Yansong Zhao
@prczhaoyansong.bsky.social
Bacterial molecular genetics & mobile genetic elements. Current PhD student @mpi-evolbio.bsky.social. BA/MMath @ox.ac.uk.
Reposted by Yansong Zhao
@prczhaoyansong.bsky.social’s deep dive into the dark matter of compost communities is now out 🎉 Genomic islands hijack jumbo phages—whose capsids enable transfer of large tracts of DNA—shedding new light on the scale & scope of phage-mediated gene flow 😎
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Jumbo phage–mediated transduction of genomic islands | PNAS
Bacteria acquire new genes by horizontal gene transfer, typically mediated by mobile
genetic elements (MGEs). While plasmids, bacteriophages, and c...
www.pnas.org
October 28, 2025 at 6:36 PM
@prczhaoyansong.bsky.social’s deep dive into the dark matter of compost communities is now out 🎉 Genomic islands hijack jumbo phages—whose capsids enable transfer of large tracts of DNA—shedding new light on the scale & scope of phage-mediated gene flow 😎
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Yansong Zhao
A new preprint! Data from a huge experiment by @prczhaoyansong.bsky.social show that similar microbial communities diverge depending on whether the carbon source is glucose or its polymer, cellulose. Diversity is comparable, but biomass, functions and taxonomy differ:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Diverse microbial communities assemble on both recalcitrant and labile carbon sources
Microbial community assembly is shaped by the nature of available resources, with labile carbon sources such as glucose often expected to support low diversity due to rapid growth and competitive excl...
www.biorxiv.org
August 11, 2025 at 2:59 PM
A new preprint! Data from a huge experiment by @prczhaoyansong.bsky.social show that similar microbial communities diverge depending on whether the carbon source is glucose or its polymer, cellulose. Diversity is comparable, but biomass, functions and taxonomy differ:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Yansong Zhao
@prczhaoyansong.bsky.social posted an update of elegant work on genomic islands. Captured via real-time expts, the GIs define a widespread class of MGE (eg VPI-1 de V. cholerae), encode a diverse cargo of genes & exploit jumbo phages for horizontal transfer 😎👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Jumbo phage-mediated transduction of genomic islands
Bacteria acquire new genes by horizontal gene transfer (HGT), typically mediated by mobile genetic elements (MGEs). While plasmids, bacteriophages and certain integrative and conjugative elements (ICE...
www.biorxiv.org
May 18, 2025 at 10:19 AM
@prczhaoyansong.bsky.social posted an update of elegant work on genomic islands. Captured via real-time expts, the GIs define a widespread class of MGE (eg VPI-1 de V. cholerae), encode a diverse cargo of genes & exploit jumbo phages for horizontal transfer 😎👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Yansong Zhao
Congratulations to @prczhaoyansong.bsky.social for receiving a Best Poster Prize at the EMBO Workshop.
His work shows that jumbo phages can help bacteria move genomic islands from one cell to another.
www.evolbio.mpg.de/3816203/crac...
#Microbiology #PhageBiology #GeneTransfer #EMBO2025
His work shows that jumbo phages can help bacteria move genomic islands from one cell to another.
www.evolbio.mpg.de/3816203/crac...
#Microbiology #PhageBiology #GeneTransfer #EMBO2025
Cracking a Bacterial Mystery: Yansong Zhao Awarded Prize for New Discoveries
www.evolbio.mpg.de
April 15, 2025 at 6:08 AM
Congratulations to @prczhaoyansong.bsky.social for receiving a Best Poster Prize at the EMBO Workshop.
His work shows that jumbo phages can help bacteria move genomic islands from one cell to another.
www.evolbio.mpg.de/3816203/crac...
#Microbiology #PhageBiology #GeneTransfer #EMBO2025
His work shows that jumbo phages can help bacteria move genomic islands from one cell to another.
www.evolbio.mpg.de/3816203/crac...
#Microbiology #PhageBiology #GeneTransfer #EMBO2025