Microbial Systems Ecology Lab
@micsysecolab.bsky.social
We study general principles that organise microbial systems, at ETH Zürich and Eawag | Posts by group members
https://mse.ethz.ch
https://mse.ethz.ch
We are incredibly grateful to have spent three inspiring days in beautiful Blonay at our annual group retreat, discussing science and continuing our group tradition of forming human pyramids! 🤸
July 4, 2025 at 1:31 PM
We are incredibly grateful to have spent three inspiring days in beautiful Blonay at our annual group retreat, discussing science and continuing our group tradition of forming human pyramids! 🤸
Excited to share our new work! We found that bacteria can turn antagonism into a foraging strategy - by killing their neighbours, and eating their remains 🧫🔬💥
Thrilled to share our new paper in @science.org describing our discovery that bacteria can switch from competitors to bonafide predators when resources run dry—arming nanoscale “spears” (T6SS) to stab & consume neighbours.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#MicroSKy #Microbiology
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#MicroSKy #Microbiology
Antagonism as a foraging strategy in microbial communities
In natural habitats, nutrient availability limits bacterial growth. We discovered that bacteria can overcome this limitation by acquiring nutrients by lysing neighboring cells through contact-dependen...
www.science.org
June 13, 2025 at 7:18 AM
Excited to share our new work! We found that bacteria can turn antagonism into a foraging strategy - by killing their neighbours, and eating their remains 🧫🔬💥
How does metabolic dependency evolve at the single cell level? 🔄
In our new preprint, Divvya Ramesh combines microfluidics, microscopy and modelling to show that the benefits of gene loss are highly context dependent.
Check it out here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
In our new preprint, Divvya Ramesh combines microfluidics, microscopy and modelling to show that the benefits of gene loss are highly context dependent.
Check it out here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org
May 13, 2025 at 11:22 AM
How does metabolic dependency evolve at the single cell level? 🔄
In our new preprint, Divvya Ramesh combines microfluidics, microscopy and modelling to show that the benefits of gene loss are highly context dependent.
Check it out here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
In our new preprint, Divvya Ramesh combines microfluidics, microscopy and modelling to show that the benefits of gene loss are highly context dependent.
Check it out here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Microbial Systems Ecology Lab
Olga Schubert from @eawag.bsky.social / @ethzurich.bsky.social on Causes and consequences of collective metabolism in microbial communities
#KNVM2025
#KNVM2025
April 1, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Olga Schubert from @eawag.bsky.social / @ethzurich.bsky.social on Causes and consequences of collective metabolism in microbial communities
#KNVM2025
#KNVM2025
Check out our new perspective on spatial patterns in microbial communities, the product of an exciting collaboration led by Alyssa Henderson and @adelpanta.bsky.social ! 🧫
What determines the spatial structure of microbial communities? In our new review we discuss the factors and feedbacks that affect spatial patterning and methods to study them. Great collaboration w. @saramitri.bsky.social @adelpanta.bsky.social & @micsysecolab.bsky.social doi.org/10.1038/s415... 🦠
February 20, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Check out our new perspective on spatial patterns in microbial communities, the product of an exciting collaboration led by Alyssa Henderson and @adelpanta.bsky.social ! 🧫
We are so thrilled that Martin and Olga have won the Art of Leadership (ALEA) award - for being incredible group leaders who give us independence, support, trust, and ultimately prioritise our wellbeing above all else. We are so grateful to be co-led by them!
November 26, 2024 at 7:24 PM
We are so thrilled that Martin and Olga have won the Art of Leadership (ALEA) award - for being incredible group leaders who give us independence, support, trust, and ultimately prioritise our wellbeing above all else. We are so grateful to be co-led by them!
Thrilled to announce that Matthias Hülsmann's new perspective is now out in @naturemicrobiol.bsky.social! This exciting work is shaping how our group thinks about collective microbiome metabolism. Check it out! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A framework for understanding collective microbiome metabolism - Nature Microbiology
This Perspective explores why microbiome members perform partial metabolism of substrates and suggests that proteome efficiency is a driver of collective microbiome metabolism.
www.nature.com
November 26, 2024 at 12:45 PM
Thrilled to announce that Matthias Hülsmann's new perspective is now out in @naturemicrobiol.bsky.social! This exciting work is shaping how our group thinks about collective microbiome metabolism. Check it out! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Check out this new preprint on antagonism as a foraging strategy, led by the brilliant Astrid Stubbusch and @nonresidentdesi.bsky.social!
New preprint! A bit of new direction for my research program: How can bacteria get nutrients when autonomous growth is not possible or passive leakage is not enough to support high growth? Shoot spearguns with toxins into other cells and leak out nutrients!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Antagonism as a foraging strategy in microbial communities
In natural habitats, nutrient availability limits bacterial growth. We discovered that bacteria can overcome this limitation by acquiring nutrients through lysing neighboring cells via contact-depende...
www.biorxiv.org
November 18, 2024 at 12:56 PM
Check out this new preprint on antagonism as a foraging strategy, led by the brilliant Astrid Stubbusch and @nonresidentdesi.bsky.social!
Reposted by Microbial Systems Ecology Lab
Grateful for the opportunity to share my enthusiasm and thoughts on microbial ecology and bacterial communities in Cell Systems! What an exciting time to contribute to this fascinating field and to adress the „macro in the micro“. www.cell.com/cell-systems...
How can concepts from ecology enable insights about cellular communities?
Historically, microbiology has been markedly concerned with pathogens and their modes
of action. Upon Koch’s revolutionary finding that microorganisms can be causal of
disease, understandably, there w...
www.cell.com
October 29, 2024 at 7:26 AM
Grateful for the opportunity to share my enthusiasm and thoughts on microbial ecology and bacterial communities in Cell Systems! What an exciting time to contribute to this fascinating field and to adress the „macro in the micro“. www.cell.com/cell-systems...
Check out our new paper, led by Astrid Stubbusch and @nonresidentdesi.bsky.social on bacterial degradation-dispersal cycles, out in @elife.bsky.social!
New work out in @eLife! Possibly the last one in our series on bacterial aggregation behaviours on polysaccharides. We knew cells were engaging in collective behaviours. But how do they know when to leave and why? We provide potential answers in this work
elifesciences.org/articles/93855
elifesciences.org/articles/93855
October 28, 2024 at 2:59 PM
Check out our new paper, led by Astrid Stubbusch and @nonresidentdesi.bsky.social on bacterial degradation-dispersal cycles, out in @elife.bsky.social!