Tatiana Dimitriu
@tatianadimitriu.bsky.social
@royalsociety University Research Fellow in St Andrews. Bacterial evolution, mobile genetic elements & defence systems, antibiotic resistance, social interactions. 🇫🇷 with some 🇷🇴 and 🇺🇦 roots. She/her
Pinned
Stealth plasmids: rapid evolution of deleted plasmids can displace antibiotic resistance plasmids under selection for horizontal transmission. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.30.646151v1
Preprint below has been a long time coming, here just in time for #microbio25 ! (if the train wifi lets me)
With @andrewmatthews.bsky.social
#MicroSky
🧵
With @andrewmatthews.bsky.social
#MicroSky
🧵
Cats have finally joined me in Scotland and seem to be settling well. Although they still don't trust us to not impose a 12h drive on them again soon.
November 11, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Cats have finally joined me in Scotland and seem to be settling well. Although they still don't trust us to not impose a 12h drive on them again soon.
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
Thinking about your first steps to independent research? We'd love to hear from you. More details below, or contact me directly for details - reposts appreciated!
www.nature.com/naturecareer...
www.nature.com/naturecareer...
Biomolecular Science Fellowship Day - St Andrews, Fife (GB) job with UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS | 12848597
The School of Biology at the University of St Andrews is inviting applications from outstanding visionary Research Fellow and Future Leader candida...
www.nature.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Thinking about your first steps to independent research? We'd love to hear from you. More details below, or contact me directly for details - reposts appreciated!
www.nature.com/naturecareer...
www.nature.com/naturecareer...
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
JOB OFFER #PhageSky
We have a postdoc position opening in my group to investigate phage-MGE interactions !
We're based in the very nice city of Lyon, France @mmsb-lyon.bsky.social
Contact me for more info !
>> Apply on the CNRS webpage emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U...
We have a postdoc position opening in my group to investigate phage-MGE interactions !
We're based in the very nice city of Lyon, France @mmsb-lyon.bsky.social
Contact me for more info !
>> Apply on the CNRS webpage emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U...
Portail Emploi CNRS - Offre d'emploi - Postdoctoral researcher Microbiology (M/F)
emploi.cnrs.fr
October 22, 2025 at 9:35 AM
JOB OFFER #PhageSky
We have a postdoc position opening in my group to investigate phage-MGE interactions !
We're based in the very nice city of Lyon, France @mmsb-lyon.bsky.social
Contact me for more info !
>> Apply on the CNRS webpage emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U...
We have a postdoc position opening in my group to investigate phage-MGE interactions !
We're based in the very nice city of Lyon, France @mmsb-lyon.bsky.social
Contact me for more info !
>> Apply on the CNRS webpage emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U...
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
Come and work with me and @ariannebabina.bsky.social on #Streptomyces evolution and antibiotic production
Origins of a tangled bank: Adaptation and evolution in antibiotic-producing Streptomyces
www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate...
please repost
Origins of a tangled bank: Adaptation and evolution in antibiotic-producing Streptomyces
www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate...
please repost
University of Glasgow - Postgraduate study - Centres for Doctoral Training - NorthWest Biosciences - Our Projects - Underpinning Bioscience - Paul A Hoskisson
www.gla.ac.uk
September 30, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Come and work with me and @ariannebabina.bsky.social on #Streptomyces evolution and antibiotic production
Origins of a tangled bank: Adaptation and evolution in antibiotic-producing Streptomyces
www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate...
please repost
Origins of a tangled bank: Adaptation and evolution in antibiotic-producing Streptomyces
www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate...
please repost
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
New pre-print www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Plasmid-dependent phage (PDPs) are ubiquitous, but the selective pressures that they impose on plasmids are not well understood. Project led by Daniel Cazares in collaboration with @brockhurstlab.bsky.social!
#phagesky#microsky
Plasmid-dependent phage (PDPs) are ubiquitous, but the selective pressures that they impose on plasmids are not well understood. Project led by Daniel Cazares in collaboration with @brockhurstlab.bsky.social!
#phagesky#microsky
Trade-offs between phage resistance and conjugative ability shape the ecological and evolutionary response of a multidrug resistance plasmid to plasmid-dependent phage
Phage therapy is a promising alternative to antibiotics to treat multidrug resistant infections. Plasmid dependent phages (PDPs) are particularly attractive as therapeutics because they can both kill ...
www.biorxiv.org
October 9, 2025 at 10:07 AM
New pre-print www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Plasmid-dependent phage (PDPs) are ubiquitous, but the selective pressures that they impose on plasmids are not well understood. Project led by Daniel Cazares in collaboration with @brockhurstlab.bsky.social!
#phagesky#microsky
Plasmid-dependent phage (PDPs) are ubiquitous, but the selective pressures that they impose on plasmids are not well understood. Project led by Daniel Cazares in collaboration with @brockhurstlab.bsky.social!
#phagesky#microsky
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
Imagine we could travel back in time ⏪⌛️to explore the world of bacterial pathogens before humans discovered and industrialised antibiotics
We just did that to study the history of #AMR spread @science.org
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
If you like time travel & biology, this 🧵is for you👇
We just did that to study the history of #AMR spread @science.org
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
If you like time travel & biology, this 🧵is for you👇
Pre- and postantibiotic epoch: The historical spread of antimicrobial resistance
Plasmids are now the primary vectors of antimicrobial resistance, but our understanding of how human industrialisation of antibiotics influenced their evolution is limited by a paucity of data predati...
doi.org
October 6, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Imagine we could travel back in time ⏪⌛️to explore the world of bacterial pathogens before humans discovered and industrialised antibiotics
We just did that to study the history of #AMR spread @science.org
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
If you like time travel & biology, this 🧵is for you👇
We just did that to study the history of #AMR spread @science.org
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
If you like time travel & biology, this 🧵is for you👇
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
So a small update on French politics for my English speaking followers the guy who had been charged with forming a government and came up with the same government than the previous government has quit this morning following the announcement of his government and is now in charge of forming a new one
October 6, 2025 at 5:09 PM
So a small update on French politics for my English speaking followers the guy who had been charged with forming a government and came up with the same government than the previous government has quit this morning following the announcement of his government and is now in charge of forming a new one
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
Published in Current Biology! P. aeruginosa can use its filamentous phage to inhibit competitors but high phage production is susceptible to cheater miniphage invasion. Subsequent phage tragedy of the commons can lower bacteria and phage fitness. Link: authors.elsevier.com/c/1lt5I3QW8S...
Preprint out! Bacteria w/ hyper-replicative filamentous phage lead to overnight emergence of cheater phages. Bacteria w/ both phages can outcompete wildtype, then rapidly lose phage via a phage Tragedy of the Commons
@shellyscrib.bsky.social @vscooper.micropopbio.org www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@shellyscrib.bsky.social @vscooper.micropopbio.org www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Filamentous cheater phages drive bacterial and phage populations to lower fitness
Many bacteria carry phage genome(s) in their chromosome (i.e., prophage), and this intertwines the fitness of the bacterium and the phage. Most Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains carry filamentous phages ...
www.biorxiv.org
October 2, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Published in Current Biology! P. aeruginosa can use its filamentous phage to inhibit competitors but high phage production is susceptible to cheater miniphage invasion. Subsequent phage tragedy of the commons can lower bacteria and phage fitness. Link: authors.elsevier.com/c/1lt5I3QW8S...
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
🚂 😴 A peine lancés et déjà supprimés ? Sauvons les trains de nuit Paris-Berlin et Paris-Vienne, un voyage bas-carbone largement plébiscité par ses utilisateurs et utilisatrices.
Pétition à signer ici ⤵️
agir.greenvoice.fr/petitions/sa...
Pétition à signer ici ⤵️
agir.greenvoice.fr/petitions/sa...
🚂 Sauvons les trains de nuit Paris-Berlin et Paris-Vienne
Signez la pétition maintenant !
agir.greenvoice.fr
September 29, 2025 at 8:06 PM
🚂 😴 A peine lancés et déjà supprimés ? Sauvons les trains de nuit Paris-Berlin et Paris-Vienne, un voyage bas-carbone largement plébiscité par ses utilisateurs et utilisatrices.
Pétition à signer ici ⤵️
agir.greenvoice.fr/petitions/sa...
Pétition à signer ici ⤵️
agir.greenvoice.fr/petitions/sa...
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
Now peer-reviewed, improved and published in @microbiologysociety.org Microbiology - thanks to editor and reviewers!
www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
September 26, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Now peer-reviewed, improved and published in @microbiologysociety.org Microbiology - thanks to editor and reviewers!
www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
New ERC funded computational postdoc position in my lab! We are looking for someone who will study the genomics of bacterial evolution using samples from experimental evolution and clinical trials. Lots of opportunities for interesting and fun collaboration!
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
Job Details
my.corehr.com
September 25, 2025 at 2:31 PM
New ERC funded computational postdoc position in my lab! We are looking for someone who will study the genomics of bacterial evolution using samples from experimental evolution and clinical trials. Lots of opportunities for interesting and fun collaboration!
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
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 Tatiana Dimitriu
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 Tatiana Dimitriu
Super paper from the mighty Mia Winkler, @genomarit.bsky.social and Iren Lohr.
"We have previously shown that there were relatively few strain-sharing events across ecological niches...plasmid-sharing is considerably more common across niches than strain-sharing. "
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
"We have previously shown that there were relatively few strain-sharing events across ecological niches...plasmid-sharing is considerably more common across niches than strain-sharing. "
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A One Health study of Klebsiella pneumoniae species complex plasmids shows a highly diverse and ecologically adaptable plasmidome
Plasmids play a pivotal role in the horizontal gene transfer of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and virulence determinants among bacteria. Members of the Klebsiella pneumoniae species complex (KpSC) ca...
www.biorxiv.org
September 17, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Super paper from the mighty Mia Winkler, @genomarit.bsky.social and Iren Lohr.
"We have previously shown that there were relatively few strain-sharing events across ecological niches...plasmid-sharing is considerably more common across niches than strain-sharing. "
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
"We have previously shown that there were relatively few strain-sharing events across ecological niches...plasmid-sharing is considerably more common across niches than strain-sharing. "
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
Delighted to share our recently published work!
Ever wondered how Klebsiella (and others) deals with capsule production’s costs ?
The paper: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Thread👇
Ever wondered how Klebsiella (and others) deals with capsule production’s costs ?
The paper: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Thread👇
Phenotypic heterogeneity of capsule production across opportunistic pathogens | mBio
The polysaccharidic capsule is present in ~50% of species across the bacterial phylogeny, including all ESKAPE microorganisms, the six most significant multidrug-resistant (MDR) nosocomial pathogens. It is also an important virulence factor and a major ...
journals.asm.org
September 5, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Delighted to share our recently published work!
Ever wondered how Klebsiella (and others) deals with capsule production’s costs ?
The paper: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Thread👇
Ever wondered how Klebsiella (and others) deals with capsule production’s costs ?
The paper: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Thread👇
only a microbiologist can be happy she left home in a rush three weeks ago and did not empty her tea mug @contamclub.bsky.social
September 2, 2025 at 11:43 AM
only a microbiologist can be happy she left home in a rush three weeks ago and did not empty her tea mug @contamclub.bsky.social
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
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 Tatiana Dimitriu
What was antibiotic resistance like before we ever used antibiotics? How did we change what antibiotic resistance genes looked like over 100 years?
Our paper looking at resistance genes from a century of NCTC historical isolates now out in mGen:
www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
Our paper looking at resistance genes from a century of NCTC historical isolates now out in mGen:
www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
Genomic resistance in historical clinical isolates increased in frequency and mobility after the age of antibiotics
Antibiotic resistance is frequently observed shortly after the clinical introduction of an antibiotic. Whether and how frequently that resistance occurred before the introduction is harder to determin...
www.microbiologyresearch.org
September 1, 2025 at 5:49 PM
What was antibiotic resistance like before we ever used antibiotics? How did we change what antibiotic resistance genes looked like over 100 years?
Our paper looking at resistance genes from a century of NCTC historical isolates now out in mGen:
www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
Our paper looking at resistance genes from a century of NCTC historical isolates now out in mGen:
www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
This is my happy place and I'm not sure I want to leave ever
August 29, 2025 at 3:14 PM
This is my happy place and I'm not sure I want to leave ever
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
New paper out! 🔈🔈📣📣
Plasmids promote antimicrobial resistance through Insertion Sequence-mediated gene inactivation.
Combining experimental and computational approaches, we unveil how two of the most prevalent bacterial MGE accelerate the evolution of AMR. 🧵👇🏻
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Plasmids promote antimicrobial resistance through Insertion Sequence-mediated gene inactivation.
Combining experimental and computational approaches, we unveil how two of the most prevalent bacterial MGE accelerate the evolution of AMR. 🧵👇🏻
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Plasmids promote antimicrobial resistance through Insertion Sequence-mediated gene inactivation
Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is a major threat to public health. Plasmids are mobile genetic elements that can rapidly spread across bacterial populations, promoting the dissemination of AMR genes i...
www.biorxiv.org
August 13, 2025 at 6:26 AM
New paper out! 🔈🔈📣📣
Plasmids promote antimicrobial resistance through Insertion Sequence-mediated gene inactivation.
Combining experimental and computational approaches, we unveil how two of the most prevalent bacterial MGE accelerate the evolution of AMR. 🧵👇🏻
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Plasmids promote antimicrobial resistance through Insertion Sequence-mediated gene inactivation.
Combining experimental and computational approaches, we unveil how two of the most prevalent bacterial MGE accelerate the evolution of AMR. 🧵👇🏻
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
If you ever find yourself needing evidence for ‘Plasmids are just as common in microbes without resistance genes,’ we’ve got you covered! Check our new paper, out today:
www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
Plasmid prevalence is independent of antibiotic resistance in environmental Enterobacteriaceae
The rapid rise of antibiotic-resistant pathogens poses a critical threat to the treatment of infectious diseases. While the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) via plasmid conjugation has bee...
www.microbiologyresearch.org
August 12, 2025 at 5:14 PM
If you ever find yourself needing evidence for ‘Plasmids are just as common in microbes without resistance genes,’ we’ve got you covered! Check our new paper, out today:
www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
Feels surreal to say but: I'm hiring! If you are or know anyone interested in looking at the evolution of phage resistance using A. baumannii and natural transformation, then this might be for you
www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
Research position in Microbial Pharmacology and Population Biology (282139) | UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Job title: Research position in Microbial Pharmacology and Population Biology (282139), Employer: UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Deadline: Wednesday, August 27, 2025
www.jobbnorge.no
August 8, 2025 at 7:52 AM
Feels surreal to say but: I'm hiring! If you are or know anyone interested in looking at the evolution of phage resistance using A. baumannii and natural transformation, then this might be for you
www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
“We sense this, we aggregate that, we compress information to some new output, in the form of a sentence in a human language, a language called English. A language both very structured and very amorphous, as if it were a building made of soups. 1/2
August 10, 2025 at 1:15 PM
“We sense this, we aggregate that, we compress information to some new output, in the form of a sentence in a human language, a language called English. A language both very structured and very amorphous, as if it were a building made of soups. 1/2
Reposted by Tatiana Dimitriu
Want to name a real virus? I have recently discovered 9 new phages which now need names! To enter, you simply need to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust on my JustGiving page (£2 = 1 entry) and share your email with me on donation (see link info). Please share 💚 www.justgiving.com/page/meaghan-c-1
August 5, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Want to name a real virus? I have recently discovered 9 new phages which now need names! To enter, you simply need to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust on my JustGiving page (£2 = 1 entry) and share your email with me on donation (see link info). Please share 💚 www.justgiving.com/page/meaghan-c-1