Gavin Thomas (he/him)
@gavinhthomas.bsky.social
Microbiologist @UniofYork. Former EiC of @MicrobioSoc
#MicrobioJ. Transporters, Staph, BO & skin microbiome. CSO
@morfdb.bsky.social York Knavesmire Harrier & EBOR orienteer.
#MicrobioJ. Transporters, Staph, BO & skin microbiome. CSO
@morfdb.bsky.social York Knavesmire Harrier & EBOR orienteer.
Reposted by Gavin Thomas (he/him)
Check out our new paper:
🔗 www.cell.com/structure/fu...
We explored how sulfate-reducing bacteria import isethionate, a sulfur-containing molecule found in the environment and produced by microbes in the human gut. We captured a structure of the IseQM TRAP transporter in a substrate-bound state.
🔗 www.cell.com/structure/fu...
We explored how sulfate-reducing bacteria import isethionate, a sulfur-containing molecule found in the environment and produced by microbes in the human gut. We captured a structure of the IseQM TRAP transporter in a substrate-bound state.
Structural basis of isethionate transport by a TRAP transporter from a sulfate-reducing bacterium
Newton-Vesty et al. used a megabody fiducial to determine the cryo-EM structure of
an isethionate TRAP transporter, revealing the substrate and Na+-binding sites. Transport
is dependent on Na+ and the...
www.cell.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Check out our new paper:
🔗 www.cell.com/structure/fu...
We explored how sulfate-reducing bacteria import isethionate, a sulfur-containing molecule found in the environment and produced by microbes in the human gut. We captured a structure of the IseQM TRAP transporter in a substrate-bound state.
🔗 www.cell.com/structure/fu...
We explored how sulfate-reducing bacteria import isethionate, a sulfur-containing molecule found in the environment and produced by microbes in the human gut. We captured a structure of the IseQM TRAP transporter in a substrate-bound state.
Reposted by Gavin Thomas (he/him)
Contrast this with the response of a president who was an actual decent human being.
November 6, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Contrast this with the response of a president who was an actual decent human being.
Reposted by Gavin Thomas (he/him)
Absolutely delighted (and proud) that @freyaallen.bsky.social passed her viva with minor corrections today.
Thanks very much @jessicamablair.bsky.social @robfagan.bsky.social for examining!
Thanks very much @jessicamablair.bsky.social @robfagan.bsky.social for examining!
November 6, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Absolutely delighted (and proud) that @freyaallen.bsky.social passed her viva with minor corrections today.
Thanks very much @jessicamablair.bsky.social @robfagan.bsky.social for examining!
Thanks very much @jessicamablair.bsky.social @robfagan.bsky.social for examining!
Reposted by Gavin Thomas (he/him)
1. Characterising the role of the dual-function VanT in C. difficile vancomycin resistance.
A collaboration between our group in @molmicrosheffield.bsky.social and the groups of @gavinhthomas.bsky.social and Marjan van der Woude at the University of York
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
A collaboration between our group in @molmicrosheffield.bsky.social and the groups of @gavinhthomas.bsky.social and Marjan van der Woude at the University of York
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
October 31, 2025 at 3:44 PM
1. Characterising the role of the dual-function VanT in C. difficile vancomycin resistance.
A collaboration between our group in @molmicrosheffield.bsky.social and the groups of @gavinhthomas.bsky.social and Marjan van der Woude at the University of York
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
A collaboration between our group in @molmicrosheffield.bsky.social and the groups of @gavinhthomas.bsky.social and Marjan van der Woude at the University of York
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Reposted by Gavin Thomas (he/him)
Really enjoyed giving an evening lecture (‘antibiotics from the abyss’) to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society on Tuesday at Tempest Anderson Hall. The AMR series was organised by @gavinhthomas.bsky.social (lectures 1&2 by @jessicamablair.bsky.social & Martha Clokie) www.ypsyork.org/events/antib...
October 16, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Really enjoyed giving an evening lecture (‘antibiotics from the abyss’) to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society on Tuesday at Tempest Anderson Hall. The AMR series was organised by @gavinhthomas.bsky.social (lectures 1&2 by @jessicamablair.bsky.social & Martha Clokie) www.ypsyork.org/events/antib...
Reposted by Gavin Thomas (he/him)
Excited to share our preprint led by Carlos Voogdt et al
We developed new genetic tools & genome-wide libraries for species of the Bacteroidales order; constructed saturated barcoded transposon libraries in key representatives of three genera.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We developed new genetic tools & genome-wide libraries for species of the Bacteroidales order; constructed saturated barcoded transposon libraries in key representatives of three genera.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 13, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Excited to share our preprint led by Carlos Voogdt et al
We developed new genetic tools & genome-wide libraries for species of the Bacteroidales order; constructed saturated barcoded transposon libraries in key representatives of three genera.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We developed new genetic tools & genome-wide libraries for species of the Bacteroidales order; constructed saturated barcoded transposon libraries in key representatives of three genera.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Massive congratulations to Reyme Herman who passed his PhD viva today and has two new papers out on his (side project) developing and characterising the York Skin Microbiome collection. Thanks to @webberma.bsky.social & Marjan van der Woude for examining & @unileveruki.bsky.social for support.
October 10, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Massive congratulations to Reyme Herman who passed his PhD viva today and has two new papers out on his (side project) developing and characterising the York Skin Microbiome collection. Thanks to @webberma.bsky.social & Marjan van der Woude for examining & @unileveruki.bsky.social for support.
Reposted by Gavin Thomas (he/him)
🆕 We catch up with Dr Andrew Bell to find out about his Quadram Institute Fellowship focused on how gut bacteria use a certain group of sugars called sialic acids 🦠
How do gut bacteria use sialic acid sugars? - Quadram Institute
Dr Andrew Bell explains his fundamental research to understand how gut bacteria use specific sugars known as sialic acids
buff.ly
January 24, 2025 at 9:12 AM
🆕 We catch up with Dr Andrew Bell to find out about his Quadram Institute Fellowship focused on how gut bacteria use a certain group of sugars called sialic acids 🦠
Reposted by Gavin Thomas (he/him)
Now published! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Very nice collaboration with Hoogenboom ( @ucl.ac.uk ) and Bonev ( @uniofnottingham.bsky.social ) labs.
Very nice collaboration with Hoogenboom ( @ucl.ac.uk ) and Bonev ( @uniofnottingham.bsky.social ) labs.
September 29, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Now published! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Very nice collaboration with Hoogenboom ( @ucl.ac.uk ) and Bonev ( @uniofnottingham.bsky.social ) labs.
Very nice collaboration with Hoogenboom ( @ucl.ac.uk ) and Bonev ( @uniofnottingham.bsky.social ) labs.
Reposted by Gavin Thomas (he/him)
Also see the accompanying paper from Carol Gross' lab that used a similar approach for Bacillus subtilis: www.cell.com/cell-systems...
Comprehensive genetic interaction analysis of the Bacillus subtilis envelope using double-CRISPRi
Koo et al. apply genome-scale double-CRISPRi to map cell envelope gene interactions
in Bacillus subtilis, revealing >1,000 genetic interactions and uncovering gene networks
in envelope biogenesis and ...
www.cell.com
October 4, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Also see the accompanying paper from Carol Gross' lab that used a similar approach for Bacillus subtilis: www.cell.com/cell-systems...
Reposted by Gavin Thomas (he/him)
Delighted to see our paper studying the evolution of plasmids over the last 100 years, now out! Years of work by Adrian Cazares, also Nick Thomson @sangerinstitute.bsky.social - this version much improved over the preprint. Final version should be open access, apols.
Thread 1/n
Thread 1/n
September 25, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Delighted to see our paper studying the evolution of plasmids over the last 100 years, now out! Years of work by Adrian Cazares, also Nick Thomson @sangerinstitute.bsky.social - this version much improved over the preprint. Final version should be open access, apols.
Thread 1/n
Thread 1/n
Reposted by Gavin Thomas (he/him)
Synthetic lethal TN-seq! #microsky 🦠
Dual transposon sequencing profiles the genetic interaction landscape in bacteria | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Dual transposon sequencing profiles the genetic interaction landscape in bacteria
Gene redundancy complicates systematic characterization of gene function as single-gene deletions may not produce discernible phenotypes. We report dual transposon sequencing (dual Tn-seq), a platform...
www.science.org
September 26, 2025 at 5:10 AM
Synthetic lethal TN-seq! #microsky 🦠
Big event today as @morfdb.bsky.social
moves into the Catalyst building at the Uni of York where the team assembles for super productive day.
@ybri-uoy.bsky.social
moves into the Catalyst building at the Uni of York where the team assembles for super productive day.
@ybri-uoy.bsky.social
September 24, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Big event today as @morfdb.bsky.social
moves into the Catalyst building at the Uni of York where the team assembles for super productive day.
@ybri-uoy.bsky.social
moves into the Catalyst building at the Uni of York where the team assembles for super productive day.
@ybri-uoy.bsky.social
Reposted by Gavin Thomas (he/him)
#NewResearch
Nasal colonisation by S. aureus is linked with depression in a human cohort and shown in a mouse model to cause decreased serotonin and dopamine in the brain
#MicroSky #Depression
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Nasal colonisation by S. aureus is linked with depression in a human cohort and shown in a mouse model to cause decreased serotonin and dopamine in the brain
#MicroSky #Depression
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Nasal Staphylococcus aureus carriage promotes depressive behaviour in mice via sex hormone degradation - Nature Microbiology
Nasal colonization by Staphylococcus aureus is linked with depression in a human cohort and shown in a mouse model to cause decreased serotonin and dopamine in the brain.
www.nature.com
September 22, 2025 at 3:27 PM
#NewResearch
Nasal colonisation by S. aureus is linked with depression in a human cohort and shown in a mouse model to cause decreased serotonin and dopamine in the brain
#MicroSky #Depression
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Nasal colonisation by S. aureus is linked with depression in a human cohort and shown in a mouse model to cause decreased serotonin and dopamine in the brain
#MicroSky #Depression
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Gavin Thomas (he/him)
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
#microsky #sialic acid
STM1128 is a Neu5Ac transporter of the sodium-solute symporter (SSS) superfamily, which @gavinhthomas.bsky.social, Arthur Hosie & I identified 15 years :-)
#microsky #sialic acid
STM1128 is a Neu5Ac transporter of the sodium-solute symporter (SSS) superfamily, which @gavinhthomas.bsky.social, Arthur Hosie & I identified 15 years :-)
An RNase III–processed sRNA coordinates sialic acid metabolism of Salmonella enterica during gut colonization | PNAS
Sialic acids derived from colonic mucin glycans are crucial nutrients for enteric
bacterial pathogens like Salmonella. The uptake and utilization o...
www.pnas.org
September 15, 2025 at 5:29 AM
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
#microsky #sialic acid
STM1128 is a Neu5Ac transporter of the sodium-solute symporter (SSS) superfamily, which @gavinhthomas.bsky.social, Arthur Hosie & I identified 15 years :-)
#microsky #sialic acid
STM1128 is a Neu5Ac transporter of the sodium-solute symporter (SSS) superfamily, which @gavinhthomas.bsky.social, Arthur Hosie & I identified 15 years :-)
Reposted by Gavin Thomas (he/him)
Really looking forward to sharing our science with Yorkshire Philosophical Society at Tempest Anderson Hall on Oct 14th - thank you to @gavinhthomas.bsky.social for the invite www.ypsyork.org/events/antib...
Antibiotics from the Abyss | Yorkshire Philosophical Society
promoting the understanding of science since 1822
www.ypsyork.org
September 10, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Really looking forward to sharing our science with Yorkshire Philosophical Society at Tempest Anderson Hall on Oct 14th - thank you to @gavinhthomas.bsky.social for the invite www.ypsyork.org/events/antib...
Reposted by Gavin Thomas (he/him)
Julian Davies was a renowned scientist who made crucial strides in the study of antibiotics & antibiotic resistance. Honor his legacy at the Julian Davies Memorial Symposium on Oct. 10, hosted by the University of British Columbia. Register by Sept. 15 to attend via Zoom or in person! asm.social/2Af
September 10, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Julian Davies was a renowned scientist who made crucial strides in the study of antibiotics & antibiotic resistance. Honor his legacy at the Julian Davies Memorial Symposium on Oct. 10, hosted by the University of British Columbia. Register by Sept. 15 to attend via Zoom or in person! asm.social/2Af
Reposted by Gavin Thomas (he/him)
Important work by @robfagan.bsky.social
A novel two-component system controls vancomycin resistance in epidemic Clostridioides difficile www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A novel two-component system controls vancomycin resistance in epidemic Clostridioides difficile
The glycopeptide antibiotic vancomycin is the frontline treatment for C. difficile infection in the UK. There have been only sporadic reports of resistance in the clinic but testing is rare so the tru...
www.biorxiv.org
September 10, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Important work by @robfagan.bsky.social
Reposted by Gavin Thomas (he/him)
Sometimes you meet absolutely incredible bioinfo-magicians.
It was a huge privilege when @shenwei356.bsky.social
joined our group for a year on an @embl.org sabbatical.
While here, he developed a new way of aligning to
millions of bacteria, called LexicMap 1/n
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
It was a huge privilege when @shenwei356.bsky.social
joined our group for a year on an @embl.org sabbatical.
While here, he developed a new way of aligning to
millions of bacteria, called LexicMap 1/n
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Efficient sequence alignment against millions of prokaryotic genomes with LexicMap - Nature Biotechnology
LexicMap uses a fixed set of probes to efficiently query gene sequences for fast and low-memory alignment.
www.nature.com
September 10, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Sometimes you meet absolutely incredible bioinfo-magicians.
It was a huge privilege when @shenwei356.bsky.social
joined our group for a year on an @embl.org sabbatical.
While here, he developed a new way of aligning to
millions of bacteria, called LexicMap 1/n
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
It was a huge privilege when @shenwei356.bsky.social
joined our group for a year on an @embl.org sabbatical.
While here, he developed a new way of aligning to
millions of bacteria, called LexicMap 1/n
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Gavin Thomas (he/him)
Reposted by Gavin Thomas (he/him)
✨ Exciting News ✨I am thrilled to share that I have accepted a position as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology (IDM), at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health!
September 3, 2025 at 3:48 PM
✨ Exciting News ✨I am thrilled to share that I have accepted a position as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology (IDM), at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health!
Reposted by Gavin Thomas (he/him)
Very excited to share our work on a novel itaconate transporter in P. aeruignosa! A brilliant team effort by the @gavinhthomas.bsky.social lab. 🎉🎉🎉
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...
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
September 2, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Very excited to share our work on a novel itaconate transporter in P. aeruignosa! A brilliant team effort by the @gavinhthomas.bsky.social lab. 🎉🎉🎉
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...
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
September 2, 2025 at 7:57 AM
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...
portlandpress.com/biochemj/art...
Reposted by Gavin Thomas (he/him)
Very cool, congrats! #microsky
A new methods paper from us, this time with a focus on reliable monitoring membrane potential and cell lysis at different growth stages and cell densities. Also, note the surprisingly high level of background lysis in seemingly healthy B. subtilis cultures.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Monitoring single cell bioenergetic status and cell lysis in dense and differentiating Bacillus subtilis cultures
Bacillus subtilis is a major model organism for studying population heterogeneity in clonal bacterial cultures due to its high genetic tractability and ability to differentiate into subpopulations wit...
www.biorxiv.org
August 22, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Very cool, congrats! #microsky
Reposted by Gavin Thomas (he/him)
New preprint from us! The latest part of our C. difficile vancomycin resistance story. We identified a new two-component system (VnrRS) that can control expression of the vanG pathway - just needs one amino acid change
@buddlejess.bsky.social @brockhurstlab.bsky.social @claireyt.bsky.social
@buddlejess.bsky.social @brockhurstlab.bsky.social @claireyt.bsky.social
A novel two-component system controls vancomycin resistance in epidemic Clostridioides difficile
The glycopeptide antibiotic vancomycin is the frontline treatment for C. difficile infection in the UK. There have been only sporadic reports of resistance in the clinic but testing is rare so the tru...
www.biorxiv.org
August 22, 2025 at 9:39 AM
New preprint from us! The latest part of our C. difficile vancomycin resistance story. We identified a new two-component system (VnrRS) that can control expression of the vanG pathway - just needs one amino acid change
@buddlejess.bsky.social @brockhurstlab.bsky.social @claireyt.bsky.social
@buddlejess.bsky.social @brockhurstlab.bsky.social @claireyt.bsky.social