Jeremy Barr

Isolation, engineering and ecology of temperate phages from the human gut - Nature Human host-associated cellular products may act as induction agents for bacteriophages.

Isolation, engineering and ecology of temperate phages from the human gut

Out now in Nature, by Sofia Dahlman, Jeremy Barr & colleagues. @jeremyjbarr.bsky.social

#microsky

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Im really excited for this work as it sets up a platform for us to study, characterise, and eventually determine what impacts temperate phages may have on the human gut microbiome. Future work may even allow us to manipulate the gut using these unique viruses.

- Temperate phage biology is HARD. We cant using traditional PFU plating (due to superinfection immunity), most isolates were poly-lysogens, equipment required is expensive and technically limiting, and the methods to study these phage had not been developed.

- We test ten diverse induction agents, and the most surprising one was that human cellular lysis products were strong inducers of temperate phages, suggestive of a mechanistic link between gastrointestinal cell lysis/inflammation and the gut virome.

A couple of highlights from the paper:
- We find >100 new bacteriophages, many of which had never been isolated before and we're only 'discovered' through metagenomic sequencing approaches.

This was a really challenging study where we attempted to characterise the biology of hundreds of temperate bacteriophages from the human gut - in the lab! This required anaerobic chambers to grow the gut bacteria, entirely new methods to induce and study the bacteriophages.

Isolation, engineering and ecology of temperate phages from the human gut - Nature Human host-associated cellular products may act as induction agents for bacteriophages.

Very excited to share the latest work from our lab, which was published today in Nature!
nature.com/articles/s41...

PhD graduate and now post-doc Sofia Dahlman, along with co-senior author Sam Forster from The Hudson and other researchers from our lab and others.

This hospital-specific phage cocktail can be replicated across many institutions and pathogens, and we hope it will improve treatment outcomes for patients suffering from these multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens.

We believe this approach offers a strong middle-ground between personalised phage therapy and broader spectrum antimicrobial agents.

In this work, we developed, for the first time, a phage cocktail personalised to a hospital's multidrug-resistant pathogen profile. This product, which we call Entelli-02, offers a frontline treatment option against Enterobacter infections that are resistant to most antibiotics.

Rational design of a hospital-specific phage cocktail to treat Enterobacter cloacae complex infections - Nature Microbiology The Entelli-02 phage product containing five phages has frontline potential to address infections caused by the multidrug-resistant Enterobacter cloacae complex.

Excited to annouce the latest research published by our lab, which is led by Dinesh Subedi and is out today in Nature Microbiology.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

... and don't miss the opportunity to meet @jeremyjbarr.bsky.social and other great speakers at the upcoming Seeon Conference in June ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ www.dghm.org/seeon/

This is a great insight and quote! Thanks for sharing

Structure and infection dynamics of mycobacteriophage Bxb1 Mycobacteriophage Bxb1 is a well-characterized virus of Mycobacterium smegmatis with double-stranded DNA and a long, flexible tail. Mycobacteriophages…

Hurray, it is finally out! Meet bacteriophage Bxb1 - the subject of my first full-phage cryo-EM study. My structures are beautifully complemented by the Park Lab’s cryo-ET analysis, shedding light on mycobacteriophage structural changes during infection.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The T-series bacteriophages are reductionist models that continue to shape the field - Nature Microbiology Jeremy Barr discusses how he began studying bacteriophages, the historic use of the T-series phages and how they have shaped the field.

The T-series bacteriophages have impacted my career and are microbes our lab's research continues to use as model organisms.

You can read more as part of @natmicrobiol.nature.com 'Microbes Matter' series below:

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The T-series bacteriophages are reductionist models that continue to shape the field - Nature Microbiology Jeremy Barr discusses how he began studying bacteriophages, the historic use of the T-series phages and how they have shaped the field.

🚨Jeremy Barr discusses how he began studying #bacteriophages, the historic use of the T-series #phages, and how they have shaped the field.

#MicroSky #PhageSky

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

GitHub - shandley/awesome-virome: A listing of software, tools and databases useful for virome analysis A listing of software, tools and databases useful for virome analysis - shandley/awesome-virome

Check out this list of awesome #virome tools and be sure to add yours!

github.com/shandley/awe...

#phagesky #microsky

📣📣Are you looking for a postdoc? 📣📣

Does a EU or Horizon Europe assoc country (eg UK, S Korea) seem like a good destination?

These fellowships a great funding option for anyone in the 🌎

👀 Check them out - next call opens 8 May

🧪 👨‍🔬👩‍🔬
marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/actions/post...

Programs: Einstein A Go-Go – 9 February 2025, Einstein A Go-Go — Triple R 102.7FM, Melbourne Independent Radio An episode of Einstein A Go-Go on 9 February 2025

Our lab was featured on the RRR Radio show @einstein_agogo to talk about recent phage research and its application to treat antibiotic-resistant infections

Have a listen!
www.rrr.org.au/explore/prog...

Fernando Gordillo Altamirano, Natasha Smith, @drshanerrr.bsky.social

Our 2024 monthly issue covers at Nature Microbiology (www.nature.com/nmicrobiol/):

Happy New Year! 🎉 We are excited to officially kick off the countdown to the #VoM2024 conference (July 15)!

Looking forward to insightful discussions, ground-breaking research, and fostering collaborative connections.

Abstract submissions are open: vom2024.org

⏰ bit.ly/VoM2024count...

Did you know that VoM is heading down under? 🌏🦘

Join us for the Viruses of Microbes (VoM) Conference, set against the stunning backdrop of Cairns, QLD - July 15-19th, 2024 🏝️

Follow us for news & updates! 📅

#VoM2024

TWiV 1067: Heads or tails, you win a phage lunch
Pheaturing #phage work from the @ivanerill.bsky.social team as well as the @jeremyjbarr.bsky.social lab on the @microbetv.bsky.social This Week in Virology #podcast plus a shoutout to David Goodsell #sciart
#phagesky #microsky

✨#VoM2024 KEY DATES ✨
Head over to our website to check out the key dates and add them to your calendar 📅

Time to start thinking about your #abstract submissions!

vom2024.org/key-dates

For microbiologists seeking faculty jobs: Rutgers has 4+ faculty searches in microbiology right now! Please share widely and see below for details and links on the individual positions 1/5

🚨 Please share 🚨 The Suez Lab @JohnsHopkins is recruiting! We're seeking a senior bioinformatician with established (papers/preprints) experience in #microbiome #metagenomics. The position can be local, fully remote, or hybrid.

DM me for questions, apply here: jobs.jhu.edu/job/Baltimor...

Apologies, I copied the wrong link, here it is

journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Thanks! Still learning this platform, not that it's much different 😅

Apologies the link I copied did not work... This one should

journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...