Taylor priest
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taylorpriest.bsky.social
Taylor priest
@taylorpriest.bsky.social
450 followers 320 following 140 posts
NOMIS-ETH fellow at Institute of Microbiology and Center of Origin and Prevalence of Life, ETH Zurich | microbial ecologist interested in diversification, evolution and mobile genetic elements | Parent of a beautiful Briard | food and fitness enthusiast
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taylorpriest.bsky.social
Taylor priest @taylorpriest.bsky.social · Aug 14
The JEDI marker - a new approach for measuring #biodiversity that captures all domains of life and is applicable across biological and ecological scales. It's time to change the way we perceive biodiversity - www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
The JEDI marker as a universal measure of planetary biodiversity
Despite its critical importance in the formation and maintenance of ecosystems and homeostasis on Earth, biodiversity remains a complex and non-unified concept. Consequently, standards for measuring b...
www.biorxiv.org
Reposted by Taylor priest
vivekmutalik.bsky.social
#microsky
magicmicrobe.bsky.social Connor Sharp @magicmicrobe.bsky.social · 6d
So happy to share this! Bacteriocins were first discovered over 100 years ago, but what do they actually do? We look at >1000 bacteriocin plasmids and find links to virulence and antimicrobial resistance, and frequent bacteriocin sharing in Enterobacteriaceae.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Bacterial warfare is associated with virulence and antimicrobial resistance - Nature Communications
Bacteria employ a range of competition systems that deliver toxins to inhibit competing strains. This study shows that these systems are particularly important for the ecology of virulent and antibiot...
www.nature.com
November 9, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Reposted by Taylor priest
sullivan-lab.bsky.social
🚨vConTACT3 preprint live!🚨(Peer Review soon...!)

vConTACT3 delivers a unified, scalable, and transparent framework for genome-based virus taxonomy — helping translate big viral data into systematic classification.

🔗 Read the preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Improvements details below 👇
Scalable and systematic hierarchical virus taxonomy with vConTACT3
Viruses are key players in diverse ecosystems, but studying their impacts is technically and taxonomically challenging. Taxonomic complexities derive from undersampling, diverse DNA and RNA genomes wi...
doi.org
November 7, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Taylor priest
plosbiology.org
Scientists still have a very limited understanding of #marine #biodiversity. Jonathan Belmaker explores a new @plosbiology.org study that uses unprecedented global environmental DNA #eDNA sampling to reveal the extent of our ignorance 🧪 Paper: plos.io/47yRnEk Primer: plos.io/3XeJ2kl
Schematic illustration of how extensive sampling allows better estimates of species geographic distributions and the detection of new species. Left: The currently inferred distribution of species based on known records (red, records illustrated using black dots) is substantially expanded to better approximate the true distribution (yellow) when using new eDNA sampling at a global extent. Right: These eDNA samples can also detect new species records (light blue fishes) within ocean grid cells, especially species that are small and rare. Illustration prepared with the assistance of GPT5.0.
November 3, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by Taylor priest
deemteam.bsky.social
This paper has been a must! Great collaboration with @mkrupovic.bsky.social and @yifanzhou.bsky.social, a N&V by a legend of halophilic archaea tinyurl.com/yc3dcv72, and one picture of one of our expeditions to Dallol making the cover of the November issue of @natmicrobiol.nature.com

rdcu.be/eLtCH
November 2, 2025 at 5:52 PM
taylorpriest.bsky.social
GcMeta - a new global resource of metagenome-assembled genomes and their encoded functions with an easy to use, interactive and searchable website academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...
gcMeta 2025: a global repository of metagenome-assembled genomes enabling cross-ecosystem microbial discovery and function research
Abstract. The rapid growth of metagenomic sequencing has generated an unprecedented wealth of metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs), transforming opportuniti
academic.oup.com
November 3, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Reposted by Taylor priest
evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social
The evolutionary and ecological consequences of cooperation

-in American Naturalist by @stuwest.bsky.social, @annadewar.bsky.social, @ryosukeiritani.bsky.social, Laurence Belcher, and @asgriffin.bsky.social

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
The evolutionary and ecological consequences of cooperation | The American Naturalist: Vol 0, No ja
www.journals.uchicago.edu
November 2, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Reposted by Taylor priest
paulbrainey.bsky.social
@prczhaoyansong.bsky.social’s deep dive into the dark matter of compost communities is now out 🎉 Genomic islands hijack jumbo phages—whose capsids enable transfer of large tracts of DNA—shedding new light on the scale & scope of phage-mediated gene flow 😎

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Jumbo phage–mediated transduction of genomic islands | PNAS
Bacteria acquire new genes by horizontal gene transfer, typically mediated by mobile genetic elements (MGEs). While plasmids, bacteriophages, and c...
www.pnas.org
October 28, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Reposted by Taylor priest
drbradbrad.bsky.social
Postdoc vacancy: Microbial dormancy in the cryosphere
@erc.europa.eu #ERC_SIESTA
📢 PLEASE RT

🧬 Single cell microbial activity measurements, flow cytometry, cell sorting, omics, ecological interpretation

☀️ Marseille, France
‼️ Apply ASAP & before 7 Nov
Link: emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U...
October 21, 2025 at 3:48 PM
taylorpriest.bsky.social
Phytoplankton blooms at the marginal ice zone in the central Arctic support elevated nitrogen fixation by non-cyanobacterial diazotrophs - www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Nitrogen fixation under declining Arctic sea ice - Communications Earth & Environment
Nitrogen fixation occurs under Arctic sea ice and is positively correlated with primary production, according to analyses of transects across the marginal ice zone and in the Central Arctic Ocean.
www.nature.com
October 23, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Reposted by Taylor priest
sjtucker.bsky.social
I'm delighted our paper is out: doi.org/10.1093/isme...
With new SAR11 isolate genomes and time-series metagenomes, we reveal coastal and offshore SAR11 ecotypes, identify associated metabolic traits, and pinpoint selective gene sweeps as a likely evolutionary driver to niche partitioning. 🌊🦠
Habitat-specificity in SAR11 is associated with a few genes under high selection
Abstract. The order Pelagibacterales (SAR11) is the most abundant group of heterotrophic bacteria in the global surface ocean, where individual sublineages
doi.org
October 20, 2025 at 7:40 PM
taylorpriest.bsky.social
The ecological and phylogenetic partitioning of coastal and offshore SAR11 is underpinned by a handful of distinct metabolic traits under high selective pressure - academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...
Habitat-specificity in SAR11 is associated with a few genes under high selection
Abstract. The order Pelagibacterales (SAR11) is the most abundant group of heterotrophic bacteria in the global surface ocean, where individual sublineages
academic.oup.com
October 21, 2025 at 5:40 AM
Reposted by Taylor priest
natmicrobiol.nature.com
Viruses and virus satellites of haloarchaea and their nanosized DPANN symbionts reveal intricate nested interactions

Out now in Nature Microbiology, by Yifan Zhou, Mart Krupovic & colleagues.
@mkrupovic.bsky.social
@yifanzhou.bsky.social
@deemteam.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Viruses and virus satellites of haloarchaea and their nanosized DPANN symbionts reveal intricate nested interactions - Nature Microbiology
An exploration of the viromes of haloarchaea and their ultra-small DPANN symbionts reveals plasmid-derived satellites of viruses from both archaeal groups, highlighting the complexity of nested symbio...
www.nature.com
October 20, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Reposted by Taylor priest
yifanzhou.bsky.social
Our work on viruses and virus satellites of haloarchaea and their DPANN symbionts is out today in Nature Microbiology!
@mkrupovic.bsky.social @deemteam.bsky.social @anagtz.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Viruses and virus satellites of haloarchaea and their nanosized DPANN symbionts reveal intricate nested interactions - Nature Microbiology
An exploration of the viromes of haloarchaea and their ultra-small DPANN symbionts reveals plasmid-derived satellites of viruses from both archaeal groups, highlighting the complexity of nested symbio...
www.nature.com
October 17, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Reposted by Taylor priest
johnmarsham.bsky.social
This is not good. Positive feedbacks adding to warming....
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Australian tropical rainforest trees switch in world first from carbon sink to emissions source
Researchers say carbon emissions change in Queensland tropical rainforests may have global climate implications
www.theguardian.com
October 17, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Reposted by Taylor priest
jeremyjbarr.bsky.social
Very excited to share the latest work from our lab, which was published today in Nature!
nature.com/articles/s41...

PhD graduate and now post-doc Sofia Dahlman, along with co-senior author Sam Forster from The Hudson and other researchers from our lab and others.
Isolation, engineering and ecology of temperate phages from the human gut - Nature
Human host-associated cellular products may act as induction agents for bacteriophages.
nature.com
October 15, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Reposted by Taylor priest
jrpenades.bsky.social
Our latest work reveals that arbitrium phages cross-communicate across species! These tiny viruses “listen” to signals from others, coordinating lysis-lysogeny decisions across species.
Original idea from @albertomarina.bsky.social and, as usual, he was right.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Phages communicate across species to shape microbial ecosystems
Arbitrium is a communication system that helps bacteriophages decide between lysis and lysogeny via secreted peptides. In arbitrium, the AimP peptide binds its cognate AimR receptor to repress aimX ex...
www.biorxiv.org
October 14, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Reposted by Taylor priest
isme-microbes.bsky.social
Bacteria in hot springs can move against fast water flow without flagella. Instead, they use pili like grappling hooks to crawl upstream, revealing a surprising survival strategy in extreme environments.
isme-microbes.org/hot-spring-b...
#microbes #bacterialmotility #extremophiles #hotsprings
October 13, 2025 at 4:56 PM
taylorpriest.bsky.social
Interested in how microbial #diversity is structured across the global #oceans?

Check out our newest preprint!
We show that latitudinal diversity gradients are taxon-specific, reflecting differing ecological strategies and their responses to environmental gradients

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Variations in the latitudinal diversity gradients of the ocean microbiome
Latitudinal diversity gradients (LDGs), typically declining from the equator to the poles, are among the most pervasive macroecological patterns, yet their generality and underlying drivers in the oce...
www.biorxiv.org
October 14, 2025 at 6:08 AM
Reposted by Taylor priest
fredoleroux.bsky.social
Phages evolve fast, or do they?
In oysters, some stay identical for years.
With >1,200 phages & 600 Vibrio genomes, we reveal long-term stability and new mobile elements.
Proud of this collaborative work across our teams (Roscoff-UdeM and @epcrocha.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
Ecological constraints foster both extreme viral-host lineage stability and mobile element diversity in a marine community
Phages are typically viewed as very rapidly evolving biological entities. Little is known, however, about whether and how phages can establish long-term genetic stability. We addressed this eco-evolut...
www.biorxiv.org
October 12, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Reposted by Taylor priest
godi.bsky.social
⚠️New paper ➡️ isolating >600 freshwater microbes using dilution-to-extinction and low-nutrient, lake-mimicking media.

🤯Expands cultured diversity to ~70 % of detected genera and enables physiological studies of streamlined oligotrophs.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#protistsonsky
Bringing the uncultivated microbial majority of freshwater ecosystems into culture - Nature Communications
A large fraction of aquatic bacteria remains uncultured. Here, the authors cultivated 627 strains of abundant freshwater bacteria from 14 European lakes, thus generating a collection that includes many previously uncultured, oligotrophic bacteria that may serve as model organisms.
www.nature.com
October 5, 2025 at 11:26 AM
taylorpriest.bsky.social
🚨Our book is now available for pre-order🚨

It was such an honour to contribute to this, as this was the book that opened my eyes to, and inspired me to study #marine #microbiology!

Highly recommend for students/academics wishing to learn about marine microbes.

www.routledge.com/Marine-Micro...
Marine Microbiology: Ecology & Applications
The fourth edition of this bestselling text has been rigorously updated to reflect major new discoveries and concepts since 2019. This new edition reflects important new findings in marine microbiolog...
www.routledge.com
October 3, 2025 at 7:17 AM
Reposted by Taylor priest
nature.com
Jane Goodall, known for her pioneering work with chimpanzees, has passed away aged 91

go.nature.com/46K10ja
Jane Goodall’s legacy: three ways she changed science
The primatologist challenged what it meant to be a scientist.
go.nature.com
October 2, 2025 at 9:38 AM
taylorpriest.bsky.social
Interested in aligning your long sequences or small genomes against huge reference databases containing millions of prokaryotic genomes ? A new tool has been released that can do this efficiently - LexicMap - 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
October 1, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Reposted by Taylor priest
stevenjrobbins.bsky.social
Hey all! Now that i've left my position at UQ, I thought I would leverage my network here to see if anyone has leads on environmental genomics, biotech, marine policy positions in the US/Canada/Australia/Europe. I'd love to speak with anyone in those fields re openings, worthwhile recruiters, etc.
September 25, 2025 at 3:09 PM
taylorpriest.bsky.social
A nice study combining newly generated and existing #HiC data to explore virus-host interactions across ecosystems (although very small sample number) -

#Phages with a broad host range are common across ecosystems
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Phages with a broad host range are common across ecosystems - Nature Microbiology
Proximity-ligation-based sequencing from 111 samples and 5 environments reveals that a substantial proportion of phages infect multiple species.
www.nature.com
September 23, 2025 at 8:44 AM