Jasper Gomez

Given that clonal biofilms of single bacterial species rapidly diversify into niche specialists, how do biofilms of multiple species evolve?
A 🧵 featuring new collaborative pubs:
1. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
2. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This is amazing.

www.getyourfuckingmoneyback.com

Happy 38th birthday to the #LTEE!
#BOTD in 1988.
Keep on evolving!

#science #evolution #microbiology

The only thing more powerful than hate is love!

Handing the kid the Grammy was cute

Dr. Megan Korne gets hooded by Dr. Greg Bonito.

Dr. Charles Whitehead-Tillery shakes Pres. Guskiewicz's hand while his advisor, Dr. Linda Mansfield, looks on, smiling.

Dr. Alex Wessel and Dr. Jasper Gomez stand with their advisor, Dr. Chris Waters.

Dr. Beth Ottosen smiles after getting hooded by her advisor, Dr. Vic DiRita.

Congratulations to our graduates! We are so proud of you and can't wait to see the great things you will accomplish!

Trifecta!!! Three superb dissertation seminars in one week:
⭐ Jasper Gomez on Friday, working with Chris Waters.
⭐ Devin Lake yesterday, with me.
⭐ Beth Ottosen today, with Vic DiRita.

@jasgomez.bsky.social
@devinmlake.bsky.social
@msumgi.bsky.social
@waterslab

Congratulations to DOCTOR Devin Lake, who successfully defended his Ph.D. and gave a splendid seminar this afternoon! His dissertation is titled: "Evolutionary Dynamics in Asexual Populations: The Interplay of Theory, Experiments, and Simulations." 

@devinmlake.bsky.social

I don't understand why groups design plasmids, publish protocol papers centered on their use, and then not deposit them to Addgene.

Open, reproducible science should be our North Star, not an afterthought (or worse, never considered at all).

Phages use contingency loci as a bet-hedging strategy https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.21.683753v1

Terrific writeup of our new paper led by @nanamikubota.bsky.social, thanks Pitt media!

www.medschool.pitt.edu/news/bacteri...

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...

A cyclic di-GMP phosphodiesterase in the VSP-2 island of Vibrio cholerae is regulated by zinc and quorum sensing | mBio Vibrio cholerae colonizes estuarine environments and human hosts, where it transitions between motile and sessile states using the second messenger cyclic di-GMP (cdG). cdG levels change in response to a variety of signals and are controlled by the activity of diguanylate cyclases and phosphodiesterase (PDEs), enzymes that make and degrade cdG. In this work, we show that Zn2+ and the cell density regulator HapR repress ZpdA, the PDE present in the Vibrio seventh pandemic 2 island, at the level of transcription, and that Zn2+ unexpectedly alters the PDE activity of ZpdA protein itself. Our study highlights the role of metal availability as an important signaling cue that controls V. cholerae biology.

Check out my recent publication on how zinc and quorum sensing affects cyclic di GMP in V. cholerae.
share.google/JaOJv48OAhH4...

I am DEEPLY SYMPATHETIC that the NIH staff are working desperately hard in the hurt locker. I am grateful that they hold the fort.

But, to the admin: YOU BROKE IT, YOU BOUGHT IT. Most folks want tax $ to support this work, and they will vote accordingly if they know about this. Share and speak up!

I couldn’t be more proud of STEPS! Hats off to Zach, Mina, and Rich (@relenski.bsky.social) for all their hard work on the project. I look forward to adding new features and fighting with inevitable bugs in the future!

asm.org/press-releas...

Dr. Rangarajan stands with a large, person-sized, heart-shaped sign reading "ASM Microbe." She is smiling broadly.

Dr. Aathmaja Rangarajan, an MGI postdoctoral researcher in the Waters Lab, shares highlights of her first trip to ASM Microbe last week. The trip was supported by the ASM Peggy Cotter Travel Award.

Read more here: tinyurl.com/rwdmcnm

Hey folks in academic world:

be nice & respectful to the invited speakers. That includes: students, postdocs, & early career scientists.

If you are disrespectful, know that this world is round & Karma will catch up w you very quick.

Excited to attend my first ASM microbe this year at LA. Will be presenting my postdoctoral work from Waters lab on "Zinc regulation of cyclic di-GMP in V. Cholerae" in Room 408B from 3.30-3.45 on June 20th. Looking forward to seeing you all there. #asm2025

Excited to be representing the Waters lab alongside @aathmaja.bsky.social at #ASMicrobe!

Interested how phages use contingency loci as bet hedging strategy?

I’ll be talking about this Sat 6/21 from 10-10:15am at “Predicting Microbial Evolution” 403A, LACC

Cooper lab is at #ASMicrobe ! See the thread for a list of all our presentations.

Interested in filamentous cheater phages of P. aeruginosa?

I'll be talking about them tomorrow Friday from 9:45-10am at the "Who Runs the World? Phage" session (408B, LACC)

SeqCoast Genomics is not raising prices!

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We can help you with your grant proposal!

SeqCoast Genomics @seqcoast.bsky.social won’t be at ASM Microbe, but they are sharing their saved $$ with you by *not raising prices*!

Send your samples or buy prepaid vouchers for services now!

This is incredible

So:
👉🏻Student research can make impactful scientific contributions
👉🏻These findings and shared experiments build a community of teachers and young researchers
👉🏻Research experiences can have positive, long-lasting impacts on attitudes towards science
🚨EvolvingSTEM has reached >7500 students to date

Student-led experimental evolution reveals novel biofilm regulatory networks underlying adaptations to multiple niches We established a research-education partnership known as EvolvingSTEM that provides secondary school students the opportunity to conduct authentic research experiments centered on microbial evolution....

Sharing the most significant work from my group, led by the @evolvingstem.bsky.social team.

Come for the discoveries of how Pseudomonas adapts in biofilms, stay for the story of how they were discovered by thousands of young scientists in grades 9-12. 🧪🧫🧬🧵

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

One problem we face today is how few people understand the science that helps us all. Some scientists are able to explain the importance of their work. @baym.lol of Harvard University is one of them. Science is for everyone, and benefits us all more than most people know.

I have known @baym.lol for many, many years and listening to this interview just broke my heart.

Heartbroken to hear that the @hhmi.org Hanna Grey fellowship competition is being cancelled this year. I poured so much work and creativity into this app and am very grateful for everyone who helped me revise. It is such a difficult time to be a young scientist.

Oof, just got notice HHMI is not even doing Hanna Gray Fellows, or any competition, this year due to the challenging times in science funding rn 😬 Understandable. On the bright side, I was really proud my application🌈 #science #nih #hhmi

Must read for everyone concerned with the health, prosperity, and global leadership of America