RuthLeyMicro
@microbiome.bsky.social
2.2K followers 200 following 79 posts
Director of Department of Microbiome Science at MPI Biology Tübingen Germany. Also known as Leylab.com.
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Pinned
microbiome.bsky.social
Ever needed to analyze flagellomes? @anya-bogdanova.bsky.social and @atyakht.bsky.social developed FlaPro to sort flagellins into how they are predicted to interact with TLR5: silent or stimulatory. The ratio changes with IBD! 🧫🦠
atyakht.bsky.social
FlaPro - a pipeline for quantifying silent and stimulatory flagellins in the human gut - reveals how the flagellome shifts in inflammatory bowel diseases.
Congrats to @anya-bogdanova.bsky.social on her first preprint from the Ley Lab @microbiome.bsky.social !
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Human gut flagellome profiling using FlaPro reveals TLR5-related phenotype-specific alterations in IBD
Flagellin is the protein monomer of the bacterial flagellum, which confers motility, allowing bacteria to reach their favored niches. Flagellin is highly conserved across bacterial species and thus the target of the innate immune receptor Toll-like receptor 5 (TLR5). In the gut, bacterial flagellin agonizes human TLR5, triggering a pro-inflammatory response. However, the ability to bind and activate TLR5 varies considerably between different flagellins, suggesting that the composition of an individual's flagellin repertoire - the flagellome - may mediate the inflammatory response to the microbiome, with relevance to inflammatory bowel diseases. However, to date, methods to assess the inflammatory potential of a flagellome are lacking. To address this gap, we constructed a curated database of human gut flagellins. To predict the inflammatory potential of the flagellome by sorting flagellins into either "stimulatory" (strong TLR5 agonists) or "silent" (weak TLR5 agonists), we trained a machine learning model on experimentally characterized flagellins with known binding and stimulatory activities. The FlaPro pipeline was implemented using the Snakemake workflow engine for high-throughput analysis and is available at https://github.com/leylabmpi/FlaPro. To validate our approach and explore clinical associations, we applied FlaPro to a publicly available multi-omics dataset from an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) cohort. Our analysis demonstrates that FlaPro enables robust profiling of the human gut flagellome from metagenomic and metatranscriptomic data. Analysis of the IBD datasets revealed a depletion of flagellome diversity and a reduced silent-to-stimulatory flagellin abundance ratio in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, observed at both the genomic and transcriptional levels. Multiple condition-specific alterations were identified at the level of individual flagellin clusters. These findings indicate that IBD is associated with distinct alterations in the gut flagellome, particularly in relation to TLR5 recognition. Flagellome features represent a functionally interpretable class of microbiome-derived markers with potential utility in microbiome-wide association studies in the context of human health and disease. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Max Planck Society and the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme Grant agreement
www.biorxiv.org
microbiome.bsky.social
Indeed TERRA is one of the new clusters of excellence funded by the DFG at the University of Tübingen.
microbiome.bsky.social
Thinking about a postdoc in microbiome science?
Our lab at the MPI for Biology (Tübingen) builds on the culture I established at Cornell: collaborative, creative, and internationally diverse. Postdocs lead their own projects with secure funding. Join us!
#PostdocJobs #HostMicrobe #AcademicJobs
microbiome.bsky.social
@maxplanck.de are we helping with this? Sounds urgent
Reposted by RuthLeyMicro
maxplanck.de
Open Call for Expressions of Interest: become a Max Planck Director & redefine what’s possible in science! We offer scientific independence, long-term stable funding & exceptional infrastructure. Lead your own department & open new frontiers of research. Apply by 31 Oct 2025 → www.mpg.de/directors
Directors
The Max Planck Society offers Directors a unique platform for groundbreaking research and leadership in diverse scientific fields.
www.mpg.de
Reposted by RuthLeyMicro
Reposted by RuthLeyMicro
luisapallares.bsky.social
The 'free-floaters' call to start your lab in the Max Planck Society is now open! Deadline Oct 14th.
maxplanck.de
Springboard for an international scientific career! 🧬🧪🔭⚛️🧠🌱 Call for #MaxPlanckResearchGroups launched; applications are possible until October 14, 2025 www.mpg.de/max-planck-r... #ScienceCareer
Call for Applications / Ausschreibung
Reposted by RuthLeyMicro
bossdorf.bsky.social
Job Alert! The University of Tübingen is hiring a FULL PROFESSOR (W3) in FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY! Come and join our institute, and maybe our new excellence clusters @terra-cluster.org and @greenrobust.de. @gfoesoc.bsky.social @britishecologicalsociety.org @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social Please repost!
Reposted by RuthLeyMicro
maxplanck.de
Springboard for an international scientific career! 🧬🧪🔭⚛️🧠🌱 Call for #MaxPlanckResearchGroups launched; applications are possible until October 14, 2025 www.mpg.de/max-planck-r... #ScienceCareer
Call for Applications / Ausschreibung
microbiome.bsky.social
I left a couple in the basement of Biotech. You can probably claim them.
Reposted by RuthLeyMicro
krforde.bsky.social
The University of California system is publicly mobilizing against federal attacks. That’s historic.

It's time for ALL of us in US #highered to act.
Join our movement at standtogetherhighered.org.

#academicsky #highered #standtogether

🔗 universityofcalifornia.edu/get-involved/stand-up-for-uc
Stand Together
standtogetherhighered.org
Reposted by RuthLeyMicro
maxplanck.de
Director at Max Planck - a unique position! The Open Call for Expressions of Interest in Max Planck Directorships is open now and can be submitted by the 31st of October 2025. ➡️ mpg.de/directors - Please share the Open Call among potential candidates.
Open Call for Expressions of Interest in Max Planck Directorships:
Expressions of interest can be submitted until 31 October 2025.
Reposted by RuthLeyMicro
Reposted by RuthLeyMicro
mattolm.bsky.social
I reviewed this paper a bit ago and have been waiting for it to come out. A great resource for us Bifidobacteria researchers!
Reposted by RuthLeyMicro
profsimonfisher.bsky.social
The Max Planck Society @maxplanck.de today launched its Transatlantic Program, aimed at strengthening scientific collaboration with US partners, while at same time creating new opportunities for talented researchers at multiple career stages, from PhD through to group-heads & directors. More info 👇🧪
Max Planck Transatlantic Program
With its new Transatlantic Program, the Max Planck Society aims to strengthen collaboration and partnerships between its Institutes and leading U.S. institutions. At the same time, it seeks to counter...
www.mpg.de
Reposted by RuthLeyMicro
maxplanckcampus.bsky.social
The MPI for Biological Cybernetics is seeking two independent Max Planck Research Groups working in scientific disciplines relevant to the institute. Applications should be sent no later than 15th August 2025. Visit our call for applications on the website of the institute for detailed information!
microbiome.bsky.social
Ever needed to analyze flagellomes? @anya-bogdanova.bsky.social and @atyakht.bsky.social developed FlaPro to sort flagellins into how they are predicted to interact with TLR5: silent or stimulatory. The ratio changes with IBD! 🧫🦠
atyakht.bsky.social
FlaPro - a pipeline for quantifying silent and stimulatory flagellins in the human gut - reveals how the flagellome shifts in inflammatory bowel diseases.
Congrats to @anya-bogdanova.bsky.social on her first preprint from the Ley Lab @microbiome.bsky.social !
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Human gut flagellome profiling using FlaPro reveals TLR5-related phenotype-specific alterations in IBD
Flagellin is the protein monomer of the bacterial flagellum, which confers motility, allowing bacteria to reach their favored niches. Flagellin is highly conserved across bacterial species and thus the target of the innate immune receptor Toll-like receptor 5 (TLR5). In the gut, bacterial flagellin agonizes human TLR5, triggering a pro-inflammatory response. However, the ability to bind and activate TLR5 varies considerably between different flagellins, suggesting that the composition of an individual's flagellin repertoire - the flagellome - may mediate the inflammatory response to the microbiome, with relevance to inflammatory bowel diseases. However, to date, methods to assess the inflammatory potential of a flagellome are lacking. To address this gap, we constructed a curated database of human gut flagellins. To predict the inflammatory potential of the flagellome by sorting flagellins into either "stimulatory" (strong TLR5 agonists) or "silent" (weak TLR5 agonists), we trained a machine learning model on experimentally characterized flagellins with known binding and stimulatory activities. The FlaPro pipeline was implemented using the Snakemake workflow engine for high-throughput analysis and is available at https://github.com/leylabmpi/FlaPro. To validate our approach and explore clinical associations, we applied FlaPro to a publicly available multi-omics dataset from an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) cohort. Our analysis demonstrates that FlaPro enables robust profiling of the human gut flagellome from metagenomic and metatranscriptomic data. Analysis of the IBD datasets revealed a depletion of flagellome diversity and a reduced silent-to-stimulatory flagellin abundance ratio in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, observed at both the genomic and transcriptional levels. Multiple condition-specific alterations were identified at the level of individual flagellin clusters. These findings indicate that IBD is associated with distinct alterations in the gut flagellome, particularly in relation to TLR5 recognition. Flagellome features represent a functionally interpretable class of microbiome-derived markers with potential utility in microbiome-wide association studies in the context of human health and disease. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Max Planck Society and the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme Grant agreement
www.biorxiv.org
microbiome.bsky.social
A message from 4,5 Billion years ago!
microbiome.bsky.social
Indeed I always had the bacteria as the “ancient” ones!