Jana Huisman
@jhuisman.bsky.social
HFSP Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT | Mobile genetic elements and microbial communities
Pinned
Jana Huisman
@jhuisman.bsky.social
· Aug 25
Microbial communities demonstrate robustness in stressful environments due to predictable composition shifts
Environmental stress reduces species growth rates, but its impact on the function of microbial communities is less clear. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that increasing salinity stress shifts com...
www.biorxiv.org
Have you ever wondered what increasing environmental stress will do to microbial communities?
In our new preprint, @martinadalbello.bsky.social, Jeff Gore and I studied the impact of salinity on microbial community composition and function. 🧵 (1/5)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
In our new preprint, @martinadalbello.bsky.social, Jeff Gore and I studied the impact of salinity on microbial community composition and function. 🧵 (1/5)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Jana Huisman
Wisconsin Evolution is accepting applications for our Seminar Series' Early Career Scientist Award. Come share your evolution research and visit UW-Madison's evolution community. Open to grad students and postdocs (<5 yrs post PhD) from outside UW-Madison.
Apply by Dec 15th here: shorturl.at/4a4O6
Apply by Dec 15th here: shorturl.at/4a4O6
Early Career Scientist Awards 2026
Application to the UW-Madison Evolution Seminar Series - Early Career Scientist Awards.
urldefense.com
November 19, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Wisconsin Evolution is accepting applications for our Seminar Series' Early Career Scientist Award. Come share your evolution research and visit UW-Madison's evolution community. Open to grad students and postdocs (<5 yrs post PhD) from outside UW-Madison.
Apply by Dec 15th here: shorturl.at/4a4O6
Apply by Dec 15th here: shorturl.at/4a4O6
Reposted by Jana Huisman
📢 Our Dept. of Systems Biology at Columbia University has an open tenure-track Assistant Professor position in the broad area of quantitative biology. Come join our awesome department in NYC! Please circulate.
apply.interfolio.com/177622
Suggested deadline: 12/15/2025.
@columbiasysbio.bsky.social
apply.interfolio.com/177622
Suggested deadline: 12/15/2025.
@columbiasysbio.bsky.social
November 15, 2025 at 4:02 AM
📢 Our Dept. of Systems Biology at Columbia University has an open tenure-track Assistant Professor position in the broad area of quantitative biology. Come join our awesome department in NYC! Please circulate.
apply.interfolio.com/177622
Suggested deadline: 12/15/2025.
@columbiasysbio.bsky.social
apply.interfolio.com/177622
Suggested deadline: 12/15/2025.
@columbiasysbio.bsky.social
Reposted by Jana Huisman
Come and join us here in Cambridge! Applications open for a new faculty position, for a researcher in computational and/or theoretical biology, based jointly in Genetics and Mathematics. Happy to answer questions about research, teaching and working here.
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/faculty...
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/faculty...
Faculty Position in Computational Biology
Applications are invited for an Assistant/ Associate Professorship in Computational Biology to commence on 1 April 2026 or shortly thereafter. This is a joint post between the Department of Applied
www.cam.ac.uk
November 11, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Come and join us here in Cambridge! Applications open for a new faculty position, for a researcher in computational and/or theoretical biology, based jointly in Genetics and Mathematics. Happy to answer questions about research, teaching and working here.
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/faculty...
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/faculty...
Reposted by Jana Huisman
Strain displacement in microbiomes via ecological competition
Cool @natmicrobiol.nature.com publication by @erikbakkeren.bsky.social
@vit-pi.bsky.social @meganleeny.bsky.social @microscape.bsky.social & Kevin Foster
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Cool @natmicrobiol.nature.com publication by @erikbakkeren.bsky.social
@vit-pi.bsky.social @meganleeny.bsky.social @microscape.bsky.social & Kevin Foster
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Strain displacement in microbiomes via ecological competition - Nature Microbiology
Mathematical modelling and experimental tests reveal principles that govern displacement of a resident strain by an invader in microbial communities.
www.nature.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Strain displacement in microbiomes via ecological competition
Cool @natmicrobiol.nature.com publication by @erikbakkeren.bsky.social
@vit-pi.bsky.social @meganleeny.bsky.social @microscape.bsky.social & Kevin Foster
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Cool @natmicrobiol.nature.com publication by @erikbakkeren.bsky.social
@vit-pi.bsky.social @meganleeny.bsky.social @microscape.bsky.social & Kevin Foster
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Jana Huisman
🚨 Excited to share our new paper is out! 🎉
We show how interactions within gut microbiomes allow certain antibiotic-resistant E. coli strains to persist even without antibiotics, helping explain how resistance is maintained in the human gut.
Now published in @natcomms.nature.com rdcu.be/eOf63
We show how interactions within gut microbiomes allow certain antibiotic-resistant E. coli strains to persist even without antibiotics, helping explain how resistance is maintained in the human gut.
Now published in @natcomms.nature.com rdcu.be/eOf63
Multi-layered ecological interactions determine growth of clinical antibiotic-resistant strains within human microbiomes
Nature Communications - The role of ecological factors in modulating the spread of antibiotic-resistance bacteria in the gut remains unclear. Here, the authors use anaerobic microcosms to study the...
rdcu.be
November 7, 2025 at 9:15 AM
🚨 Excited to share our new paper is out! 🎉
We show how interactions within gut microbiomes allow certain antibiotic-resistant E. coli strains to persist even without antibiotics, helping explain how resistance is maintained in the human gut.
Now published in @natcomms.nature.com rdcu.be/eOf63
We show how interactions within gut microbiomes allow certain antibiotic-resistant E. coli strains to persist even without antibiotics, helping explain how resistance is maintained in the human gut.
Now published in @natcomms.nature.com rdcu.be/eOf63
Reposted by Jana Huisman
🚨New preprint out!
We present a foundational genomic resource of human gut microbiome viruses. It delivers high-quality, deeply curated data spanning taxonomy, predicted hosts, structures, and functions, providing a reference for gut virome research. (1/8)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We present a foundational genomic resource of human gut microbiome viruses. It delivers high-quality, deeply curated data spanning taxonomy, predicted hosts, structures, and functions, providing a reference for gut virome research. (1/8)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 6, 2025 at 5:26 PM
🚨New preprint out!
We present a foundational genomic resource of human gut microbiome viruses. It delivers high-quality, deeply curated data spanning taxonomy, predicted hosts, structures, and functions, providing a reference for gut virome research. (1/8)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We present a foundational genomic resource of human gut microbiome viruses. It delivers high-quality, deeply curated data spanning taxonomy, predicted hosts, structures, and functions, providing a reference for gut virome research. (1/8)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Jana Huisman
If you're looking for a faculty position at the intersection of ecology and computing (both broadly defined), please apply to this joint search between the CEE Department and the College of Computing at MIT: cee.mit.edu/people/share...
Faculty Position in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Schwarzman College of Computing - cee.mit.edu
The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), together with the Schwarzman College of Computing (SCC) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge MA, seeks candidate...
cee.mit.edu
November 5, 2025 at 7:27 PM
If you're looking for a faculty position at the intersection of ecology and computing (both broadly defined), please apply to this joint search between the CEE Department and the College of Computing at MIT: cee.mit.edu/people/share...
Reposted by Jana Huisman
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/...
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
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/...
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/...
Reposted by Jana Huisman
We’re back! ✨ The next #MeeHubs26 is coming with 7 hubs across the globe and incredible lineups at each. Can’t wait to share more soon! meehubs.org
Home
meehubs.org
October 7, 2025 at 2:30 PM
We’re back! ✨ The next #MeeHubs26 is coming with 7 hubs across the globe and incredible lineups at each. Can’t wait to share more soon! meehubs.org
Reposted by Jana Huisman
Wonderful to see this beautiful image on the cover of Science this week highlighting a paper that uses high resolution imaging to show the spatial patterns of bacterial attraction to glutamine from roots.
Paper here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Perspective here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Paper here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Perspective here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
October 7, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Wonderful to see this beautiful image on the cover of Science this week highlighting a paper that uses high resolution imaging to show the spatial patterns of bacterial attraction to glutamine from roots.
Paper here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Perspective here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Paper here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Perspective here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Jana Huisman
Reposted by Jana Huisman
Delighted to see our paper studying the evolution of plasmids over the last 100 years, now out! Years of work by Adrian Cazares, also Nick Thomson @sangerinstitute.bsky.social - this version much improved over the preprint. Final version should be open access, apols.
Thread 1/n
Thread 1/n
September 25, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Delighted to see our paper studying the evolution of plasmids over the last 100 years, now out! Years of work by Adrian Cazares, also Nick Thomson @sangerinstitute.bsky.social - this version much improved over the preprint. Final version should be open access, apols.
Thread 1/n
Thread 1/n
Reposted by Jana Huisman
Exclusion systems, far from slowing down plasmid spread, are in fact essential to preserve host cell viability and thereby ensure the successful dissemination of conjugative plasmids and antibiotic resistance genes.
@nfrk92.bsky.social
@narjournal.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/nar/article/...
@nfrk92.bsky.social
@narjournal.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/nar/article/...
Exclusion systems preserve host cell homeostasis and fitness, ensuring successful dissemination of conjugative plasmids and associated resistance genes
Abstract. Plasmid conjugation is a major driver of antibiotic resistance dissemination in bacteria. In addition to genes required for transfer and maintena
academic.oup.com
September 17, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Exclusion systems, far from slowing down plasmid spread, are in fact essential to preserve host cell viability and thereby ensure the successful dissemination of conjugative plasmids and antibiotic resistance genes.
@nfrk92.bsky.social
@narjournal.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/nar/article/...
@nfrk92.bsky.social
@narjournal.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/nar/article/...
Reposted by Jana Huisman
Such a delight to share our work on the evolution of a cheese rind fungus in @currentbiology.bsky.social.
This is the fantastic PhD work of @nicolasleonlouw.bsky.social and resulted from amazing collaborations, a wedding proposal(!), an undergrad course, & more!
🧵
www.cell.com/current-biol...
This is the fantastic PhD work of @nicolasleonlouw.bsky.social and resulted from amazing collaborations, a wedding proposal(!), an undergrad course, & more!
🧵
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 16, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Such a delight to share our work on the evolution of a cheese rind fungus in @currentbiology.bsky.social.
This is the fantastic PhD work of @nicolasleonlouw.bsky.social and resulted from amazing collaborations, a wedding proposal(!), an undergrad course, & more!
🧵
www.cell.com/current-biol...
This is the fantastic PhD work of @nicolasleonlouw.bsky.social and resulted from amazing collaborations, a wedding proposal(!), an undergrad course, & more!
🧵
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Jana Huisman
✈️ Calling all grad students & postdocs in microbial ecology!
Want to work, train, or collaborate abroad? ISME’s Scholar Mobility Fund can help you get there.
📅 Apply by 1 October
🌍 Open to applicants worldwide (esp. outside NA & Europe!)
Details: isme-microbes.org/isme-scholar...
#MicrobialEcology
Want to work, train, or collaborate abroad? ISME’s Scholar Mobility Fund can help you get there.
📅 Apply by 1 October
🌍 Open to applicants worldwide (esp. outside NA & Europe!)
Details: isme-microbes.org/isme-scholar...
#MicrobialEcology
September 10, 2025 at 2:47 PM
✈️ Calling all grad students & postdocs in microbial ecology!
Want to work, train, or collaborate abroad? ISME’s Scholar Mobility Fund can help you get there.
📅 Apply by 1 October
🌍 Open to applicants worldwide (esp. outside NA & Europe!)
Details: isme-microbes.org/isme-scholar...
#MicrobialEcology
Want to work, train, or collaborate abroad? ISME’s Scholar Mobility Fund can help you get there.
📅 Apply by 1 October
🌍 Open to applicants worldwide (esp. outside NA & Europe!)
Details: isme-microbes.org/isme-scholar...
#MicrobialEcology
Reposted by Jana Huisman
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...
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
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...
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...
Reposted by Jana Huisman
Mammoths in Mexico! A fascinating read by @rpocisv.bsky.social @science.org on the discovery and analysis of a massive Pleistocene fossil trove beneath an airport in Mexico City. 🧬 🦣 🇲🇽 www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪
Mammoths in Mexico? Huge bone trove reveals giant beasts thrived in warmth, too
Fossils found while building airport contain first mammoth DNA from tropical location
www.science.org
August 29, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Mammoths in Mexico! A fascinating read by @rpocisv.bsky.social @science.org on the discovery and analysis of a massive Pleistocene fossil trove beneath an airport in Mexico City. 🧬 🦣 🇲🇽 www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪
Reposted by Jana Huisman
We are recruiting for an Editor to join the Journal of Medical Microbiology (JMM)! We’re looking for Editors with some previous editorial experience to handle JMM’s One Health - Emerging, Zoonotic and Environmental Disease section. Find out more and apply here: microb.io/4lnPPBU 🦠
Journal of Medical Microbiology Editor for One Health - Emerging, Zoonotic and Environmental Diseases: Call for expressions of interest
12 August 2025
microb.io
August 14, 2025 at 3:06 PM
We are recruiting for an Editor to join the Journal of Medical Microbiology (JMM)! We’re looking for Editors with some previous editorial experience to handle JMM’s One Health - Emerging, Zoonotic and Environmental Disease section. Find out more and apply here: microb.io/4lnPPBU 🦠
Reposted by Jana Huisman
Does your lab perform killing assays?
TL;DR: we’ve identified a problem that can bias the outcome of killing assays, making antagonism look stronger than it really is.
Adding a simple extra step can mitigate this bias!

Out now at #MicrobioJ www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
1/n
TL;DR: we’ve identified a problem that can bias the outcome of killing assays, making antagonism look stronger than it really is.
Adding a simple extra step can mitigate this bias!

Out now at #MicrobioJ www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
1/n
Type VI secretion system activity at lethal antibiotic concentrations leads to overestimation of weapon potency
Competition assays are a mainstay of modern microbiology, offering a simple and cost-effective means to quantify microbe–microbe interactions in vitro. Here, we demonstrate a key weakness of this meth...
www.microbiologyresearch.org
August 31, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Does your lab perform killing assays?
TL;DR: we’ve identified a problem that can bias the outcome of killing assays, making antagonism look stronger than it really is.
Adding a simple extra step can mitigate this bias!

Out now at #MicrobioJ www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
1/n
TL;DR: we’ve identified a problem that can bias the outcome of killing assays, making antagonism look stronger than it really is.
Adding a simple extra step can mitigate this bias!

Out now at #MicrobioJ www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
1/n
Reposted by Jana Huisman
Our EEB department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is hiring an assistant professor in evo-devo. See go.illinois.edu/EEBAsstProf for details. Please share!
August 26, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Our EEB department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is hiring an assistant professor in evo-devo. See go.illinois.edu/EEBAsstProf for details. Please share!
Have you ever wondered what increasing environmental stress will do to microbial communities?
In our new preprint, @martinadalbello.bsky.social, Jeff Gore and I studied the impact of salinity on microbial community composition and function. 🧵 (1/5)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
In our new preprint, @martinadalbello.bsky.social, Jeff Gore and I studied the impact of salinity on microbial community composition and function. 🧵 (1/5)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Microbial communities demonstrate robustness in stressful environments due to predictable composition shifts
Environmental stress reduces species growth rates, but its impact on the function of microbial communities is less clear. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that increasing salinity stress shifts com...
www.biorxiv.org
August 25, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Have you ever wondered what increasing environmental stress will do to microbial communities?
In our new preprint, @martinadalbello.bsky.social, Jeff Gore and I studied the impact of salinity on microbial community composition and function. 🧵 (1/5)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
In our new preprint, @martinadalbello.bsky.social, Jeff Gore and I studied the impact of salinity on microbial community composition and function. 🧵 (1/5)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Our paper on the transmission dynamics of Noro- and Enterovirus during the COVID-19 pandemic just came out: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
We measured wastewater viral loads, estimated Re and assessed the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions on the transmission of these pathogens.
We measured wastewater viral loads, estimated Re and assessed the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions on the transmission of these pathogens.
Transmission dynamics of Norovirus GII and Enterovirus in Switzerland during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021–2022) as evidenced in wastewater
Noroviruses and enteroviruses are major causes of endemic gastrointestinal disease associated with substantial disease burden. However, viral gastroen…
www.sciencedirect.com
August 22, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Our paper on the transmission dynamics of Noro- and Enterovirus during the COVID-19 pandemic just came out: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
We measured wastewater viral loads, estimated Re and assessed the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions on the transmission of these pathogens.
We measured wastewater viral loads, estimated Re and assessed the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions on the transmission of these pathogens.
Reposted by Jana Huisman
Biologist folk (especially in evolutionary biology and/or ecology, but it don’t matter):
Can you give me your favorite examples of trade offs in biology? Organism or system don’t matter. Primary literature or reviews preferred.
Can you give me your favorite examples of trade offs in biology? Organism or system don’t matter. Primary literature or reviews preferred.
July 27, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Biologist folk (especially in evolutionary biology and/or ecology, but it don’t matter):
Can you give me your favorite examples of trade offs in biology? Organism or system don’t matter. Primary literature or reviews preferred.
Can you give me your favorite examples of trade offs in biology? Organism or system don’t matter. Primary literature or reviews preferred.
Reposted by Jana Huisman
We are on the lookout for postdocs for two different projects at the intersection of ecology, evolution, and the human microbiome.
See thread for more information and reach out!
See thread for more information and reach out!
July 22, 2025 at 7:34 PM
We are on the lookout for postdocs for two different projects at the intersection of ecology, evolution, and the human microbiome.
See thread for more information and reach out!
See thread for more information and reach out!
Reposted by Jana Huisman
I am seeking a postdoc for my group at UCLA. We work at the intersection of population genetics x microbiome (garud.eeb.ucla.edu). If interested, please message me!
Garud Lab
garud.eeb.ucla.edu
July 22, 2025 at 5:51 PM
I am seeking a postdoc for my group at UCLA. We work at the intersection of population genetics x microbiome (garud.eeb.ucla.edu). If interested, please message me!