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Reposted by James Connolly

Tracy Palmer @proftracypalmer.bsky.social · 3d

Check it out! A proper team effort from past and present group members and a great collaboration with @sergemostowylab.bsky.social

bioRxiv Microbiology @biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · 3d

The Staphylococcus aureus LXG-domain toxins EsxX and SAR0287 do not promote virulence in a zebrafish larval infection model https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.04.680436v1

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Reposted by James Connolly

Justine Rudkin @scousemicrobe.bsky.social · 8d

PhD opportunity to come and work in Glasgow, developing advanced tissue culture models to study Staphylococcus aureus colonisation and infection #microsky #PhD #DTPprogram

Enquiries from potential applicants are welcome.

www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate...

www.findaphd.com/phds/program...

University of Glasgow - Postgraduate study - Centres for Doctoral Training - NorthWest Biosciences - Our Projects - Understanding Pathogens, from Molecules to Phenotypes - Justine Rudkin

www.gla.ac.uk

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Reposted by James Connolly

Andy Edwards @bugsinblood.bsky.social · 9d

Now published! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Very nice collaboration with Hoogenboom ( @ucl.ac.uk ) and Bonev ( @uniofnottingham.bsky.social ) labs.

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Reposted by James Connolly

Chris Stewart @stewartlab.bsky.social · Jul 14

Introducing a new gut microbiology journal, aptly titled Gut Microbiology.

All Article Publishing Charges (APCs) are waived for 2 years!

Please send your exciting research our way.

www.sciencedirect.com/journal/gut-...

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James Connolly @ruamicro.bsky.social · 22d

Fantastic, huge congrats Rachel!

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Reposted by James Connolly

Westermann Lab @westermannlab.bsky.social · 29d

New preprint from the lab, in collaboration with Wenhan Zhu (U Vanderbilt): using dual RNA-seq during B. theta colonization of the host mucous layer, we identify IroR--an iron-response sRNA that tunes capsule expression and facilitates adaptation to iron limitation.
doi.org/10.1101/2025.09.08.672848

An RNA regulates iron homeostasis and host mucus colonization in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron

Symbiotic bacteria in the human intestinal microbiota provide many pivotal functions to human health and occupy distinct biogeographic niches within the gut. Yet the molecular basis underlying niche-s...

doi.org

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Reposted by James Connolly

José R Penadés @jrpenades.bsky.social · 29d

Thrilled to share our two latest papers with the @tcostalab.bsky.social
lab! In the first, we uncover a new mechanism of satellite transfer: cf-PICIs hijack tails from diverse phages to spread across species.
@imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Chimeric infective particles expand species boundaries in phage-inducible chromosomal island mobilization

Capsid-forming PICIs (cf-PICIs) produce their own capsids and exploit phage tails from unrelated species to transfer their DNA across bacterial hosts. This tail piracy enables broad dissemination and ...

www.cell.com

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Reposted by James Connolly

José R Penadés @jrpenades.bsky.social · 29d

Our second paper with @tcostalab.bsky.social and GoogleDeepMind
reports our experience with Google’s co-scientist: remarkably, the AI independently recapitulated our experimental discovery on cf-PICIs, showcasing AI’s potential to accelerate biology.
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

AI mirrors experimental science to uncover a mechanism of gene transfer crucial to bacterial evolution

By solving a previously unsolved biological question, the AI co-scientist predicted a complex mechanism of gene transfer and generated hypotheses that opened new research directions, illustrating AI's...

www.cell.com

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James Connolly @ruamicro.bsky.social · Sep 7

This is very cool, congratulations

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Reposted by James Connolly

Zeynep Baharoglu @zeynepbaharoglu.bsky.social · Sep 6

So excited our antibiotic potentiation story is out 🤩 Led by the extraordinary @manonlang.bsky.social with @fox-science.bsky.social & @amazeld.bsky.social +amazing collaborators @immunobladder.bsky.social @imaneelmeouche.bsky.social 🦠 We believe it can make a difference in #AMR infections!

Uridine as a potentiator of aminoglycosides through activation of carbohydrate transporters

Uridine boosts aminoglycoside treatment efficiency against antibiotic-susceptible as well as antibiotic-resistant E. coli strains.

www.science.org

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Reposted by James Connolly

Gavin Thomas (he/him) @gavinhthomas.bsky.social · Sep 2

Delighted with our new paper on a novel itaconate transporter in the human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, led by Javeria and Reyme. @ybri-uoy.bsky.social @javeriamehboob.bsky.social @bethkw.bsky.social A duplicated transporter on its way to itaconate selectivity
portlandpress.com/biochemj/art...

Itaconate utilisation by the human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa requires uptake via the IctPQM TRAP transporter

Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA01 is one of the major causes of disease persistence and mortality in patients with lung pathologies, relying on various host metabolites as carbon and energy sources for grow...

portlandpress.com

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Reposted by James Connolly

Emmanuele Severi @emmseveri.bsky.social · Aug 7

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

#microsky #synbio #ecoli

A compact vector for scarless gene editing in E. coli

Here we present pCASKD, a single-plasmid system for scarless chromosomal editing in Escherichia coli. Our plasmid pCASKD integrates CRISPR-Cas9-mediated counterselection, Lambda-Red recombineering, an...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by James Connolly

Microbiology Society @microbiologysociety.org · Aug 1

Applications for Outreach and Engagement grant are now open. Eligible members can apply for up to £1000 to support science outreach or public engagement initiatives. Check your eligibility and apply before 01 Oct 25 at 23.59 BST. microb.io/OutreachandE....

Outreach and Engagement Grant

Eligible members can apply for up to £1000 to support relevant science outreach or public engagement initiatives that engage new audiences in the art and science in any aspect of microbiology.…

microb.io

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Reposted by James Connolly

Katy Patras @katypatras.bsky.social · Jul 31

Excited to share a new preclinical model, human bladder organoids, to study UTI, novel therapies, and beyond! Developed with Dr. Sarah Blutt, the BCM Organoid Core, and @tailor-labs.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Human bladder organoids model urinary tract infection and bacteriophage therapy

Urinary tract infections (UTIs), primarily caused by uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC), are among the most common antibiotic-resistant infections. Despite this, currently available preclinical UTI...

www.biorxiv.org

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James Connolly @ruamicro.bsky.social · Jul 30

Fantastic team effort. Project led by PDRA Curtis Cottam, with support from recently recruited PDRA Kieran Bowran and collaborators @kjosts.bsky.social and @rhystwhite.bsky.social . Many thanks to the MRC @ukri.org, @acmedsci.bsky.social and @royalsociety.org for funding our research.

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James Connolly @ruamicro.bsky.social · Jul 30

This follows on from our discovery of the Aau Arabinose uptake system but reveals new insights into substrate cross talk and flexibility in ABC transporter function to provide greater nutrient scavenging capacity in the host.

Metabolism of l-arabinose converges with virulence regulation to promote enteric pathogen fitness - Nature Communications

Here, Cottam et al. identify an L-arabinose transporter in Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli and show that metabolism of this dietary sugar upregulates the type 3 secretion system, thus enhancing it...

www.nature.com

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James Connolly @ruamicro.bsky.social · Jul 30

Absolutely delighted to share the labs latest work. We identify and characterise two pathways for D-ribulose utilisation in pathogenic EHEC and Citrobacter.

Convergent evolution of distinct D-ribulose utilisation pathways in attaching and effacing pathogens - Nature Communications

Cottam et al. identify distinct pathways for D-ribulose utilisation in pathogenic Escherichia coli and Citrobacter rodentium, providing mechanistic details and suggesting convergent evolution towards ...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by James Connolly

Julie A. K. McDonald @julieakmcdonald.bsky.social · Jul 22

In case you missed it, check out our latest paper describing how vancomycin-resistant enterococci exploit antibiotic-mediated killing of gut commensals to grow in nutrient-enriched and metabolite-depleted intestines: doi.org/10.1038/s414... #AMR #GutMicrobiome

Vancomycin-resistant enterococci utilise antibiotic-enriched nutrients for intestinal colonisation - Nature Communications

Here, the authors show that vancomycin-resistant enterococci grow in the antibiotic-treated gut microbiome by utilising enriched nutrients in the presence of reduced concentrations of inhibitory micro...

doi.org

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Reposted by James Connolly

Andreas Bäumler @abaumler.bsky.social · Jul 22

Meet the new Editor in Chief of mSystems journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Humanity’s urgent challenges need solutions from systems microbiology | mSystems

It is with great excitement and sincere dedication that I assume the role of editor in chief of mSystems. Building on the momentum and reputation that mSystems has achieved in its first decade, we wil...

journals.asm.org

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Reposted by James Connolly

Malcolm White @mfwhite2.bsky.social · Jul 16

Jo Hobbs @hobbslabmicro.bsky.social has a 12 month Postdoc available on mechanisms of antibiotic tolerance. More details here: www.vacancies.st-andrews.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...

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Reposted by James Connolly

Hannah Ledvina Ph.D. @hannahledvina.bsky.social · Jul 2

Words cannot describe how excited I am to share the findings from the second half of my postdoc in @aaronwhiteley.bsky.social's lab where we discover that bacteria use functional amyloids to defend themselves from predatory bacteria. rdcu.be/euu5Y. See thread for details on this epic adventure 1/.

Functional amyloid proteins confer defence against predatory bacteria

Nature - Escherichia coli uses curli fibres, oligomers of the functional amyloid CsgA, as a barrier to protect against the predatory bacteria Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus and Myxococcus xanthus in a...

rdcu.be

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Reposted by James Connolly

Kimberly Kline 🏔 @kimingeneva.bsky.social · Jul 3

🔬Calling all microbiologists. 🔬 Ever feel like your paper is too small for some journals, but too solid to sit on?
#FEMSMicrobes welcomes well-executed microbiology manuscripts, and they put special attention on promoting ECR authors, eg the webinar below. 👇 @femsjournals.bsky.social @femsmicro.org

FEMS Journals @femsjournals.bsky.social · May 7

Secure your spot for the #FEMSMicrobes Webinar today 🚨. You’ll deep dive into emerging breakthroughs in the field, from antimicrobial discovery to protein profiling to gut fungi imaging. Big insights for health, industry, and environment. 🦠

Register now: buff.ly/7nFyEIj

#FEMSWebinar #Microbes

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James Connolly @ruamicro.bsky.social · Jun 23

Will really miss you Phil

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Reposted by James Connolly

Willem van Schaik @wvschaik.bsky.social · Jun 23

I am delighted that our manuscript 'Staphylococcus haemolyticus is a reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes in the preterm infant gut' is now published.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Big thank you to all co-authors, particularly @lisalamberte.bsky.social and @halllab.bsky.social

Staphylococcus haemolyticus is a reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes in the preterm infant gut

Staphylococcus haemolyticus is an important cause of sepsis in preterm infants, with gut colonization being recognized as a risk factor for infection. To better understand the diversity of S. haemo...

www.tandfonline.com

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Reposted by James Connolly

Hall Lab @halllab.bsky.social · Jun 23

Amazing to see this now published! Congrats to @lisalamberte.bsky.social and @wvschaik.bsky.social - on leading this important #microbiome study on #AMR and Staphylococcus haemolyticus in the preterm gut 👇

Willem van Schaik @wvschaik.bsky.social · Jun 23

I am delighted that our manuscript 'Staphylococcus haemolyticus is a reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes in the preterm infant gut' is now published.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Big thank you to all co-authors, particularly @lisalamberte.bsky.social and @halllab.bsky.social

Staphylococcus haemolyticus is a reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes in the preterm infant gut

Staphylococcus haemolyticus is an important cause of sepsis in preterm infants, with gut colonization being recognized as a risk factor for infection. To better understand the diversity of S. haemo...

www.tandfonline.com

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