Hydrogen sulfide production distinguishes Salmonella from close relatives, but its biological significance remains obscure. This study uncovers the secret: Salmonella uses hydrogen sulfide production as a weapon to outcompete E. coli and gain a foothold in the gut.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

How do bacteria choose what type of defences to use against phages? We explored that question in the last paper I worked on as a postdoc at the Uni of Exeter @uniofexeteresi.bsky.social with Stineke van Houte, Stefano Pagliara and Edze Westra (not on Bluesky)
doi.org/10.1098/rstb...

Reminder: Nobel-prize winning PCR (1983), used in basically all genetic tech today, was only possible because of extremophile bacterium discovered in 1964 in Yellowstone funded by a small ~$80k NSF grant with no obvious application at the time. #science 🧪
www.richmondscientific.com/how-a-discov...

Just in case you’ve never heard of Lysenko
www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

🚨 PhD opportunity in Toulouse!
Join a dynamic team to study membrane proteins & transporters of therapeutic interest using cryo-EM, enzymology & biophysics.

📅 Deadline: June 19, 2025
🔗 Funded by @frm-officiel.bsky.social

#StructuralBiology #MicroSky

More details 👇
shorturl.at/OaVMI

New preprint led by @brunoluviano.bsky.social & Fernando Santos.

We show that filamentation enhances bacterial survival under toxic stress — not as collateral damage, but as a regulated morphological response.

TL;DR: Filamentation isn’t a symptom, it’s a strategy!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A nice review with the latest advances and views on our favourite genotoxin !

🔬 New review out in Trends in Microbiology!
Together with @MaudeJans , we explore the physiological factors driving pks+ E. coli expansion and colibactin exposure in colorectal cancer.
read the full story:
kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...

#ColorectalCancer #Ecoli #Genotoxins

Happy to share Saurabh's latest review on the bacterial exometabolome and its role in virulence and pathogenesis, just out in @cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social — and it’s open access! 😉

👏 @saurabhchugh09.bsky.social

www.cell.com/trends/micro...

Join the Blokesch lab (@EPFL) as a postdoc in Molecular Microbiology 🤩
Study Vibrio cholerae defense systems (phage/plasmid) in a dynamic, collaborative environment in Lausanne close to Lake Geneva in 🇨🇭!
Please visit my lab's webpage for details about the position and how to formally apply.

If you are interested in lipids in bacteria, check out this awesome new review written by my talented student Alyssa Carter, super postdoc Emily Woods and me. #chembio
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

We are looking for a PhD candidate starting on the 01-10-2025. The project aims to understand how the host cells use copper and oxidative species to fight Salmonella infection and how this pathogen evades this antimicrobial response.

SHORT DEADLINE ! 20-04-2025
jobs.inrae.fr/en/ot-25517

You want to learn about microbiology from a fantastic lineup of speakers on a beautiful Greek island? PhD students apply now for the @EMBO | @FEBSnews Lecture Course The New Microbiology!
Registration: 1 Apr 2025
Course: 03 – 11 Sep 2025 | Spetses, Greece
meetings.embo.org/event/25-new...

1. For the past thirty years I've had the best job in the world.


I've had the opportunity to follow my curiosity; explore the workings of nature and society; mentor students and junior colleagues in the same process; and teach generations of students about it all.