Anna Dewar
banner
annadewar.bsky.social
Anna Dewar
@annadewar.bsky.social
Career Development Research Fellow at St John's College, University of Oxford.

Evolution, comparative genomics, cooperation, horizontal gene transfer, plasmids.

https://www.anna-dewar.com/
Pinned
Our review is out in Nature Reviews Genetics! rdcu.be/d5AY2

We show how phylogeny-based methods can resolve the problem of non-independence in genomic datasets.

These methods must be considered an essential part of the comparative genomics toolkit.

@lauriebelch.bsky.social @stuwest.bsky.social
A phylogenetic approach to comparative genomics
Nature Reviews Genetics - Controlling for phylogeny is essential in comparative genomics studies, because species, genomes and genes are not independent data points within statistical tests. The...
rdcu.be
Reposted by Anna Dewar
Very happy to see this piece out in @plosbiology.org, on the bacterial immune systems and microbial communities. It was a great team effort with Rafael Custodio, @brockhurstlab.bsky.social , @brownlab.bsky.social, and Edze Westra! 🦠🧫 #phagesky #mevosky

journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Bacterial immune systems as causes and consequences of microbiome structure
Bacterial immune systems have evolved in response to diverse molecular "parasites", yet their ecological roles remain poorly understood. This Essay explores how interactions between mobile genetic ele...
journals.plos.org
November 19, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Reposted by Anna Dewar
PhD studentship opportunity! Join us at St Andrews to study the factors controlling plasmid transmission in the gut. Competition-funded as part of the EASTBIO DTP, co-supervised with Dr Jaclyn Pearson. Please share & pass on to anyone interested! 🦠🧫 Deadline 15th December👇
www.findaphd.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Reposted by Anna Dewar
🚨#PhD studentship opportunity! Plasmids provide bacteria with antimicrobial resistance, but do they have more fundamental effects on behaviour? 🧫🦠💫🧟‍♂️

Apply for a 4y funded MRC DiMeN position with me and Jamie Wheeler @livuni-ives.bsky.social www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Resistant zombies: how drug-resistance plasmids manipulate the behaviour of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa at University of Liverpool on Fin...
PhD Project - MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Resistant zombies: how drug-resistance plasmids manipulate the behaviour of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa at University of Li...
www.findaphd.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Reposted by Anna Dewar
I’ve released a tool to sketch and edit phylogenetic trees!
yawak.jp/PhyloWeaver/

Load a Newick file and intuitively add/remove/resize branches.
Useful for quick conceptual trees, extracting subtrees, or turning ideas into Newick.
PhyloWeaver – Interactive phylogenetic tree editor
Edit and visualize phylogenetic trees directly in your browser. PhyloWeaver lets you interactively rearrange tree topologies and export high-quality figures for publications and presentations.
yawak.jp
November 18, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Reposted by Anna Dewar
I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the @biology.ox.ac.uk department - thanks so much for hosting me @annadewar.bsky.social !
And thanks to everyone who chatted to me about plasmids, genomes, and more.
I even manage to find a phage in the natural history museum before leaving :)
November 7, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Great to have Dr David Sünderhauf visit Oxford over the past couple of days!

A really nice talk on competition between plasmids carrying CRISPR-Cas and Toxin-antitoxin systems. Theory, experiments and bioinformatics all in one project!

@davvi36.bsky.social @biology.ox.ac.uk
November 7, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Reposted by Anna Dewar
Come and work with us! Three new academic posts (including Animal Behaviour) and superb facilities in the new Life & Mind Building
Oxford Biology is growing 📢

We’re appointing 3 Associate Professors in:
🌱 Plant Sciences
🦉 Animal Behaviour
🔬 Molecular Cell Biology

3 fields. 3 opportunities. One new home for Oxford Biology.

Learn more 👉 bit.ly/41S2Tc7
Apply now 👉 bit.ly/488CNW3
September 15, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Reposted by Anna Dewar
Evidence that lifestyle drives genome fluidity from @annadewar.bsky.social today. Keeping everyone going on last day of @eseb2025.bsky.social! Great talk Anna!
August 22, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Reposted by Anna Dewar
I'm super bummed to be missing #ESEB2025 @eseb2025.bsky.social due to a cancelled flight! Here's a quick overview of my talk "Gene- and genome-focused perspectives on microbial pangenomes" slated to be part of The Evolution of Microbial Pangenomes -- which I recommend you attend tomorrow (Fri) !
1/n
August 21, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Reposted by Anna Dewar
OrthoFinder just dropped a major update

It’s faster, more accurate, and ready for thousands of genomes

Let’s break it down (1/10)

github.com/OrthoFinder/...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
July 16, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Reposted by Anna Dewar
Get OrthoFinder here github.com/OrthoFinder/...

Read the preprint here www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Millions of species here we come!

(10/10)
July 16, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Reposted by Anna Dewar
New paper with @rwheatley8.bsky.social and Cedric Lood

Actual title: Chromosomal capture of beneficial genes drives plasmids towards ecological redundancy.

Sensationalist title: Plasmids carry useless genes

academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...
Chromosomal capture of beneficial genes drives plasmids toward ecological redundancy
Abstract. Plasmids are a ubiquitous feature of bacterial genomes, but the forces driving genes and phenotypes to become associated with plasmids are poorly
academic.oup.com
July 16, 2025 at 9:17 AM
Reposted by Anna Dewar
Anna Dewar @annadewar.bsky.social asks what types of genes get horizontally transferred in bacteria 🦠🧬➡️🧬🦠

Contrary to previous thinking, plasmids didn't carry more cooperation genes than the core genome.

#Evol2025 #Evol25
June 21, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Reposted by Anna Dewar
@annadewar.bsky.social now giving the fourth @asn-amnat.bsky.social Early Career Scientist Award lectures at #Evol2025 about bacterial pangenomes, cooperation, and gene transfer
June 21, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Reposted by Anna Dewar
Delighted to see this paper from danderson123.bsky.social 's PhD out. We have been building tools for AMR gene detection for over a decade now, but multicopy genes remain challenging. Dan shows that with a gene-space de Bruijn graph and long reads, you can do well
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
May 19, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Reposted by Anna Dewar
Abstract deadline for @eseb2025.bsky.social extended to 5 May! Still time to submit your abstract for the evolution of microbial pangenomes ⬇️
If you are interested in microbial #pangenomes, join us at @eseb2025.bsky.social in Barcelona with @bjesseshapiro.bsky.social and @annadewar.bsky.social
Only two days left to submit your abstract!
eseb2025.com/call-for-abs...
April 24, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Reposted by Anna Dewar
If you are interested in microbial #pangenomes, join us at @eseb2025.bsky.social in Barcelona with @bjesseshapiro.bsky.social and @annadewar.bsky.social
Only two days left to submit your abstract!
eseb2025.com/call-for-abs...
April 23, 2025 at 7:05 AM
Interested in the evolution of microbial pangenomes?

Submit your abstract for #ESEB2025 to Symposium 45! Deadline is 25th April.

Hope to see lots of you in Barcelona this summer! 🧬🦠☀️
Join our symposium The evolution of microbial pangenomes at @eseb2025.bsky.social with @bjesseshapiro.bsky.social and @annadewar.bsky.social (co-organized with @fbaumdicker.bsky.social and Jaime Iranzo) eseb2025.com/call-for-abs...
April 10, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Reposted by Anna Dewar
Join our symposium The evolution of microbial pangenomes at @eseb2025.bsky.social with @bjesseshapiro.bsky.social and @annadewar.bsky.social (co-organized with @fbaumdicker.bsky.social and Jaime Iranzo) eseb2025.com/call-for-abs...
April 10, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Reposted by Anna Dewar
Huge congratulations to @annadewar.bsky.social on winning an Early Career Investigator Award from the American Society of Naturalists! @asn-amnat.bsky.social

Anna is a Career Development Research Fellow at St John's, working on bacterial genome evolution. 🦠🧬
April 10, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Reposted by Anna Dewar
TWO postdoc positions in Computational Microbiology and/or biochemistry. Join our interdisciplinary group in the new Life and Mind Building @OxfordBiology, @UniofOxford, @IneosOxford
Please apply and share this post:
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMP641/p...
Postdoctoral Research Associate at University of Oxford
Discover Postdoctoral Research Associate jobs and more in higher education on jobs.ac.uk. Apply for further details on the top job board.
www.jobs.ac.uk
April 7, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Interested in using genomics to study bacterial cooperation?

We’ve got 2 brilliant posters at #Microbio25 today: Zohar Katz (A276) and Rosie Randall (A098).

Go say hi to them! 🦠 🧬
April 1, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Definitely check out Rosie's poster at #Microbio25!

Particularly anyone interested in using genomics to study cooperation & antibiotic resistance in bacteria 🦠🧬
Very excited to be in Liverpool for #Microbio25 ! I'll be presenting a poster on bacterial cooperation and antibiotic resistance in Block A on Tuesday. Come and check out poster A098 to hear more! 🧬🧫🦠
March 30, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Really honoured to be among the recipients of the ASN Early Career Investigator Award!

Thank you so much @asn-amnat.bsky.social!
March 17, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Reposted by Anna Dewar
The ASN Distinguished Achievement in the Conceptual Unification of the Biological Sciences is for a senior (but still active) investigator who has made major contributions that relate to the goals of ASN. This year’s awardee is Stuart West (Oxford) www.biology.ox.ac.uk/people/stuar...
11/N
Professor Stuart West
www.biology.ox.ac.uk
March 17, 2025 at 12:43 PM