Lilian Caesar
@liliancaesar.bsky.social
Postdoc at Newton Lab (@IUBiology). Eco-evolution of symbiosis. Microbiomes | Bees | Virus, Bact, Fungi. https://liliancaesar.com/
Pinned
Spatial segregation and cross-kingdom interactions drive stingless bee hive microbiome assembly
Nature Communications - Here, the authors characterize the microbiome assembly across an entire stingless bee colony, revealing site-adapted within-hive communities, and showing that nest...
rdcu.be
Our manuscript on the microbiome of a stingless bee hive is out! 🦠🐝 So excited! Here’s a short thread with some findings, going from the assembly of a consistent multi-kingdom microbiome to discussions on host traits that contribute to it. Please take a look and share : ) rdcu.be/eVNFJ
Reposted by Lilian Caesar
New preprint out: Revealing the pervasive landscape of MGE-host interactions in situ with single-cell genomics
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
@mingyan-igi.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
@mingyan-igi.bsky.social
Revealing the pervasive landscape of MGE-host interactions in situ with single-cell genomics
Mobile genetic elements (MGEs), including plasmids and viruses, drive microbial evolution and ecosystem dynamics, yet their distribution, host range, and functions remain poorly understood, especially...
www.biorxiv.org
January 7, 2026 at 10:20 PM
New preprint out: Revealing the pervasive landscape of MGE-host interactions in situ with single-cell genomics
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
@mingyan-igi.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
@mingyan-igi.bsky.social
Reposted by Lilian Caesar
New paper up on bioRxiv! This is my third and hopefully final paper on rarefaction. It's still better than the other available methods.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Rarefaction is better than robust Aitchison PCA and other compositional data analysis methods at controlling for uneven sequencing effort
Amplicon sequencing typically results in a wide distribution in the number of sequences obtained from each sample. How best to account for this variation has been a persistent problem in the microbial...
www.biorxiv.org
January 7, 2026 at 6:58 PM
New paper up on bioRxiv! This is my third and hopefully final paper on rarefaction. It's still better than the other available methods.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Lilian Caesar
🐜 4-year #postdoc position in the @socialfluids.bsky.social lab @camzoology.bsky.social investigating metabolic cooperation between bodies in a BBSRC-funded project.
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/postdoc...
#ants #socialtransfers #sociallytransferredmaterials #autophagy #socialinsects #aging #job (🧵1/n)
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/postdoc...
#ants #socialtransfers #sociallytransferredmaterials #autophagy #socialinsects #aging #job (🧵1/n)
Postdoctoral Research Associate (Fixed Term)
Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to join the Social Fluids Laboratory (https://leboeuflab.com) led by Dr Adria LeBoeuf in the Department of Zoology
www.cam.ac.uk
January 6, 2026 at 9:33 PM
🐜 4-year #postdoc position in the @socialfluids.bsky.social lab @camzoology.bsky.social investigating metabolic cooperation between bodies in a BBSRC-funded project.
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/postdoc...
#ants #socialtransfers #sociallytransferredmaterials #autophagy #socialinsects #aging #job (🧵1/n)
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/postdoc...
#ants #socialtransfers #sociallytransferredmaterials #autophagy #socialinsects #aging #job (🧵1/n)
Reposted by Lilian Caesar
Happy new year! The second big project of my PhD in Rachel Whitaker's lab is now up! 🎉 We look at how provirus infection affects the evolution of the bacterial chromosome with different types of viral induction – with CRISPRs or antibiotics. Take a peek 🦠 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Provirus induction diversifies adaptive variation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa lysogen populations
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen that forms chronic infections in people with cystic fibrosis. Often P. aeruginosa strains are lysogens, infected with proviruses, that ...
www.biorxiv.org
January 5, 2026 at 1:49 AM
Happy new year! The second big project of my PhD in Rachel Whitaker's lab is now up! 🎉 We look at how provirus infection affects the evolution of the bacterial chromosome with different types of viral induction – with CRISPRs or antibiotics. Take a peek 🦠 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Lilian Caesar
The National Science Foundation just had a big reorganization.
Here are five things to know. ⬇️ https://scim.ag/4baWBcS
Here are five things to know. ⬇️ https://scim.ag/4baWBcS
The National Science Foundation just had a big reorganization. Here are five things to know
Divisions and rotators disappear as more career staff become supervisors
www.science.org
December 30, 2025 at 2:30 PM
The National Science Foundation just had a big reorganization.
Here are five things to know. ⬇️ https://scim.ag/4baWBcS
Here are five things to know. ⬇️ https://scim.ag/4baWBcS
Reposted by Lilian Caesar
Less than two 2 weeks to apply for this PhD position in my group.
Please do not miss the opportunity to apply if the topic is of interest to you 👇
Please do not miss the opportunity to apply if the topic is of interest to you 👇
I am very excited to announce that a fully funded PhD position is available in my group.
Topic: Synergistic coevolution in mono-specific and multi-species microbial consortia
Please RT or forward this information to interested candidates.
Deadline: 11.01.26
More info:
shorturl.at/f1TuF
Topic: Synergistic coevolution in mono-specific and multi-species microbial consortia
Please RT or forward this information to interested candidates.
Deadline: 11.01.26
More info:
shorturl.at/f1TuF
December 30, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Less than two 2 weeks to apply for this PhD position in my group.
Please do not miss the opportunity to apply if the topic is of interest to you 👇
Please do not miss the opportunity to apply if the topic is of interest to you 👇
post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't nirvana, pearl jam, soundgarden, or Alice In Chains. >>> There are really good ones, just thought about this one since recently went to their concert :)
December 29, 2025 at 6:36 AM
post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't nirvana, pearl jam, soundgarden, or Alice In Chains. >>> There are really good ones, just thought about this one since recently went to their concert :)
Reposted by Lilian Caesar
As the year comes to a close, we are thrilled to share our final publication of 2025 at ISMEj! 🎉In this paper we reveals a persistent 'auxiliary' rumen microbiome that colonizes early in life and continues to shape rumen function well into adulthood. (1/7)
academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...
academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...
December 27, 2025 at 9:28 PM
As the year comes to a close, we are thrilled to share our final publication of 2025 at ISMEj! 🎉In this paper we reveals a persistent 'auxiliary' rumen microbiome that colonizes early in life and continues to shape rumen function well into adulthood. (1/7)
academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...
academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...
Reposted by Lilian Caesar
I am beyond excited to announce that the Bisson Lab has a new home!!! Starting January 2026, I will join the Biology Department at Indiana University Bloomington as Associate Professor with tenure.
I am actively recruiting scientists across all levels. More in our website: bissonlab.com/join
[1/4]
I am actively recruiting scientists across all levels. More in our website: bissonlab.com/join
[1/4]
December 24, 2025 at 5:10 PM
I am beyond excited to announce that the Bisson Lab has a new home!!! Starting January 2026, I will join the Biology Department at Indiana University Bloomington as Associate Professor with tenure.
I am actively recruiting scientists across all levels. More in our website: bissonlab.com/join
[1/4]
I am actively recruiting scientists across all levels. More in our website: bissonlab.com/join
[1/4]
Reposted by Lilian Caesar
I've slowly been reformatting notes from my population and conservation genetics course at Montana State University into a web book—a rough draft is now live here: elinck.org/popgen_conge...
December 22, 2025 at 9:32 PM
I've slowly been reformatting notes from my population and conservation genetics course at Montana State University into a web book—a rough draft is now live here: elinck.org/popgen_conge...
Our manuscript on the microbiome of a stingless bee hive is out! 🦠🐝 So excited! Here’s a short thread with some findings, going from the assembly of a consistent multi-kingdom microbiome to discussions on host traits that contribute to it. Please take a look and share : ) rdcu.be/eVNFJ
Spatial segregation and cross-kingdom interactions drive stingless bee hive microbiome assembly
Nature Communications - Here, the authors characterize the microbiome assembly across an entire stingless bee colony, revealing site-adapted within-hive communities, and showing that nest...
rdcu.be
December 22, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Our manuscript on the microbiome of a stingless bee hive is out! 🦠🐝 So excited! Here’s a short thread with some findings, going from the assembly of a consistent multi-kingdom microbiome to discussions on host traits that contribute to it. Please take a look and share : ) rdcu.be/eVNFJ
Reposted by Lilian Caesar
Grateful to share our paper on gene-specific selective sweeps in human gut microbiomes, now out in Nature! It has been a joy to work with @rwolff.bsky.social, whose insights and hard work made this possible.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Gene-specific selective sweeps are pervasive across human gut microbiomes - Nature
Development and application of the integrated linkage disequilibrium score (iLDS) reveals both selective pressures impacting the human gut microbiome and the mechanisms by which gut bacteria adapt to ...
www.nature.com
December 17, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Grateful to share our paper on gene-specific selective sweeps in human gut microbiomes, now out in Nature! It has been a joy to work with @rwolff.bsky.social, whose insights and hard work made this possible.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
After end/beginning-of-year celebrations and some well-earned rest, come start the year thinking and talking microbiomes: Jan 20 8:30am NY - or - Jan 22 9:30am Tokyo! I’ll share my latest work on bee hive-level microbiome assembly, including spatial organization and cross-kingdom interactions : )
We have an early New Year present for you:
🎁The new #MVIF program is out🎁
Highlights:
🇳🇵 Bishwash Thapa
🇮🇷 Zahra Nezamivand Chegini
Keynote:
🇨🇭 @saramitri.bsky.social
Talks:
🇺🇸 @liliancaesar.bsky.social
🇮🇹 Haseeb Manzoor
🇦🇹 Laurenz Holcik
Free registration: cassyni.com/s/mvif-45
See you in January!
🎁The new #MVIF program is out🎁
Highlights:
🇳🇵 Bishwash Thapa
🇮🇷 Zahra Nezamivand Chegini
Keynote:
🇨🇭 @saramitri.bsky.social
Talks:
🇺🇸 @liliancaesar.bsky.social
🇮🇹 Haseeb Manzoor
🇦🇹 Laurenz Holcik
Free registration: cassyni.com/s/mvif-45
See you in January!
December 17, 2025 at 6:06 PM
After end/beginning-of-year celebrations and some well-earned rest, come start the year thinking and talking microbiomes: Jan 20 8:30am NY - or - Jan 22 9:30am Tokyo! I’ll share my latest work on bee hive-level microbiome assembly, including spatial organization and cross-kingdom interactions : )
Reposted by Lilian Caesar
The Reck-Peterson lab at Weill Cornell Medicine is seeking a technician or staff scientist to work on Aspergillus projects. Broad background in fungal biology and techniques required. Bioinformatics skills preferred. Find out more at: reckpetersonlab.org.
December 14, 2025 at 4:27 PM
The Reck-Peterson lab at Weill Cornell Medicine is seeking a technician or staff scientist to work on Aspergillus projects. Broad background in fungal biology and techniques required. Bioinformatics skills preferred. Find out more at: reckpetersonlab.org.
Reposted by Lilian Caesar
⚠️New format for ASM Microbe this June in Washington, DC⚠️
Applied and Environmental Microbiology is a new scientific unit @asm.org that will emphasize sustainability goals with a focus on foundations of basic science.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD6T...
Applied and Environmental Microbiology is a new scientific unit @asm.org that will emphasize sustainability goals with a focus on foundations of basic science.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD6T...
ASM AEM Meeting
YouTube video by American Society for Microbiology
www.youtube.com
December 11, 2025 at 8:17 PM
⚠️New format for ASM Microbe this June in Washington, DC⚠️
Applied and Environmental Microbiology is a new scientific unit @asm.org that will emphasize sustainability goals with a focus on foundations of basic science.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD6T...
Applied and Environmental Microbiology is a new scientific unit @asm.org that will emphasize sustainability goals with a focus on foundations of basic science.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD6T...
Reposted by Lilian Caesar
The 2026 Guarda Summer Course in Evolutionary Biology is now accepting applications. Amazing place, amazing course, amazing opportunity for early grad students.
tb.ethz.ch/education/gu...
tb.ethz.ch/education/gu...
Summer school:<br> Evolutionary Biology in Guarda
Information about the annual summer school Evolutionary Biology in Guarda
tb.ethz.ch
December 10, 2025 at 2:24 PM
The 2026 Guarda Summer Course in Evolutionary Biology is now accepting applications. Amazing place, amazing course, amazing opportunity for early grad students.
tb.ethz.ch/education/gu...
tb.ethz.ch/education/gu...
Reposted by Lilian Caesar
Now officially published in Current Biology 🥳🥳 @mfseidl.bsky.social @binfutrecht.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
December 9, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Now officially published in Current Biology 🥳🥳 @mfseidl.bsky.social @binfutrecht.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Lilian Caesar
Ecologists recognize the importance of integrating across scales, yet our models often target specific scales. Our new paper presents models of population growth that scale up to explain community-level patterns, including interactions of temperature, light & nutrients. doi.org/10.1002/ecm....
December 9, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Ecologists recognize the importance of integrating across scales, yet our models often target specific scales. Our new paper presents models of population growth that scale up to explain community-level patterns, including interactions of temperature, light & nutrients. doi.org/10.1002/ecm....
Reposted by Lilian Caesar
Extensive horizontal transfer of transposable elements shapes fungal mobilomes
@currentbiology.bsky.social by @jromeijn.bsky.social et al from @mfseidl.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...
@currentbiology.bsky.social by @jromeijn.bsky.social et al from @mfseidl.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Extensive horizontal transfer of transposable elements shapes fungal mobilomes
Romeijn et al. reveal that horizontal transposon transfer is widespread in fungi,
contributing up to 70% of transposon content in some taxa. The authors uncover thousands
of events across diverse line...
www.cell.com
December 6, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Extensive horizontal transfer of transposable elements shapes fungal mobilomes
@currentbiology.bsky.social by @jromeijn.bsky.social et al from @mfseidl.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...
@currentbiology.bsky.social by @jromeijn.bsky.social et al from @mfseidl.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Lilian Caesar
New preprint! Do you like ocean waves? We found similar waves on bacterial colonies! We found that this collective behavior, known as rippling, is nothing but surface waves on an active nematic. @princeton.edu @mpipks.bsky.social @ub.edu @icreacommunity.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
December 2, 2025 at 8:02 PM
New preprint! Do you like ocean waves? We found similar waves on bacterial colonies! We found that this collective behavior, known as rippling, is nothing but surface waves on an active nematic. @princeton.edu @mpipks.bsky.social @ub.edu @icreacommunity.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
The STREAMS guidelines are online. Check them out! It’s been amazing to be part of such a collaborative group of scientists and to discuss all things microbiome. Proud to have contributed to it!
rdcu.be/eSETG
rdcu.be/eSETG
STREAMS guidelines: standards for technical reporting in environmental and host-associated microbiome studies
Nature Microbiology - This Consensus Statement presents the standards for technical reporting in environmental and host-associated microbiome studies (STREAMS) guidelines.
rdcu.be
December 1, 2025 at 8:59 PM
The STREAMS guidelines are online. Check them out! It’s been amazing to be part of such a collaborative group of scientists and to discuss all things microbiome. Proud to have contributed to it!
rdcu.be/eSETG
rdcu.be/eSETG
Reposted by Lilian Caesar
New preprint from our lab! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@aiswarya.bsky.social tested the role of priority effects in shaping the honeybee gut microbiota using an elegant combinatorial experimental design. A thread🧵....
@aiswarya.bsky.social tested the role of priority effects in shaping the honeybee gut microbiota using an elegant combinatorial experimental design. A thread🧵....
| bioRxiv
bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research and educational institution
www.biorxiv.org
November 25, 2025 at 9:29 PM
New preprint from our lab! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@aiswarya.bsky.social tested the role of priority effects in shaping the honeybee gut microbiota using an elegant combinatorial experimental design. A thread🧵....
@aiswarya.bsky.social tested the role of priority effects in shaping the honeybee gut microbiota using an elegant combinatorial experimental design. A thread🧵....
Time to start planning for ASM Microbe 2026! Among the amazing sessions announced (see link), Chris and I are thrilled to be convening “From the Rhizosphere to Pollinators: Studying Agricultural Microbiomes Across Biological Scales”. We can’t wait to see you all there! More details coming soon!
Some fantastic sessions being planned for ASM Microbe 2026, including "Long-term Dynamics of Environmental Microbiomes", and "Eco-evolutionary Dynamics of Phages and Their Roles in Horizontal Gene Transfer". Get your abstract(s) ready, and join us June 4–7, 2026 in D.C. ! asm.org/events/asm-m...
November 24, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Time to start planning for ASM Microbe 2026! Among the amazing sessions announced (see link), Chris and I are thrilled to be convening “From the Rhizosphere to Pollinators: Studying Agricultural Microbiomes Across Biological Scales”. We can’t wait to see you all there! More details coming soon!
Reposted by Lilian Caesar
Our work is out in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social!
Aranzazu nicely summarized it below.
#infection #symbiosky
#immunity #AcademicSky #insect #symbiosis #Drosophila
Aranzazu nicely summarized it below.
#infection #symbiosky
#immunity #AcademicSky #insect #symbiosis #Drosophila
Ever wonder how host genetics shape the microbiota? We found that heparan sulfate biosynthesis is a major host driver of L. plantarum levels. During infection, NF-κB increases HS, expanding commensals, enhancing resistance and maintaining gut homeostasis. www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Infection-induced elevation of gut glycosaminoglycans fosters microbiota expansion in Drosophila melanogaster
Arias-Rojas et al. performed a genome-wide association study in Drosophila melanogaster
and identified host genetic variants, particularly in heparan sulfate synthesis genes,
associated with increased...
www.cell.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Our work is out in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social!
Aranzazu nicely summarized it below.
#infection #symbiosky
#immunity #AcademicSky #insect #symbiosis #Drosophila
Aranzazu nicely summarized it below.
#infection #symbiosky
#immunity #AcademicSky #insect #symbiosis #Drosophila
Reposted by Lilian Caesar
New study shows bee bread has a stable core microbiota 🐝🧬 Miticides had only weak effects, with slight drops in non-core diversity. Honey bee nutrition is more microbially resilient than we thought. 💛
peerj.com/articles/203...
peerj.com/articles/203...
The bee bread of honey bees is characterized by a core microbiota despite the application of miticide treatments and variation across space and time
Background Bee bread is composed of a mixture of pollen and nectar used as the main source of proteins and lipids for the development of bee larvae. Despite its important role in honey bee food preser...
peerj.com
November 20, 2025 at 1:21 PM
New study shows bee bread has a stable core microbiota 🐝🧬 Miticides had only weak effects, with slight drops in non-core diversity. Honey bee nutrition is more microbially resilient than we thought. 💛
peerj.com/articles/203...
peerj.com/articles/203...