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Liz Ortiz de Ora

@ortizdeora.bsky.social

330 followers 830 following 23 posts

Microbiologist. Wholobiontist. Molecular and Cell Biologist. Postdoc in the Wiles lab @UCIrvine. Interested in illuminating the invisible connections of the gut microbiome within cross-kingdom interactions.

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Liz Ortiz de Ora @ortizdeora.bsky.social · Apr 18

I am thrilled to share the first manuscript from the Wiles lab! We present "Phollow", an in vivo phage-tagging approach that enables direct observation of phage outbreaks with single-virion resolution by live imaging. Here some highlights 👇 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Phollow reveals in situ phage transmission dynamics in the zebrafish gut microbiome at single-virion resolution

Nature Microbiology - ‘Phollow’ is a live imaging-based fluorescence tagging approach that can track phage replication and spread in situ with single-virion resolution.

www.nature.com

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Liz Ortiz de Ora @ortizdeora.bsky.social · Aug 24

Oh sorry, I am at MSU in the Secor lab.

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Liz Ortiz de Ora @ortizdeora.bsky.social · Aug 24

Any in-person slots ?

Reposted by Liz Ortiz de Ora

Asaf Levy @asaflevylab.bsky.social · Jul 26

Expression level of anti-phage defence systems controls a trade-off between protection range and autoimmunity
By Nitzan Aframian and Avigdor Eldar.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Expression level of anti-phage defence systems controls a trade-off between protection range and autoimmunity - Nature Microbiology

The authors examine several defense systems and find that increased expression enhances their protection range, albeit at a cost of autoimmunity.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Liz Ortiz de Ora

Sternberg Lab @sternberglab.bsky.social · Jul 24

1/16 New pre-print from the Sternberg Lab!
We uncover how temperate phages can use RNA-guided transcription factors to remodel the flagellar composition of their bacterial host and enhance their fitness.
Find the preprint and full story here: tinyurl.com/mshwjd77

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Reposted by Liz Ortiz de Ora

Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · Jul 25

We took the day off from the lab and spent all day in Paradise Valley, Montana on the Yellowstone River

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Reposted by Liz Ortiz de Ora

Animalcules @bacteriophile.bsky.social · Jun 1

E. coli prophages encode an arsenal of defense systems to protect against temperate phages: Cell Host & Microbe www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

E. coli prophages encode an arsenal of defense systems to protect against temperate phages

Bacteria contain an array of immune systems, with many yet to be discovered. Brenes and Laub isolate temperate phages from diverse E. coli strains, enabling identification of 17 conserved, prophage-en...

www.cell.com

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Liz Ortiz de Ora @ortizdeora.bsky.social · May 7

🤯

Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · May 7

🚨New paper!

A prophage-encoded sRNA limits lytic phage infection in adherent-invasive E. coli.

Huge thanks to members of the Round Lab, @duerkoplab.bsky.social, Wiedenheft Lab, and phage legend Sherwood Casjens.

#microsky 🦠🧫🧪🧬

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

An E. coli cell being lysed by bacteriophages

Liz Ortiz de Ora @ortizdeora.bsky.social · May 6

We’re thrilled to be featured on the May cover of Nature Microbiology... And our Research Briefing is out now—check it out, it’s 🔥! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Liz Ortiz de Ora @ortizdeora.bsky.social · Apr 29

Congrats!!! That's so awesome 🚀

Reposted by Liz Ortiz de Ora

Nature Microbiology @natmicrobiol.nature.com · Apr 25

🚨OUT NOW 🚨

Phollow Reveals In Situ Phage Transmission Dynamics in the Zebrafish Gut Microbiome at Single-Virion Resolution 🦠🐟

#MicroSky #MicrobiomeSky

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Phollow reveals in situ phage transmission dynamics in the zebrafish gut microbiome at single-virion resolution - Nature Microbiology

‘Phollow’ is a live imaging-based fluorescence tagging approach that can track phage replication and spread in situ with single-virion resolution.

www.nature.com

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Liz Ortiz de Ora @ortizdeora.bsky.social · Apr 23

Thank you!

Liz Ortiz de Ora @ortizdeora.bsky.social · Apr 20

Thank you. So nice to hear from you!

Liz Ortiz de Ora @ortizdeora.bsky.social · Apr 18

Phollow provides a platform to unravel the hidden lives of phages, capturing their nanoscopic dynamics within microscopic bacterial communities and macroscopic animal hosts. Check all the details in our manuscript!

Liz Ortiz de Ora @ortizdeora.bsky.social · Apr 18

We also found that antibiotics induce phage outbreaks and viral transmission that ultimately remodels the composition of gut microbial communities.

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Liz Ortiz de Ora @ortizdeora.bsky.social · Apr 18

and more strikingly, virions disseminating to extraintestinal tissues including the liver and brain. magenta = DNA, white= phage particles.

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Liz Ortiz de Ora @ortizdeora.bsky.social · Apr 18

phages (in white) being internalized by gut-lining cells, including enteroendocrine cells (in green). pink = nuclei of intestinal tissues.

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Liz Ortiz de Ora @ortizdeora.bsky.social · Apr 18

virions closely associating with the intestinal mucosa and tissue...

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Liz Ortiz de Ora @ortizdeora.bsky.social · Apr 18

The following videos reveals the aftermath of a phage outbreak: virions dispersed throughout the lumen...

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Liz Ortiz de Ora @ortizdeora.bsky.social · Apr 18

We then brought Phollow into the gut of live zebrafish, taking advantage of their transparency and small size to visualize microbial communities across the entire intestine —capturing their dynamic interactions with the host in real time! pink = DNA, purple = actin, green = E. coli

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Liz Ortiz de Ora @ortizdeora.bsky.social · Apr 18

Phollow enables tracking chains of interbacterial transmission. As phages infect new bacterial hosts, they’re re-tagged with a new fluorescent color. Here, green virions from green-labeled cells infect pink- and cyan-labeled targets, generating vibrant confetti bursts of differently colored phages.

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Liz Ortiz de Ora @ortizdeora.bsky.social · Apr 18

One of my favorite experiments with Phollow are time lapses that allow us to illuminate the secret lives of phages. Here, we captured P2 temperate phages undergoing lytic replication in E. coli, leading to explosive host cell lysis and rapid virion dispersal into the environment.

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Liz Ortiz de Ora @ortizdeora.bsky.social · Apr 18

Phollow reveals in situ phage transmission dynamics in the zebrafish gut microbiome at single-virion resolution

Nature Microbiology - ‘Phollow’ is a live imaging-based fluorescence tagging approach that can track phage replication and spread in situ with single-virion resolution.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Liz Ortiz de Ora

Michael Baym @baym.lol · Feb 21

Legitmately thrilled to share our latest work, in which @fernpizza.bsky.social solved an experimental challenge in plasmid biology as old as the field: measuring how plasmids compete and evolve within individual cells!

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Liz Ortiz de Ora @ortizdeora.bsky.social · Feb 18

Congrats!

Reposted by Liz Ortiz de Ora

Stephanie Orchanian @stephorch.bsky.social · Feb 17

Curious about how the gut microbiome modulates the neurological health of pregnant women and their offspring? Check out my recent review with @pipethero.bsky.social out now @jclinical-invest.bsky.social! 🦠🤰👶🧠

www.jci.org/articles/vie...

JCI - The microbiome as a modulator of neurological health across the maternal-offspring interface

www.jci.org

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