Jessica Brown Lab
@brownlabutah.bsky.social
Jessica Brown, associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Utah. Fungal pathogenesis. Antifungal treatment discovery. Dabbling in fungal ecology. Tweets my own. She/her.
Reposted by Jessica Brown Lab
When humans create an artificial island, how do fungi colonize this new habitat?
Using the Danish island Peberholm as an experimental system, a recent Fungal Ecology article examines arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal succession on new land. doi.org/10.1016/j.fu...
📷 Wikipedia
Using the Danish island Peberholm as an experimental system, a recent Fungal Ecology article examines arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal succession on new land. doi.org/10.1016/j.fu...
📷 Wikipedia
February 4, 2026 at 1:09 PM
When humans create an artificial island, how do fungi colonize this new habitat?
Using the Danish island Peberholm as an experimental system, a recent Fungal Ecology article examines arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal succession on new land. doi.org/10.1016/j.fu...
📷 Wikipedia
Using the Danish island Peberholm as an experimental system, a recent Fungal Ecology article examines arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal succession on new land. doi.org/10.1016/j.fu...
📷 Wikipedia
Reposted by Jessica Brown Lab
Educational short read on 2 billion years of fungal evolution from ancestral marine flagellates to mushrooms.
www.mycostories.com/post/two-bil... #fungi #evolution #symbiosis #mycorrhiza 🍄
www.mycostories.com/post/two-bil... #fungi #evolution #symbiosis #mycorrhiza 🍄
Two Billion Years of Fungal Evolution: How Symbiosis Shaped Earth's Most Diverse Kingdom
Fungi emerged approximately 2.4 billion years ago in primeval seas, likely colonising land before plants around one billion years ago
www.mycostories.com
February 1, 2026 at 2:17 AM
Educational short read on 2 billion years of fungal evolution from ancestral marine flagellates to mushrooms.
www.mycostories.com/post/two-bil... #fungi #evolution #symbiosis #mycorrhiza 🍄
www.mycostories.com/post/two-bil... #fungi #evolution #symbiosis #mycorrhiza 🍄
Reposted by Jessica Brown Lab
🦠
The impact of phenotypic heterogeneity on fungal pathogenicity and drug resistance
#fungi #mycology #DrugResistance #pathogens
academic.oup.com/femsre/artic...
The impact of phenotypic heterogeneity on fungal pathogenicity and drug resistance
#fungi #mycology #DrugResistance #pathogens
academic.oup.com/femsre/artic...
The impact of phenotypic heterogeneity on fungal pathogenicity and drug resistance
This review discusses the contribution of phenotypic heterogeneity in fungi to pathogenesis and antifungal drug resistance.
academic.oup.com
January 21, 2026 at 2:45 PM
🦠
The impact of phenotypic heterogeneity on fungal pathogenicity and drug resistance
#fungi #mycology #DrugResistance #pathogens
academic.oup.com/femsre/artic...
The impact of phenotypic heterogeneity on fungal pathogenicity and drug resistance
#fungi #mycology #DrugResistance #pathogens
academic.oup.com/femsre/artic...
Reposted by Jessica Brown Lab
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi boost plant resilience by remodelling the plant-pathogen membrane interface
Check-out the latest paper from @alexguyon.bsky.social & @dromius.bsky.social
📖 doi.org/10.1016/j.ce... in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social
News article www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/news/arbuscu...
Check-out the latest paper from @alexguyon.bsky.social & @dromius.bsky.social
📖 doi.org/10.1016/j.ce... in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social
News article www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/news/arbuscu...
December 11, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi boost plant resilience by remodelling the plant-pathogen membrane interface
Check-out the latest paper from @alexguyon.bsky.social & @dromius.bsky.social
📖 doi.org/10.1016/j.ce... in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social
News article www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/news/arbuscu...
Check-out the latest paper from @alexguyon.bsky.social & @dromius.bsky.social
📖 doi.org/10.1016/j.ce... in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social
News article www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/news/arbuscu...
Reposted by Jessica Brown Lab
Abstract deadline today for Fungal Genetics! And still time to register, don't miss one of the best meetings for fungal genetics and genomics, an exciting meeting with great colleagues. If you are new to fungal biology you will find a welcoming community to share your science. #Fungal26 🧬🍄💻🦠🌱🪲
Registration open for #Fungal26 genetics-gsa.org/fungal-2026/ at Asilomar.
Homepage - 33rd Fungal Genetics Conference
Visit our website to learn more.
genetics-gsa.org
December 4, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Abstract deadline today for Fungal Genetics! And still time to register, don't miss one of the best meetings for fungal genetics and genomics, an exciting meeting with great colleagues. If you are new to fungal biology you will find a welcoming community to share your science. #Fungal26 🧬🍄💻🦠🌱🪲
Reposted by Jessica Brown Lab
FIRST first-author pub for Brent is OUT!
“Insights into Current Coccidioidomycosis Therapeutic Pathways” now in @asm.org
Fluconazole dominates, but switches are common in severe cases. Proud mentor moment! 🎉 @cudeptofmedicine.bsky.social
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
“Insights into Current Coccidioidomycosis Therapeutic Pathways” now in @asm.org
Fluconazole dominates, but switches are common in severe cases. Proud mentor moment! 🎉 @cudeptofmedicine.bsky.social
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Insights into current coccidioidomycosis therapeutic pathways | Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
Coccidioidomycosis (“San Joaquin Valley Fever”) is a systemic fungal infection caused
by the dimorphic fungi Coccidioides immitis and Coccidioides posadasii, which are endemic to regions of the Southw...
journals.asm.org
November 20, 2025 at 4:42 PM
FIRST first-author pub for Brent is OUT!
“Insights into Current Coccidioidomycosis Therapeutic Pathways” now in @asm.org
Fluconazole dominates, but switches are common in severe cases. Proud mentor moment! 🎉 @cudeptofmedicine.bsky.social
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
“Insights into Current Coccidioidomycosis Therapeutic Pathways” now in @asm.org
Fluconazole dominates, but switches are common in severe cases. Proud mentor moment! 🎉 @cudeptofmedicine.bsky.social
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Reposted by Jessica Brown Lab
New work led by members of the @rokaslab.bsky.social! ☺️ 1,154 yeast genomes in the Saccharomycotina subphylum were surveyed for their relationship between reduced gene repertoires broadly associated with genome stability functions and elevated evolutionary rates.🧬
academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-...
academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-...
Stable hypermutators revealed by the genomic landscape of genes involved in genome stability among yeast species
Abstract. Mutator phenotypes are short-lived due to the rapid accumulation of deleterious mutations. Yet, recent observations reveal that certain fungi can
academic.oup.com
November 11, 2025 at 4:51 PM
New work led by members of the @rokaslab.bsky.social! ☺️ 1,154 yeast genomes in the Saccharomycotina subphylum were surveyed for their relationship between reduced gene repertoires broadly associated with genome stability functions and elevated evolutionary rates.🧬
academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-...
academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-...
Reposted by Jessica Brown Lab
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🌿 Excited to share our Primer on fungal endophytes, the elusive members of the fungal kingdom that defy easy classification. Neither pathogens nor symbionts in the strict sense, they challenge how we define ecological guilds. @umr-iam.bsky.social
Fungal endophytes
Organisms are commonly grouped into ecological guilds that reflect their shared resource use and similar ecological roles. The guild concept has been …
www.sciencedirect.com
October 7, 2025 at 6:29 AM
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🌿 Excited to share our Primer on fungal endophytes, the elusive members of the fungal kingdom that defy easy classification. Neither pathogens nor symbionts in the strict sense, they challenge how we define ecological guilds. @umr-iam.bsky.social
Reposted by Jessica Brown Lab
New pre-print from our group showing remarkable synchrony of proliferative growth and regulated cell death during plant infection- each conidial cell has a different fate - by the rice blast fungus. Led by Alice Eseola with @osesmir.bsky.social Lauren Ryder @danmaclean.bsky.social and Martin Egan
Synchronous spatio-temporal control of autophagy and organelle trafficking is necessary for appressorium-mediated plant infection by Magnaporthe oryzae https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.06.680644v1
October 7, 2025 at 3:29 PM
New pre-print from our group showing remarkable synchrony of proliferative growth and regulated cell death during plant infection- each conidial cell has a different fate - by the rice blast fungus. Led by Alice Eseola with @osesmir.bsky.social Lauren Ryder @danmaclean.bsky.social and Martin Egan
Reposted by Jessica Brown Lab
Very excited to announce that our department is now accepting applications for a tenure track faculty position in Cell Biology: uasys.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UASYS/...
Come join our wonderful department!
Come join our wonderful department!
Assistant Professor Cell Biology
Current University of Arkansas System employees, including student employees and graduate assistants, need to log in to Workday via MyApps.Microsoft.com, then access Find Jobs from the Workday search ...
uasys.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com
September 26, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Very excited to announce that our department is now accepting applications for a tenure track faculty position in Cell Biology: uasys.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UASYS/...
Come join our wonderful department!
Come join our wonderful department!
Reposted by Jessica Brown Lab
We have a new paper out in Molecular Ecology, led by @devinbendixsen.bsky.social ! Reproductive isolation due to divergent ecological selection is accompanied by vast genomic instability in experimentally evolved yeast populations onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
September 18, 2025 at 8:56 AM
We have a new paper out in Molecular Ecology, led by @devinbendixsen.bsky.social ! Reproductive isolation due to divergent ecological selection is accompanied by vast genomic instability in experimentally evolved yeast populations onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Jessica Brown Lab
Assistant Professor (Quantitative Microbe-Plant-Environment Interactions), Dept of Microbiology, Fall 2026 apply.interfolio.com/173345 at University of Tennessee - Knoxville. Position is part of a faculty cluster hire in Bioinformatics, Genomics and Quantitative-based Solutions for Food Security.
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
September 16, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Assistant Professor (Quantitative Microbe-Plant-Environment Interactions), Dept of Microbiology, Fall 2026 apply.interfolio.com/173345 at University of Tennessee - Knoxville. Position is part of a faculty cluster hire in Bioinformatics, Genomics and Quantitative-based Solutions for Food Security.
Reposted by Jessica Brown Lab
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
More info and applications at @ jobs.uni-jena.de/vrbup
July 29, 2025 at 3:41 PM
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
More info and applications at @ jobs.uni-jena.de/vrbup
Reposted by Jessica Brown Lab
Our study on a mycovirus that boosts fungal virulence is now out — and beautifully covered in this Behind the Paper piece by Amariliz Rivera
Huge thanks for capturing the heart of the story so thoughtfully. @natmicrobiol.nature.com rdcu.be/eB9yg
Huge thanks for capturing the heart of the story so thoughtfully. @natmicrobiol.nature.com rdcu.be/eB9yg
Mycoviruses steer fungal fitness
Nature Microbiology - A mycovirus drives the fitness of the lung-infecting fungus Aspergillus fumigatus under stress, helping it to survive within immune cells, and thus shaping its pathogenesis.
rdcu.be
August 24, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Our study on a mycovirus that boosts fungal virulence is now out — and beautifully covered in this Behind the Paper piece by Amariliz Rivera
Huge thanks for capturing the heart of the story so thoughtfully. @natmicrobiol.nature.com rdcu.be/eB9yg
Huge thanks for capturing the heart of the story so thoughtfully. @natmicrobiol.nature.com rdcu.be/eB9yg
Reposted by Jessica Brown Lab
Excited to share our editorial on peer review, out now in #mBio! This was a mighty group effort with my mBio Early Career Editorial Board peer mentoring group
@proctordm.bsky.social and Rachy Abraham.
From novice to expert: preparing your peer review | mBio journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
@proctordm.bsky.social and Rachy Abraham.
From novice to expert: preparing your peer review | mBio journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
From novice to expert: preparing your peer review | mBio
Peer review is the process that academic journals, conferences, and funding agencies
use to ensure the quality of scholarly work before it is published, presented, or
funded. Reviewers for academic jo...
journals.asm.org
June 6, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Excited to share our editorial on peer review, out now in #mBio! This was a mighty group effort with my mBio Early Career Editorial Board peer mentoring group
@proctordm.bsky.social and Rachy Abraham.
From novice to expert: preparing your peer review | mBio journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
@proctordm.bsky.social and Rachy Abraham.
From novice to expert: preparing your peer review | mBio journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Reposted by Jessica Brown Lab
#NatureMicroPicks
🦇 ex vivo models for bat viruses!
Bat organoids as new models to study zoonotic viruses.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🦇 ex vivo models for bat viruses!
Bat organoids as new models to study zoonotic viruses.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Diverse bat organoids provide pathophysiological models for zoonotic viruses
Bats are important reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens, but suitable model systems for comprehensively exploring host-pathogen interactions and assessing spillover risks remain limited. To address this g...
www.science.org
May 21, 2025 at 3:48 PM
#NatureMicroPicks
🦇 ex vivo models for bat viruses!
Bat organoids as new models to study zoonotic viruses.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🦇 ex vivo models for bat viruses!
Bat organoids as new models to study zoonotic viruses.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Jessica Brown Lab
Vaccine skeptics want to retest vaccines, claiming they haven't been tested well enough. Devil's advocates ask "where's the harm in that?"
But there is harm. Lots of it.
open.substack.com/pub/epiellie...
But there is harm. Lots of it.
open.substack.com/pub/epiellie...
The hidden cost of retesting vaccines
A reader asked me a question I get semi-regularly about vaccine skeptics:
open.substack.com
May 20, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Vaccine skeptics want to retest vaccines, claiming they haven't been tested well enough. Devil's advocates ask "where's the harm in that?"
But there is harm. Lots of it.
open.substack.com/pub/epiellie...
But there is harm. Lots of it.
open.substack.com/pub/epiellie...
Reposted by Jessica Brown Lab
🧪 Basic science boosts the economy:
"The proposed dismantling of NSF [and NIH] raises an urgent question: do these cuts actually save money or merely delay spending until the bill gets larger?
The answer is clear: these cuts will cost the economy billions."
"The proposed dismantling of NSF [and NIH] raises an urgent question: do these cuts actually save money or merely delay spending until the bill gets larger?
The answer is clear: these cuts will cost the economy billions."
Trump’s NIH And NSF Cuts Estimated To Cost The U.S. Economy $10 Billion Annually
Economists find public R&D drives a quarter of U.S. productivity growth — and pays for itself
www.forbes.com
May 19, 2025 at 4:33 PM
🧪 Basic science boosts the economy:
"The proposed dismantling of NSF [and NIH] raises an urgent question: do these cuts actually save money or merely delay spending until the bill gets larger?
The answer is clear: these cuts will cost the economy billions."
"The proposed dismantling of NSF [and NIH] raises an urgent question: do these cuts actually save money or merely delay spending until the bill gets larger?
The answer is clear: these cuts will cost the economy billions."
Reposted by Jessica Brown Lab
We are fund raising to support our meningitis research team in Uganda to continue our work on fungal meningitis and TB meningitis. We work on prevention, diagnosis, and treatment --- and will continue with or without US gov support.
gofund.me/9e797ba7
gofund.me/9e797ba7
Donate to Help Save Lives: Aid People with Meningitis in Uganda, organized by Ciara Featherly
Cryptococcal and tuberculosis meningitis are serious brain infec… Ciara Featherly needs your support for Help Save Lives: Aid People with Meningitis in Uganda
gofund.me
May 9, 2025 at 3:30 PM
We are fund raising to support our meningitis research team in Uganda to continue our work on fungal meningitis and TB meningitis. We work on prevention, diagnosis, and treatment --- and will continue with or without US gov support.
gofund.me/9e797ba7
gofund.me/9e797ba7
Reposted by Jessica Brown Lab
Only one week to go until the abstract submission deadline for Candida and Candidiasis 2025! Make sure to submit your abstract by 15 May 2025 at 23:59 BST. Find out more on our website. microb.io/Candida2025A... #Candida2025
May 8, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Only one week to go until the abstract submission deadline for Candida and Candidiasis 2025! Make sure to submit your abstract by 15 May 2025 at 23:59 BST. Find out more on our website. microb.io/Candida2025A... #Candida2025
Reposted by Jessica Brown Lab
Translation meeting in Edinburgh (that I'm co-organising).
Invited speakers include Allen Buskirk on his deep mechanistic work on prokarotic translation, Karen Merchante on plant ribosomal proteins and their effect, and the UK Translation community bringing their best science!
#RNAbiology #ribosome
Invited speakers include Allen Buskirk on his deep mechanistic work on prokarotic translation, Karen Merchante on plant ribosomal proteins and their effect, and the UK Translation community bringing their best science!
#RNAbiology #ribosome
Are you registered for the 30th Translation UK meeting? This year, our ever-popular conference is taking place at the incredible University of Edinburgh! Be quick - abstract submission and earlybird discount ends 30 April. 🧪
Register today: www.eventsforce.net/biochemsoc/2...
Register today: www.eventsforce.net/biochemsoc/2...
April 22, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Translation meeting in Edinburgh (that I'm co-organising).
Invited speakers include Allen Buskirk on his deep mechanistic work on prokarotic translation, Karen Merchante on plant ribosomal proteins and their effect, and the UK Translation community bringing their best science!
#RNAbiology #ribosome
Invited speakers include Allen Buskirk on his deep mechanistic work on prokarotic translation, Karen Merchante on plant ribosomal proteins and their effect, and the UK Translation community bringing their best science!
#RNAbiology #ribosome
Reposted by Jessica Brown Lab
So happy to see this story come together. Check it out! Kathleen Mills and many collaborators - GM-CSF–mediated epithelial-immune cell cross-talk orchestrates pulmonary immunity to Aspergillus fumigatus | Science Immunology www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
GM-CSF–mediated epithelial-immune cell cross-talk orchestrates pulmonary immunity to Aspergillus fumigatus
During mold infection, epithelial-derived GM-CSF licenses neutrophil killing of fungal cells, leading to improved survival.
www.science.org
March 21, 2025 at 7:57 PM
So happy to see this story come together. Check it out! Kathleen Mills and many collaborators - GM-CSF–mediated epithelial-immune cell cross-talk orchestrates pulmonary immunity to Aspergillus fumigatus | Science Immunology www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Jessica Brown Lab
Important work in battling Mucormycosis www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... - CotH is an interesting spore coat gene which has a bacterial origin in these and several other ZZ fungi. In Mucor it is important for their blood vessel invasion.
A humanized antibody against mucormycosis targets angioinvasion and augments the host immune response
An anti-CotH humanized IgG1 antibody protects against lethal mucormycosis when given as adjunctive therapy to immunocompromised mice.
www.science.org
March 20, 2025 at 3:40 AM
Important work in battling Mucormycosis www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... - CotH is an interesting spore coat gene which has a bacterial origin in these and several other ZZ fungi. In Mucor it is important for their blood vessel invasion.