Stephen Garrett
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stephenrgarrett.bsky.social
Stephen Garrett
@stephenrgarrett.bsky.social
EMBO Postdoctiral Fellow in the Whitney lab at McMaster University, working on interbacterial warfare and phage defense
Reposted by Stephen Garrett
Please RT. Post-doc opportunity alert! 💥 closing 10th December.. Come join our team (www.thelowlab.org) at Imperial, London, working on the structure and mechanism of bacterial secretion systems.

For more details and to apply please see

www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...
November 4, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Reposted by Stephen Garrett
Hi everyone, a few years ago, we started a list of labs studying bacterial immunty for students, editors, conference organizers... (currently n=79).

Update time ! Send me a message to 1) add your lab or others 2) Correct info
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
#Phagesky #Microsky
Labs in bacterial immunity
docs.google.com
November 4, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Reposted by Stephen Garrett
Remarkable increase in vancomycin resistance among clinical Enterococcus faecium isolates in Italy (from 11.5% in 2015 to 32.4% in 2023).

aricjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
Temporal trend and individual and hospital characteristics associated to vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium bloodstream infections: a retrospective analysis from the national surveillance syste...
Background Several countries have reported an increase in vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREF), a pathogen classified by the WHO as a high-priority threat due to its role in healthcare-ass...
aricjournal.biomedcentral.com
October 18, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Reposted by Stephen Garrett
New paper alert! We used our fav technique, genetic suppression, to understand how FimX controls function of the T4P PilB motor ATPase in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Great collab with the Ellison lab at U Georgia who helped with some fancy microscopy to capture pilus dynamics! doi.org/10.1371/jour...
Twitching motility suppressors reveal a role for FimX in type IV pilus extension dynamics
Author summary Type IV pili enable Pseudomonas aeruginosa to attach to surfaces, move (twitch), and form biofilms. Pilus extension is powered by the motor protein PilB, which is regulated by other fac...
doi.org
October 13, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Some really cool work from @shelbyeandersen.bsky.social in the @duerkoplab.bsky.social using a new approach to identify novel phage defence systems.
Serine recombinases are conserved genetic markers of antiphage defense systems https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.07.681051v1
October 8, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Reposted by Stephen Garrett
🚨PhD Opportunity Alert🚨 Join me, @suzieh.bsky.social and @walllabuoglasgow.bsky.social to investigate how environment shapes anti-phage defences & prophage–prophage conflict in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Apply here:
www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate...
October 1, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Reposted by Stephen Garrett
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
September 30, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Really excited to share my first paper from the Whitney lab, alongside an amazing grad student, Polina. Here we identify a chaperone family required for the folding of a central domain of T7SS toxins, and solve the structure of the chaperone-toxin complex. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
A widespread family of molecular chaperones promotes the intracellular stability of type VIIb secretion system–exported toxins | PNAS
To survive in highly competitive environments, bacteria use specialized secretion systems to deliver antibacterial toxins into neighboring cells, t...
www.pnas.org
September 15, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Reposted by Stephen Garrett
In our new article, we show how P. aeruginosa, a major cause of chronic respiratory infections in #cysticfibrosis (CF), uses the Type VI Secretion System #T6SS and specific #toxins to eliminate competing bacteria
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
#cryoEM @dshatskiy.bsky.social @jakecolautti.bsky.social
September 14, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Reposted by Stephen Garrett
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
September 9, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Reposted by Stephen Garrett
Excited to share that my work in the @aaronwhiteley.bsky.social lab describing chaperone-mediated phage sensing by a bacterial NLR-related protein is out in @plosbiology.org!
June 4, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Reposted by Stephen Garrett
Excited to share my PhD work in the Kranzusch Lab published in @nature.com!

Two key discoveries:
- Nucleotides can act as negative regulators of antiviral immunity
- Ion channel activation is gated by DNA

Thank you to our all collaborators! @soreklab.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A DNA-gated molecular guard controls bacterial Hailong anti-phage defence - Nature
Nature - A DNA-gated molecular guard controls bacterial Hailong anti-phage defence
www.nature.com
April 30, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Reposted by Stephen Garrett
Out in Nature today: A new immune signaling molecule, His-ADPR, is produced by defensive TIR domain proteins in bacteria to protect from phage

Joint work with the Tamulaitienė and Kranzusch labs

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Congrats Carmel Avraham, Dziugas Sabonis, Renee Chang and co-authors!
April 30, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Reposted by Stephen Garrett
Join the Blokesch lab (@EPFL) as a postdoc in Molecular Microbiology 🤩
Study Vibrio cholerae defense systems (phage/plasmid) in a dynamic, collaborative environment in Lausanne close to Lake Geneva in 🇨🇭!
Please visit my lab's webpage for details about the position and how to formally apply.
April 25, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Reposted by Stephen Garrett
Postdoctoral Fellow position–Investigating the Escherichia coli efflux network and cell envelope to advance next-generation antimicrobial development in the Cox lab, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, UoG, Canada. Please share! www.coxlab.ca/job-opportun... @uofguelph.bsky.social
Job Opportunities — Cox Lab
www.coxlab.ca
April 22, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Reposted by Stephen Garrett
New postdoc position in our lab (2 y+): evolutionary genomics of integrons and MGEs with focus on vibrio-phage interactions. Great environment @pasteur.fr for science, career building. Super collaborators @celineloot.bsky.social @amazeld.bsky.social @fredoleroux.bsky.social 3 weeks to apply!
April 16, 2025 at 7:14 AM
Reposted by Stephen Garrett
The BASEL collection of E. coli #phages is limited by its host strain. @humollidorentina.bsky.social @damienpiel.bsky.social @aharms485.bsky.social &co use a modified host to add 36 new phages, revealing roles of O-antigen in recognition & R-M systems in immunity @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4jirGvX
April 8, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Really excited to share this story from Jake in the lab! We have found bacterial protein toxins that can enter Gram positive bacterial cells without the need for a receptor resulting in broad spectrum antibacterial activity.
Proteolytically activated antibacterial toxins inhibit the growth of diverse Gram-positive bacteria https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.13.648598v1
April 14, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Reposted by Stephen Garrett
If you are interested in phage satellites, we hope you'll enjoy this. Fun collaboration with the Rocha, Seed, Bikard, and Chen labs! rdcu.be/efkvG
Genetics, ecology and evolution of phage satellites
Nature Reviews Microbiology - In this Review, Penadés et al. explore the genetics, potential origins and life cycle of phage satellites, and they discuss the impact of these elements on the...
rdcu.be
March 27, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Reposted by Stephen Garrett
Excited to share with you the story that enabled me to start my own lab: what happens when the bacterial DNA replication machinery encounters single-strand discontinuities on template DNA? What is required for break repair and replication restart?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Rescuing bacterial genome replication: essential functions to repair a double-strand break and restart DNA synthesis
Many antibiotics indirectly generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) that can damage bacterial genomes. Oxidised nucleobases become genotoxic when they are targeted for repair through excision, generati...
www.biorxiv.org
March 11, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Reposted by Stephen Garrett
First senior-author paper is out today in the Journal of Microscopy! 🧪🔬

We present the first 3D printed microscope where both the optics & frame are entirely 3D printed - a low-cost, accessible, and reproducible tool for histological imaging!

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jmi.13398
February 25, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Reposted by Stephen Garrett
📣Just 1 week left to apply for 2x 5-year researcher posts in experimental evolution #mevosky #microsky in @mermanchester.bsky.social @official-uom.bsky.social

+ 3-year research tech post www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

ERC project: how MGEs and defence systems control genome evoluton
February 24, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Reposted by Stephen Garrett
🚨We are hiring! A MRC-funded PDRA position to study novel anti-phage systems & their evolutionary dynamics in P. aeruginosa, in collaboration with @friendlymicrobe. If you are passionate about phage-bacteria interactions & evolution, apply now ! tinyurl.com/bddz4z44
January 24, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Reposted by Stephen Garrett
🚨 #PhD opportunity 🚨
Interested in the environmental persistence of bacterial pathogens 🦠 & quantifying the role of climate change in virulence and #AMR? Come and join us! @uofglasgow.bsky.social @sbohvm.gla.ac.uk
www.findaphd.com/phds/projectdetails.aspx?PJID=182832
Please share!
Funded PhD: Evaluating the health risks of zoonotic diseases in agricultural run-off: implications for human and animal well-being in the context of climate change at University of Glasgow on FindAPhD...
PhD Project - Funded PhD: Evaluating the health risks of zoonotic diseases in agricultural run-off: implications for human and animal well-being in the context of climate change at University of Glasg...
www.findaphd.com
February 21, 2025 at 8:23 PM