Phage-derived bacteriocins, also referred to as tailocins, are structures encoded by bacterial genomes and deployed into the extracellular enviro
academic.oup.com
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Reposted by Lauren Hemara
paulbrainey.bsky.social
Paul Rainey @paulbrainey.bsky.social · 3d
Two new positions are available at the MPI for Evolutionary Biology to support development of our genomics facility. Both stand to become permanent. Both offer a ton of opportunity to engage in a wide range of creative science.

Pls repost 🙏

www.evolbio.mpg.de/3838377/job_...
Two full-time positions | Bioinformatician (m/f/d) + Applications Specialist (m/f/d) - Molecular Biology
The Genome Facility at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön is seeking to fill two positions (full time) to support and expand our core facility services.
www.evolbio.mpg.de
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Reposted by Lauren Hemara
phytobiomesjournal.bsky.social
Phytobiomes Journal @phytobiomesjournal.bsky.social · 8d
Editor’s Pick: Terrence H. Bell et al. believe that there is no single “best” approach to iterative microbiome passaging but that experimental design choices can have substantial impacts on outcomes. Learn more: https://doi.org/10.1094/PBIOMES-11-24-0113-P
Fig. 1. Here, we visualize how the impact of iterative microbiome passaging may differ with time.
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Reposted by Lauren Hemara
chenxinli2.bsky.social
Chenxin Li, PhD @chenxinli2.bsky.social · 20d
The postdoc position is open until filled, but I will start reviewing applicants this coming Monday. If you know someone who is looking, please share.

careers.msu.edu/jobs/researc...
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Reposted by Lauren Hemara
plantevolution.bsky.social
PlantEvolution 🌱🌾 @plantevolution.bsky.social · Aug 14
1/2 What's best: a field-first or lab-first approach? No easy answers but differences between lab and field should not be seen as failure but motivate further inquiry and allow complementary discovery. Read our thoughts on this here:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Lab to field: Challenges and opportunities for plant biology
Plant-microbe research offers many choices of model and strain and whether a field-first or lab-first approach is best. However, differences between l…
www.sciencedirect.com
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Reposted by Lauren Hemara
isme-microbes.bsky.social
ISME - International Society for Microbial Ecology @isme-microbes.bsky.social · Aug 14
We are proud to announce the Keynote Speakers for ISME20, held in Auckland, New Zealand, from 16 - 21 August 2026! These eight internationally renowned microbial ecologists will each give a 45-minute presentation at the symposium.
View them on isme-microbes.org/isme20-keyno...
#isme20
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Reposted by Lauren Hemara
michhulin.bsky.social
Michelle Hulin @michhulin.bsky.social · Aug 7
Happy to share the first paper from my lab! We wrote a review on bacterial plant pathogen evolution 🧫 🌱 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @microsky.bsky.social @plantsky.bsky.social
From genes to epidemics: Genomic insights into bacterial plant pathogen emergence
Bacterial phytopathogens are major causal agents of newly emerging plant diseases. The roles of both agricultural practices and the alteration of bact…
www.sciencedirect.com
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Reposted by Lauren Hemara
kiseokmicro.bsky.social
Kiseok (Keith) Lee @kiseokmicro.bsky.social · Jul 16
Published in Nature today! Here, we sought to systematically ask how natural community's metabolism changes with the environment. A simple consumer-resource model can predict N-cycle metabolism (nitrate use) and, more importantly, the mechanism behind its change.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Functional regimes define soil microbiome response to environmental change - Nature
Experimental perturbation of soil pH leads to a generalizable model of the soil microcosm comprising three functional regimes with distinct mechanisms linking environmental change to metabolite dynami...
www.nature.com
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Reposted by Lauren Hemara
haileighpatterson.bsky.social
Haileigh Patterson @haileighpatterson.bsky.social · Jul 16
Extremely honoured to be a #2025ISMPMI travel awardee this year, and to be able to present the results of my masters degree all the way from NZ! Come and see me at P-319 to learn about the bacterial microbiome of Actinidia (kiwifruit).
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Reposted by Lauren Hemara
hockettlab.bsky.social
Kevin Hockett @hockettlab.bsky.social · Jul 1
Thrilled to see this work published!

We analyzed foliar disease suppressive microbial communities from tomato to identify taxa and functions associated with suppression. Congratulations to lead author @hanareiaehau.bsky.social, and co-authors Javad Sadeghi and Terrence Bell!

tinyurl.com/4pnxxuus
Rapid and sustained differentiation of disease-suppressive phyllosphere microbiomes in tomato following experimental microbiome selection - Environmental Microbiome
Background Microbial-based treatments to protect plants against phytopathogens typically focus on soil-borne disease or the aboveground application of one or a few biocontrol microorganisms. However, ...
tinyurl.com
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Reposted by Lauren Hemara
type3lab.bsky.social
Beuzón & Ruiz-Albert Lab @type3lab.bsky.social · Apr 3
How Bacteria Outsmart Plants—Then Flee the Scene!

#MicroSky #PlantScience #Pseudomonas

Our new research in Nature Microbiology uncovers the sophisticated teamwork of Pseudomonas syringae, a notorious plant pathogen.

🔗 rdcu.be/egczU
Pseudomonas syringae subpopulations cooperate by coordinating flagellar and type III secretion spatiotemporal dynamics to facilitate plant infection
Nature Microbiology - Single-cell gene expression analysis reveals phenotypic heterogeneity to enable bacterial specialization over the course of plant colonization.
rdcu.be
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Reposted by Lauren Hemara
t3sss.bsky.social
T3SS @t3sss.bsky.social · Apr 2
Pseudomonas syringae subpopulations cooperate by coordinating flagellar and type III secretion spatiotemporal dynamics to facilitate plant infection
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Pseudomonas syringae subpopulations cooperate by coordinating flagellar and type III secretion spatiotemporal dynamics to facilitate plant infection - Nature Microbiology
Single-cell gene expression analysis reveals phenotypic heterogeneity to enable bacterial specialization over the course of plant colonization.
www.nature.com
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Reposted by Lauren Hemara
jpjhall.bsky.social
Jamie Hall @jpjhall.bsky.social · Feb 18
I'm delighted to announce that the 2025 @microbiologysociety.org meeting on "Understanding and predicting microbial evolutionary dynamics" will be held in Liverpool 26-27 November 2025! Abstract submission will open soon... #microsky 🧪🧫🦠 microbiologysociety.org/event/societ...
Understanding and predicting microbial evolutionary dynamics - 2025 meeting
microbiologysociety.org
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hemara.nz
Lauren Hemara @hemara.nz · Feb 7
Now published in Molecular Plant Pathology! bsppjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Genomic Biosurveillance of the Kiwifruit Pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae Biovar 3 Reveals Adaptation to Selective Pressures in New Zealand Orchards
A hopF1c effector loss variant has emerged in commercial kiwifruit orchards, mediated by the introduction of copper resistance elements into the population.
bsppjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
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hemara.nz
Lauren Hemara @hemara.nz · Feb 4
Great to see this preprint out, based on Haileigh Patterson's MSc work with me, Matt, & Jay! 🥝🌿
Germplasm sampling workflow schematic. Symptomatic leaf samples were taken from germplasm Actinidia vines. Symptomatic and asymptomatic leaf discs were sampled from each leaf and split into two sample sets. gDNA was extracted from leaf homogenate for quantitative PCR and amplicon sequencing. Leaf homogenate from symptomatic leaf discs was also plated on selective agar for Pseudomonas isolation. The resulting pure cultures underwent DNA extraction, qPCR testing for the presence of Psa, and whole genome sequencing.
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Reposted by Lauren Hemara
rschlec.bsky.social
Rudolf Schlechter @rschlec.bsky.social · Jan 10
It’s finally out! The last paper from my PhD!

enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Differential Responses of Methylobacterium and Sphingomonas Species to Multispecies Interactions in the Phyllosphere
Leaf-associated bacterial populations of Methylobacterium and Sphingomonas in two- and three-member synthetic communities on Arabidopsis thaliana display distinct spatial structures and population dy....
enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
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hemara.nz
Lauren Hemara @hemara.nz · Jan 6
Stoked to have my picture on the February cover of Plant, Cell & Environment! Massive win for Psa enthusiasts everywhere 🌿
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
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hemara.nz
Lauren Hemara @hemara.nz · Dec 23
It's a snowy end of the year at UTSC! ❄️
Environmental Science & Chemistry building with snow in the foreground. Snow covering spruce trees along a valley walkway
Reposted by Lauren Hemara
willpjsmith.bsky.social
Will Smith @willpjsmith.bsky.social · Dec 17
🚨PhD Opportunity - please share!🚨

We’re hiring a PhD student to start Sept 2025: how do bacteria ‘tame’ phage parasites, and turn them into deadly Tailocins?

Come join me, @brockhurstlab.bsky.social, Patrick Cai &
@raveentank.bsky.social as we study ZOMBIE PHAGES!

findaphd.com/phds/project...
findaphd.com
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hemara.nz
Lauren Hemara @hemara.nz · Oct 25
The spread of these effector loss variants is currently limited, and they appear unlikely to cause more severe symptoms than the current population. We recommend ongoing genome biosurveillance in orchards to enable early detection and management of variants of interest.
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hemara.nz
Lauren Hemara @hemara.nz · Oct 25
We carried out pathogenicity and competition assays to understand the risk of these HopF1c loss variants spreading & revisited the orchards these isolates emerged in for further surveillance.
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hemara.nz
Lauren Hemara @hemara.nz · Oct 25
While effector loss is rare in commercial orchards, we observed the loss of the effector HopF1c, mediated by the integration of (increasingly widespread) copper resistance-encoding ICEs!
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hemara.nz
Lauren Hemara @hemara.nz · Oct 25
We've carried out sampling across New Zealand's main kiwifruit growing regions, focusing on commercial monocultures of green-fleshed 'Hayward' and yellow-fleshed 'Zesy002' - our Psa3 population has a star-shaped core SNP phylogeny, indicative of rapid expansion from a clonal origin 🌟
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hemara.nz
Lauren Hemara @hemara.nz · Oct 25
Excited to share our latest preprint! We've sequenced over 500 isolates from New Zealand's Psa3 population as part of ongoing genome biosurveillance efforts 🦠🥝

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Genomic biosurveillance of the kiwifruit pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae biovar 3 reveals adaptation to selective pressures in New Zealand orchards
In the late 2000s, a pandemic of Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae biovar 3 (Psa3) devastated kiwifruit orchards growing susceptible yellow-fleshed cultivars. New Zealand's kiwifruit industry has si...
www.biorxiv.org
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