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mermanchester.bsky.social
MERMan Research Group (University of Manchester)
@mermanchester.bsky.social
630 followers 630 following 52 posts
Microbial Evolution Research at The University of Manchester
https://sites.manchester.ac.uk/merman/
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mermanchester.bsky.social
Another great week at our seminar series!
This session, we explored "Within-patient evolution of ciprofloxacin resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa from @matthewjshepherd.bsky.social
Big thank you to @microbesng.bsky.social for once again keeping us fuelled with delicious refreshments 🙌🍪
November 19, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Reposted by MERMan Research Group (University of Manchester)
drrebeccajhall.bsky.social
Absolutely delighted to have been awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship! I will be moving to the University of Manchester @mermanchester.bsky.social to research early endosymbiont evolution
#microsky #symbiosky
November 14, 2025 at 2:31 PM
mermanchester.bsky.social
In this week’s seminar we learned about the evolution of intrinsic terminators from @stepadenisov.bsky.social 🧬

Made even more fun by snacks kindly sponsored by @microbesng.bsky.social 🍪
Stepan Denisov standing to the right of a lecture slide titled “Evolution of intrinsic terminators between two closely related species”
November 12, 2025 at 3:05 PM
mermanchester.bsky.social
This week @willpjsmith.bsky.social taught us all about microbial competition & Logan Sauers ( @coytelab.bsky.social ) shared recent gut microbiome work. Thanks @microbesng.bsky.social for the refreshments!
Will P Smith in front of a lecture slide teaching about type 6 secretion systems. Logan Sauers describing gut microbiome metagenomic data.
November 9, 2025 at 1:11 PM
mermanchester.bsky.social
Retrospective post: @fgyapong.bsky.social recently gave his MERMan seminar on his work on the stickleback skin microbiome.

Not pictured: yummy treats sponsored by @microbesng.bsky.social
Francis's title slide of his presentation entitled Environmental Variation Shapes the Stickleback Skin Microbiome.
October 31, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Reposted by MERMan Research Group (University of Manchester)
craigmaclean.bsky.social
New pre-print: Plasmid dependent phage effectively eliminate AMR bacteria and block plasmid transmission in the chicken gut microbiome

Fun collaboration with Tao He lab (JAAS) and @brockhurstlab.bsky.social lab (Manchester)
#phagesky#microsky

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Plasmid dependent phage eliminate pathogenic bacteria and antibiotic resistance plasmids from the chicken gut microbiome
Conjugative plasmids are a key reservoir of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in commensal and pathogenic bacteria within the gut microbiome. Plasmid-dependent phage (PDPs) are a promising therapeutic op...
www.biorxiv.org
October 27, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Reposted by MERMan Research Group (University of Manchester)
brockhurstlab.bsky.social
Three Bicentenary research fellowships on offer at @officialuom.bsky.social @fbmh-uom.bsky.social for exceptional ECRs with <3y postdoc experience

3yrs salary + £30k pa research expenses

Do you have a great idea & want to join @mermanchester.bsky.social?

www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/research/sup...
Bicentenary Early Career Research Fellowships | Biology, Medicine and Health | University of Manchester
Find out about and apply for a Bicentenary Early Career Research Fellowship.
www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk
October 9, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Reposted by MERMan Research Group (University of Manchester)
brockhurstlab.bsky.social
Recent paper from the lab studying predictors of phage cocktail efficacy against complex clinical Pseudomonas populations

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10....

Led by Rosanna Wright with extraordinary MSc (PhD) student Maisie Czernuska
Bacteria–phage infection network structure and genomic defence system content predict efficacy of a phage therapy cocktail against Pseudomonas aeruginosa from chronic lung infections
royalsocietypublishing.org
September 25, 2025 at 1:55 PM
mermanchester.bsky.social
This weeks seminars from PhD students Maisie Czernuszka and Victor Carneiro da Cunha Martirelli!

Special thank you to @microbesng.bsky.social for sponsoring refreshments!
Title slide of Maisies seminar on engineering phages. Victors title slide on electricity and Ecoli
October 1, 2025 at 1:35 PM
mermanchester.bsky.social
Great MERMan seminar today from NSERC PhD visiting researcher @simonjeanneau.bsky.social from @usherbrooke.bsky.social ! Also our first seminar with refreshments sponsored by @microbesng.bsky.social , many thanks for the productive chats over nibbles! 🍪 🧪
Simon next to his title slide. If I was a better Canadian, this alternative text would be in French too. :(
September 24, 2025 at 7:35 PM
mermanchester.bsky.social
Two great talks today from MERMan PhD students @mattjago.bsky.social (mutation spectrum) and @amarquiegui98.bsky.social (bioremediation by microbial communities)
September 17, 2025 at 2:01 PM
mermanchester.bsky.social
MERMan seminars are back! Last week, @zahraaalbaqsami.bsky.social presented her #Thermophiles2025 talk which generated a lot of buzz & Qs from the group!
The title slide of Zahraa's talk: Do mutation rates in a thermophile constrain adaptation to different temperatures?
September 9, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Reposted by MERMan Research Group (University of Manchester)
davvi36.bsky.social
PhD opportunity, please share:

We are looking for a prospective PhD student to start in October 2026 who is excited about bacteria (Klebsiella pneumoniae), how they interact, and how they exchange DNA.
All details can be found on the funder website 👉 gw4biomed.ac.uk/developing-c...
Developing CRISPR-Cas antimicrobials to tackle antibiotic resistance spread in Klebsiella pneumoniae - GW4 BioMed MRC DTP
Project Code MRCIIAR26Ex van Houte Project Type Wet lab Research Theme Infection, Immunity, Antimicrobial Resistance and Repair Project Summary Download Summary Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a ...
gw4biomed.ac.uk
September 2, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Reposted by MERMan Research Group (University of Manchester)
michaelmanhart.bsky.social
I am recruiting a Ph.D. student in microbial ecology, evolution, and systems biology for fall 2026. Please share!
Details: qevomicrolab.org/Documents/Gr...
Apply by October 1 here: forms.gle/38pPS1Ky84HB...
September 2, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by MERMan Research Group (University of Manchester)
cruk-mi.bsky.social
Today we are delighted to welcome Professor Samra Turajlić (@turajliclab.bsky.social) as our new Institute Director!

Her work - spanning basic, translational & cancer research - has advanced our understanding of cancer biology & treatment

Read more here: www.cruk.manchester.ac.uk/news/profess...
A photograph of Professor Samra Turajlić in the Paterson Building, standing next to the door of her new office which is slightly ajar and has the name plate "CRUK MI Director"
September 1, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by MERMan Research Group (University of Manchester)
nercdsh.bsky.social
Analyse and tell stories with 40+ petabytes of environmental data on the NERC Digital Solutions Hub 📝

📩 Sign up to our mailing list to be one of the first to test the Hub and see for yourself how incremental the DSH is in transforming geospatial: digital-solutions.uk/index.php/si...
The text on this graphic reads 'Analyse data from trusted sources, as well as your own integrated data, easily in the Hub.'
September 1, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Reposted by MERMan Research Group (University of Manchester)
willpjsmith.bsky.social
Does your lab perform killing assays?
TL;DR: we’ve identified a problem that can bias the outcome of killing assays, making antagonism look stronger than it really is.
Adding a simple extra step can mitigate this bias!

Out now at #MicrobioJ www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...

1/n
Type VI secretion system activity at lethal antibiotic concentrations leads to overestimation of weapon potency
Competition assays are a mainstay of modern microbiology, offering a simple and cost-effective means to quantify microbe–microbe interactions in vitro. Here, we demonstrate a key weakness of this meth...
www.microbiologyresearch.org
August 31, 2025 at 9:30 PM
mermanchester.bsky.social
Antimutator E. coli due to altered nucleotide sanitation systems. Congratulations to recent MERMan graduate Rowan Green on his second PhD paper!
August 18, 2025 at 5:26 PM
mermanchester.bsky.social
Last week, MERMan went on our annual countryside hike! Fresh air and good science colleagues, what more could one ask for? Maybe the ruins of an old cotton mill... Thanks to @mattjago.bsky.social for organising.
July 29, 2025 at 7:08 AM
Reposted by MERMan Research Group (University of Manchester)
brockhurstlab.bsky.social
Fresh from peer review a new and improved version of @taoranfu.bsky.social’s paper out today in @asm.org mSystems
journals.asm.org/eprint/8NWNW...
July 7, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Reposted by MERMan Research Group (University of Manchester)
taoranfu.bsky.social
Thrilled to see this out!

#microsky #mevosky
brockhurstlab.bsky.social Michael Brockhurst @brockhurstlab.bsky.social · Jul 7
Fresh from peer review a new and improved version of @taoranfu.bsky.social’s paper out today in @asm.org mSystems
journals.asm.org/eprint/8NWNW...
July 8, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Reposted by MERMan Research Group (University of Manchester)
microbiologysociety.org
There’s still time to submit your abstract for Microbiology Society Annual Meeting in Ireland 2025. Submit your abstract now, before 1 August 2025 - microb.io/IrelandMeeti... #MicrobioIrish25
Microbiology Society Annual Meeting in Ireland 2025
July 8, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Reposted by MERMan Research Group (University of Manchester)
mbottery.bsky.social
Thrilled to announce I've been awarded a @wellcometrust.bsky.social Career Development Award at @fbmh-uom.bsky.social , University of Manchester! My research will investigate the remarkable adaptability of Aspergillus fumigatus, a deadly fungal pathogen, to help combat drug resistance.
July 8, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Reposted by MERMan Research Group (University of Manchester)
willpjsmith.bsky.social
Go Team! Deeply honoured that the MERMan lab reps won an @manchester.ac.uk‬ "FMBH heroes" award - thanks ‪@fbmh-uom.bsky.social‬ and @mermanchester.bsky.social for nominating us ❤️❤️❤️
July 2, 2025 at 4:17 PM
mermanchester.bsky.social
This week postdoc Dr. Dolan Evans from the Tank group is presenting on organ-on-a-chip for women's health
@raveentank.bsky.social
June 5, 2025 at 1:09 PM