Catherine Armbruster
@catarmbruster.bsky.social
biofilmmaker | assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon | polymicrobial communities & bacterial evolution
Reposted by Catherine Armbruster
What is the most profitable industry in the world, this side of the law? Not oil, not IT, not pharma.
It's *scientific publishing*.
We call this the Drain of Scientific Publishing.
Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Background: doi.org/10.1162/qss_...
Thread @markhanson.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy 👇
It's *scientific publishing*.
We call this the Drain of Scientific Publishing.
Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Background: doi.org/10.1162/qss_...
Thread @markhanson.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy 👇
November 12, 2025 at 10:31 AM
What is the most profitable industry in the world, this side of the law? Not oil, not IT, not pharma.
It's *scientific publishing*.
We call this the Drain of Scientific Publishing.
Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Background: doi.org/10.1162/qss_...
Thread @markhanson.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy 👇
It's *scientific publishing*.
We call this the Drain of Scientific Publishing.
Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Background: doi.org/10.1162/qss_...
Thread @markhanson.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy 👇
Reposted by Catherine Armbruster
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...
-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
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...
-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...
Today’s guest speaker in Ecology @cmuscience.bsky.social was perfect for Halloween: Arkadiy Garber @ironark.bsky.social from the McCutcheon Lab at ASU, discussing bacterial endosymbionts that support the junk food diets of sap-feeding insects! 😈
October 31, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Today’s guest speaker in Ecology @cmuscience.bsky.social was perfect for Halloween: Arkadiy Garber @ironark.bsky.social from the McCutcheon Lab at ASU, discussing bacterial endosymbionts that support the junk food diets of sap-feeding insects! 😈
Reposted by Catherine Armbruster
Microbiologist Paula Welander studies fossils, but not dinosaur bones or ammonite imprints. Instead, she looks for microscopic clues left behind by microbes that lived millions of years ago.
The Humble Microbe Could Help Us Understand Life Itself
Unlocking the basic science of microbes, especially those that live in extreme environments, could help us find life elsewhere in the universe.
buff.ly
September 27, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Microbiologist Paula Welander studies fossils, but not dinosaur bones or ammonite imprints. Instead, she looks for microscopic clues left behind by microbes that lived millions of years ago.
Reposted by Catherine Armbruster
My department at UTK is hiring! 🧪🧫 We are hiring two Assistant Professors, one in Microbial Drivers of Chronic Disease and one in Quantitative Microbe-Plant-Environment Interactions! Come join our growing department of microbiologists. Knoxville is a great place to live!
September 16, 2025 at 1:59 PM
My department at UTK is hiring! 🧪🧫 We are hiring two Assistant Professors, one in Microbial Drivers of Chronic Disease and one in Quantitative Microbe-Plant-Environment Interactions! Come join our growing department of microbiologists. Knoxville is a great place to live!
We had our first guest lecturer in my Ecology class @cmuscience.bsky.social today! Dr. Delaney Miller from the Handelsman lab at Wisconsin Institute for Discovery (@widofficial.bsky.social) & HHMI gave an absolutely beautiful talk on how microbes in the rhizosphere impact plant development.
September 26, 2025 at 5:59 PM
We had our first guest lecturer in my Ecology class @cmuscience.bsky.social today! Dr. Delaney Miller from the Handelsman lab at Wisconsin Institute for Discovery (@widofficial.bsky.social) & HHMI gave an absolutely beautiful talk on how microbes in the rhizosphere impact plant development.
Reposted by Catherine Armbruster
🚨 Microbiologists! We are recruiting Assistant / Associate Professors in 3 collaborative areas of our U. Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
1) MMG (my dept): fundamental research in med micro
2) Peds ID / I4Kids institute
3) Center for Vaccine Research
🔗 to all 3 w/info: www.linkedin.com/posts/vaughn...
1) MMG (my dept): fundamental research in med micro
2) Peds ID / I4Kids institute
3) Center for Vaccine Research
🔗 to all 3 w/info: www.linkedin.com/posts/vaughn...
Faculty Professor Associate - Full-Time | Vaughn Cooper
We are recruiting Faculty microbiologists in three (3) different, complementary, and collaborative areas at the University of Pittsburgh associated with the School of Medicine.
1) Fundamental researc...
www.linkedin.com
September 23, 2025 at 10:31 PM
🚨 Microbiologists! We are recruiting Assistant / Associate Professors in 3 collaborative areas of our U. Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
1) MMG (my dept): fundamental research in med micro
2) Peds ID / I4Kids institute
3) Center for Vaccine Research
🔗 to all 3 w/info: www.linkedin.com/posts/vaughn...
1) MMG (my dept): fundamental research in med micro
2) Peds ID / I4Kids institute
3) Center for Vaccine Research
🔗 to all 3 w/info: www.linkedin.com/posts/vaughn...
Reposted by Catherine Armbruster
How complex functions, with important physiological and evolutionary impacts get repeatedly and efficiently transferred across genomes?
That’s what we explored using one of the fastest-evolving loci in Bacteria: the capsule locus.
The paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Thread👇
That’s what we explored using one of the fastest-evolving loci in Bacteria: the capsule locus.
The paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Thread👇
Serotype swapping in Klebsiella spp. by plug-and-play
Understanding how complex, multi-gene systems evolve and function across genetic backgrounds is a central question in molecular evolution. While such systems often impose costs through epistatic inter...
www.biorxiv.org
September 10, 2025 at 8:17 AM
How complex functions, with important physiological and evolutionary impacts get repeatedly and efficiently transferred across genomes?
That’s what we explored using one of the fastest-evolving loci in Bacteria: the capsule locus.
The paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Thread👇
That’s what we explored using one of the fastest-evolving loci in Bacteria: the capsule locus.
The paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Thread👇
Reposted by Catherine Armbruster
Hexokinase 2 (HK2) is known for its metabolic role in #glycolysis. This study shows that it also functions as an #RNAbindingProtein that regulates mRNA translation, particularly of SOX10, promoting #melanoma cell proliferation independently of glycolysis @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/3ViI1qL
September 19, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Hexokinase 2 (HK2) is known for its metabolic role in #glycolysis. This study shows that it also functions as an #RNAbindingProtein that regulates mRNA translation, particularly of SOX10, promoting #melanoma cell proliferation independently of glycolysis @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/3ViI1qL
Reposted by Catherine Armbruster
Long-term monitoring of a North American cheese cave reveals mechanisms and consequences of fungal adaptation
Penicillium solitum over 8 years in a cheese cave => green-to-white shift
@currentbiology.bsky.social from @benwolfe.bsky.social with @kellerlab.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Penicillium solitum over 8 years in a cheese cave => green-to-white shift
@currentbiology.bsky.social from @benwolfe.bsky.social with @kellerlab.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Long-term monitoring of a North American cheese cave reveals mechanisms and consequences of fungal adaptation
Using a unique longitudinal sampling approach, Louw et al. demonstrate how a cheese-associated
Penicillium population has adapted in an artisan cheese production facility in Vermont,
USA. Adaptation i...
www.cell.com
September 14, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Long-term monitoring of a North American cheese cave reveals mechanisms and consequences of fungal adaptation
Penicillium solitum over 8 years in a cheese cave => green-to-white shift
@currentbiology.bsky.social from @benwolfe.bsky.social with @kellerlab.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Penicillium solitum over 8 years in a cheese cave => green-to-white shift
@currentbiology.bsky.social from @benwolfe.bsky.social with @kellerlab.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Neuroscientist Alison Barth @cmu.edu on the science behind Severance & work/life separation 🤓 www.cmu.edu/mcs/news-eve...
Popular Show Explores Work-Life Separation
Alison Barth, Maxwell H. and Gloria C. Connan Professor in the Life Sciences in the Department of Biological Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University, shared the science behind the popular Apple+ show "...
www.cmu.edu
September 14, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Neuroscientist Alison Barth @cmu.edu on the science behind Severance & work/life separation 🤓 www.cmu.edu/mcs/news-eve...
Reposted by Catherine Armbruster
Happy to finally see this out! Bassam El Halfi (@bassamhafi.bsky.social - my first rotation student when I started my post-doc in @geiselbiofilm.bsky.social) did an amazing job investigating mechanisms of interspecies metabolic interactions. Check it out! #microsky
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Pseudomonas aeruginosa supports the survival of Prevotella melaninogenica in a cystic fibrosis lung polymicrobial community through metabolic cross-feeding | mBio
Polymicrobial interactions impact disease outcomes in pwCF who suffer from chronic
respiratory infections. Previous work established a CF-relevant polymicrobial community
model that allows experimenta...
journals.asm.org
September 12, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Happy to finally see this out! Bassam El Halfi (@bassamhafi.bsky.social - my first rotation student when I started my post-doc in @geiselbiofilm.bsky.social) did an amazing job investigating mechanisms of interspecies metabolic interactions. Check it out! #microsky
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Reposted by Catherine Armbruster
Awesome faculty position alert! Tenure-track assistant professor position in Evolutionary Biology, with a focus on organismal responses to environmental change.
Please help spread the word!
apply.interfolio.com/173889
Please help spread the word!
apply.interfolio.com/173889
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
September 12, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Awesome faculty position alert! Tenure-track assistant professor position in Evolutionary Biology, with a focus on organismal responses to environmental change.
Please help spread the word!
apply.interfolio.com/173889
Please help spread the word!
apply.interfolio.com/173889
On our way to the Parsek/Woz retreat in Leavenworth, WA!
September 7, 2025 at 11:14 PM
On our way to the Parsek/Woz retreat in Leavenworth, WA!
Reposted by Catherine Armbruster
Here is a demonstration of ice nucleation protein made by Pseudomonas syringe in my #Bio350 #Micronauts in my #Microbiology course at @univpugetsound @ASMicrobiology
September 4, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Here is a demonstration of ice nucleation protein made by Pseudomonas syringe in my #Bio350 #Micronauts in my #Microbiology course at @univpugetsound @ASMicrobiology
Reposted by Catherine Armbruster
Bacterial cell widening alters periplasmic size and activates envelope stress responses
Kerwyn Huang, @typaslab.bsky.social et al find that E. coli outer-membrane protein RcsF senses reduced periplasm thickness due to increased cell width, & activates Rcs signaling
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
Kerwyn Huang, @typaslab.bsky.social et al find that E. coli outer-membrane protein RcsF senses reduced periplasm thickness due to increased cell width, & activates Rcs signaling
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
September 4, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Bacterial cell widening alters periplasmic size and activates envelope stress responses
Kerwyn Huang, @typaslab.bsky.social et al find that E. coli outer-membrane protein RcsF senses reduced periplasm thickness due to increased cell width, & activates Rcs signaling
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
Kerwyn Huang, @typaslab.bsky.social et al find that E. coli outer-membrane protein RcsF senses reduced periplasm thickness due to increased cell width, & activates Rcs signaling
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Catherine Armbruster
By comparing bronchial and nasal mucus, researchers find that mucus' ability to neutralize influenza A virus varies with the anatomical origin and correlates with the abundance of triglycerides & specific sialylated glycoproteins and glycolipids. #mSphere: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
September 2, 2025 at 3:25 PM
By comparing bronchial and nasal mucus, researchers find that mucus' ability to neutralize influenza A virus varies with the anatomical origin and correlates with the abundance of triglycerides & specific sialylated glycoproteins and glycolipids. #mSphere: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
The newish PI styrofoam box collection to winter cat shelter pipeline 👩🔬
September 3, 2025 at 12:44 PM
The newish PI styrofoam box collection to winter cat shelter pipeline 👩🔬
Reposted by Catherine Armbruster
I cannot fully put into words what publishing this Review has meant to me, so I leave you with how we closed the paper.
"The humble bacterium is still a relevant tool for the study of the underlying mechanisms that are conserved throughout life."
🧪🧫🧬📚
doi.org/10.1093/gene...
"The humble bacterium is still a relevant tool for the study of the underlying mechanisms that are conserved throughout life."
🧪🧫🧬📚
doi.org/10.1093/gene...
The nature of mutation: a legacy of bacterial genetics
Abstract. A central question in the fields of genetics and evolution was the nature and origin of spontaneous mutation. Bacterial genetic experiments throu
doi.org
August 25, 2025 at 4:48 PM
I cannot fully put into words what publishing this Review has meant to me, so I leave you with how we closed the paper.
"The humble bacterium is still a relevant tool for the study of the underlying mechanisms that are conserved throughout life."
🧪🧫🧬📚
doi.org/10.1093/gene...
"The humble bacterium is still a relevant tool for the study of the underlying mechanisms that are conserved throughout life."
🧪🧫🧬📚
doi.org/10.1093/gene...
Reposted by Catherine Armbruster
We are hiring! The Dept of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics is looking for faculty at the Assistant or Associate professor level (tenure track). Please consider joining our vibrant microbiology and immunology community at the University of Pittsburgh School of medicine
August 20, 2025 at 7:41 PM
We are hiring! The Dept of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics is looking for faculty at the Assistant or Associate professor level (tenure track). Please consider joining our vibrant microbiology and immunology community at the University of Pittsburgh School of medicine
Reposted by Catherine Armbruster
Our high-precision metagenomic strain caller, PHLAME, is now published in Cell Reports!! www.cell.com/cell-reports...
PHLAME works on tough sample types -- including those with coexisting strains of a species and low depth.
PHLAME works on tough sample types -- including those with coexisting strains of a species and low depth.
August 15, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Our high-precision metagenomic strain caller, PHLAME, is now published in Cell Reports!! www.cell.com/cell-reports...
PHLAME works on tough sample types -- including those with coexisting strains of a species and low depth.
PHLAME works on tough sample types -- including those with coexisting strains of a species and low depth.
Reposted by Catherine Armbruster
Excited to share new #program, STEPS, which can simulate #dynamics of the E. coli Long-Term Evolution Experiment (#LTEE) or other microbes in serial transfer regime.
telliamedrevisited.wordpress.com/2025/08/12/s...
STEPS developed by @devinmlake.bsky.social, Zachary Matson, Minako Izutsu, and me.
telliamedrevisited.wordpress.com/2025/08/12/s...
STEPS developed by @devinmlake.bsky.social, Zachary Matson, Minako Izutsu, and me.
STEPS To It
Announcing a new program, called STEPS, to simulate the dynamics of evolving microbial populations.
telliamedrevisited.wordpress.com
August 12, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Excited to share new #program, STEPS, which can simulate #dynamics of the E. coli Long-Term Evolution Experiment (#LTEE) or other microbes in serial transfer regime.
telliamedrevisited.wordpress.com/2025/08/12/s...
STEPS developed by @devinmlake.bsky.social, Zachary Matson, Minako Izutsu, and me.
telliamedrevisited.wordpress.com/2025/08/12/s...
STEPS developed by @devinmlake.bsky.social, Zachary Matson, Minako Izutsu, and me.
Reposted by Catherine Armbruster
Environmental adaptations in metagenomes revealed by deep learning bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.... #jcampubs
Environmental adaptations in metagenomes revealed by deep learning - BMC Biology
Background Deep learning has emerged as a powerful tool in the analysis of biological data, including the analysis of large metagenome data. However, its application remains limited due to high comput...
bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com
August 12, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Environmental adaptations in metagenomes revealed by deep learning bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.... #jcampubs
Reposted by Catherine Armbruster
Do you like coastal/estuarine microbiology, time-series data, and/or metagenomics? Have we got a dataset for you #NSFfunded
Metagenomes and 1,313 metagenome-assembled genomes from a northern Gulf of Mexico coastal time series www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs
Metagenomes and 1,313 metagenome-assembled genomes from a northern Gulf of Mexico coastal time series www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs
Metagenomes and 1,313 metagenome-assembled genomes from a northern Gulf of Mexico coastal time series - Scientific Data
Scientific Data - Metagenomes and 1,313 metagenome-assembled genomes from a northern Gulf of Mexico coastal time series
www.nature.com
August 11, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Do you like coastal/estuarine microbiology, time-series data, and/or metagenomics? Have we got a dataset for you #NSFfunded
Metagenomes and 1,313 metagenome-assembled genomes from a northern Gulf of Mexico coastal time series www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs
Metagenomes and 1,313 metagenome-assembled genomes from a northern Gulf of Mexico coastal time series www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs
Reposted by Catherine Armbruster
Engineering natural microbial communities: harnessing synthetic communities for bioremediation
#CurrOpinMicrobiol from Xihui Xu, Nanjing Agricultural University
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#CurrOpinMicrobiol from Xihui Xu, Nanjing Agricultural University
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Engineering natural microbial communities: harnessing synthetic communities for bioremediation
Microbial bioremediation, a technology using microbial metabolism to degrade or transform environmental pollutants, has garnered significant attention…
www.sciencedirect.com
August 9, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Engineering natural microbial communities: harnessing synthetic communities for bioremediation
#CurrOpinMicrobiol from Xihui Xu, Nanjing Agricultural University
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#CurrOpinMicrobiol from Xihui Xu, Nanjing Agricultural University
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...