Sophia Goladze

Phage–host interactions are a key driver of microbial ecology, but observing them in nature is hard!
With metaHi-C, we detect freshwater phage–host pairs and link their infection dynamics to evolution.

Together with @nadal-molero.bsky.social & Ana Martin-Cuadrado

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

🔬 iVoM 2026 Online Conference Series – Session 1: Viral Biotechnologies

🗓 28 Jan 2026
⏰ 17:00 CET | 11:00 EST | 08:00 PST

• Intro by a senior researcher
• 3 ECR talks
• Live Q&A

👉 Register for links & updates:
🔗 docs.google.com/forms/d/1hAB...

#iVoM #VoM2026 #Virology #ECRs #OnlineEvent

Bacterial immune systems as causes and consequences of microbiome structure Bacterial immune systems have evolved in response to diverse molecular "parasites", yet their ecological roles remain poorly understood. This Essay explores how interactions between mobile genetic…

The ecological roles of bacterial #immune systems are poorly understood. Rafael Custodio @ellinoralseth.bsky.social @brockhurstlab.bsky.social @brownlab.bsky.social & Edze Westra explore how mobile genetic elements and bacterial defenses shape #microbiome structure and function 🧪

Graphic representation of the recombination events in the Sugarlandvirus I and J variants. Top left: Representation of the variants isolates in the different strains in the three lines. Genome fragments of each parent are represented in a different color. Regions with the most abundant recombination events are marked and associated with a schematic representation of the functional annotation and intergenomic similarity between the two parental phages. Bottom left: 3D folding of the RBPγ. The consensus recombinant region, which is associated with the infection of the K-type 47, is represented in light orange. Variable positions detected in the protein sequence alignment of the variants are represented as hot pink spheres. The table indicates the percentage of identity of the parental protein sequences in three protein regions limited by the amino acids indicated. Right: Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image of Klebsiella myoviruses artificially coloured, showing their characteristic contractile tails and icosahedral capsids. Image acquired by the Environmental and Biomedical Virology group (Institute for Integrative Systems Biology, Universitat de València-CSIC).

Capsule diversity limits #phage host range by affecting receptor-binding protein (RBP) interactions in capsulated #bacteria. @pilardomingoc.bsky.social &co show that generalist phages evolve host range via RBP mutation & recombination, but specialists remain stable @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/48nvOqY

Gammelt virus gir nytt håp mot resistente bakterier | UiT En bakteriofag fra 1920-tallet viser seg å kunne angripe en bakterie som første gang ble funnet av UiT-forskere hundre år senere. Funnet kan bety nye behandlingsmuligheter i møte med økende antibiotik...

uit.no/nyheter/arti...

From the Marine Bioprospecting group of the @cansuit.bsky.social @uitnorgesarktiske.bsky.social

Resistance mutation supply modulates the benefit of CRISPR immunity against virulent phages Only a fraction of bacterial genomes encode CRISPR-Cas systems but the selective causes of this variation are unexplained. How naturally virulent bacteriophages (phages) select for CRISPR immunity has...

New preprint!

Ever wondered why only a fraction of genomes encode CRISPR immunity? 🧬 🦠

Turns out CRISPR is rarely beneficial against virulent phages, being most beneficial against those for which resistance mutations are rare!

An epic effort by Rosanna Wright

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Cell Press logo in shades of blue and white, with a compass superimposed in the background. Title reads: "Ten essential tips to ensure the integrity of your research"

Ensuring the integrity of your research is vital for credibility and impact. Discover ten essential tips to uphold ethical standards and trustworthiness in your work.

Learn more: www.elsevier.com/connect/ten-...

#ResearchEthics #ResearchIntegrity #AcademicResearch

📝New preprint!

We investigated how spatial structure affects cooperation between phages, combining mathematical modelling and experiments.

A short thread 🧶

Kiwa is a membrane-embedded defense supercomplex activated at phage attachment sites Zhang, Todeschini, and Wu et al. show that the bacterial defense system Kiwa senses phage attachment at the membrane and assembles a transmembrane complex that halts infection by blocking phage DNA re...

Thrilled to see our Kiwa story out today! A membrane-associated supercomplex that senses infection and blocks replication and transcription.

www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Huge congratulations to Yi and Zhiying for bringing it home, to Thomas for starting us off, and to all the collaborators.

22.- Expert opinion on phage therapy: round table from the First International Symposium on Advances in Phage Therapeutics PhageCast · Episode

open.spotify.com/episode/2LD5...

Commercial porcine gastric mucin contributes to variation in production of small molecule virulence factors by Pseudomonas aeruginosa when cultured in different formulations of artificial sputum mediu... Site-specific in vitro culture media are being developed to investigate microbial pathogenicity and ecology in nutrient environments that are more reflective of disease. For microbial ecology research...

Importance of mucin O-glycans in regularing bacterial metabolism and virulence 🦠🧫
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Mucin-driven ecological interactions in an in vitro synthetic community of human gut microbes Abstract. Specific human gut microbes inhabit the outer mucus layer of the gastrointestinal tract. Certain residents of this niche can degrade the large an

📚 I am happy to share that our latest paper is out in Glycobiology!

🦠 We developed a synthetic community of human gut microbes that completely degrades mucin glycans.

🔬 We studied its enzymes and ecological interactions in vitro.

#glycotime #mucin #microbiome

academic.oup.com/glycob/artic...

This was a fun collaboration between many scientists in the lab (go sponge team!), as well as our dear collaborators Renee Chang and Philip Kranzusch

Read the thread by talented scientist Nitzan Tal, who led the study, explaining our discoveries:

bsky.app/profile/nitz...

Successful phage therapy in a patient with prosthetic joint infection

Phage therapy in a patient with prosthetic join infection in Spain! Another sucessful treatment from the #EnBiVir #VLCphagehunters @i2sysbio.es and #EvolvingTherapeutics in collaboration with Dr. de la Villa #GregorioMarañon
@uv.es
@csic.es

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