Big thanks to Rekha (lead), an absolute rockstar who drove the project, and Jyotsna for pushing this work forward!
Also grateful to our collaborator Prof. Siva Umapathy for the Raman spectroscopy expertise.

This is one of the first demonstrations linking biochemical markers of spores to their germination efficiency, using a non-invasive, label-free approach.

Most excitingly, these Raman spectral features of mature spores correlated strongly with germination efficiency across natural soil isolates of M. xanthus.

Meaning: Raman spectra can serve as predictive markers of germination success.

We found that:
1. Lipid and protein signatures shift dynamically during sporulation
2. Carotenoids accumulate in spores (stress protection!)
3. Nucleic acid signatures become compacted

Using single-cell Raman spectroscopy, we tracked key biochemical changes (lipids, proteins, nucleic acids, carotenoids) as M. xanthus transitioned from vegetative cells into spores.

Dormancy is one of the most widespread microbial survival strategies — from spores to persisters to VBNCs. But how do we predict which spores will successfully germinate and “wake up” again?

Congrats Glen. This sounds interesting. Look forward to reading it.

Big kudos to @sahelis.bsky.social , Sneha, and @vaibhav-sharma.bsky.social ! Stay tuned for more stories on how microbial predation affects the evolution of resistance in pristine environments.

Thus, microbial interactions in pristine environments can influence the evolvability of pathogens long before clinical antibiotic exposure.

These findings are important because: Resistance traits arising under biotic stress may be less constrained, and potentially more evolutionarily potent, than those shaped in antibiotic-only settings.

Our work demonstrates that coevolutionary history with a predator influences not only present-day survival but also the trajectory, speed, and cost of future adaptations, such as antibiotic resistance.

While abiotic influences on evolvability have been widely studied, the historical contingencies of antagonisms, such as microbial predation, remain underexplored.