Jerónimo Rodríguez-Beltrán

SegMantX: a novel tool for detecting DNA duplications uncovers prevalent duplications in plasmids Abstract. Segmental duplications play an important role in genome evolution via their contribution to copy-number variation, gene-family diversification an

Happy to introduce SegMantX. Analyzing #plasmid we find that most duplications are MGE-driven. Additional use cases include detection of DNA transfer between replicons and examination of plasmid sequence similarity. Try it out! doi.org/10.1093/molb...

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...

Dual CRISPRi-seq for genome-wide genetic interaction studies identifies key genes involved in the pneumococcal cell cycle Dénéréaz et al. introduce dual CRISPRi-seq, a broadly applicable method to chart gene-gene interactions across whole genomes. Applying it to the pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae, they uncovered over ...

And the crispri genetic interaction screen 👏💫🤯 #microsky from J-W Veening lab. Dual CRISPRi-seq for genome-wide genetic interaction studies identifies key genes involved in the pneumococcal cell cycle: Cell Systems www.cell.com/cell-systems...

Evolutionary rescue accelerates competitive exclusion in a parasite community Environmental stress drives biodiversity loss by altering competitive hierarchies and pushing taxa towards extinction. Parasites and their communities are particularly vulnerable to stress due to envi...

New pre-print: Eco-evolutionary responses of phage to different thermal regimes.

Great work led by Sam Greenrod and fun collaboration with Kayla King's lab.
1/2

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

New pre-print
Competition between phage constrains adaptation to thermal fluctuating temperatures.
More work led by Sam Greenrod in collaboration with @kayla-king.bsky.social lab.
#Phagesky#Microsky

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

High-accuracy SNV calling for bacterial isolates using deep learning with AccuSNV Accurate detection of mutations within bacterial species is critical for fundamental studies of microbial evolution, reconstructing transmission events, and identifying antimicrobial resistance mutati...

Precisely calling mutations across hundreds of bacterial isolates has been hard, requiring manual filtering and expertise.

Until now, using AccuSNV.

Herui Liao trained an ML model based on our previous meticulously called SNVs.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Now peer-reviewed, improved and published in @microbiologysociety.org Microbiology - thanks to editor and reviewers!

www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...

Synthetic lethal TN-seq! #microsky 🦠

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

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...

Recent paper from the lab studying predictors of phage cocktail efficacy against complex clinical Pseudomonas populations

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10....

Led by Rosanna Wright with extraordinary MSc (PhD) student Maisie Czernuska

Divergent spontaneous antibiotic-resistance evolution confers reciprocal and exploitable collateral sensitivity effects https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.22.677096v1

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

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/...

Willing to join us @pasteur.fr for a PhD for a project on how interactions between mobile genetic elements shape bacterial adaptation? Subject to be tailored to candidates with keen interest in evolution, genomics, computational biology, microbiology. Check www.pasteur.fr/en/education...

We are looking for a postdoc to study single-cell transcriptional heterogeneity in the human skin microbiome.

We have a new protocol mostly developed, but need someone to see it through. Experience with protocol dev or RNAseq appreciated.

Funded by a new grant from MIT-HEALS.

Efficient sequence alignment against millions of prokaryotic genomes with LexicMap - Nature Biotechnology LexicMap uses a fixed set of probes to efficiently query gene sequences for fast and low-memory alignment.

Sometimes you meet absolutely incredible bioinfo-magicians.
It was a huge privilege when @shenwei356.bsky.social
joined our group for a year on an @embl.org sabbatical.
While here, he developed a new way of aligning to
millions of bacteria, called LexicMap 1/n
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Uridine as a potentiator of aminoglycosides through activation of carbohydrate transporters Uridine boosts aminoglycoside treatment efficiency against antibiotic-susceptible as well as antibiotic-resistant E. coli strains.

So excited our antibiotic potentiation story is out 🤩 Led by the extraordinary @manonlang.bsky.social with @fox-science.bsky.social & @amazeld.bsky.social +amazing collaborators @immunobladder.bsky.social @imaneelmeouche.bsky.social 🦠 We believe it can make a difference in #AMR infections!

W 3 professorship in Molecular and Evolutionary Zoology - Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein (DE) job with Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel | 12844416 Kiel University aims to attract more qualified women to professorship positions. The Institute of Zoology at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural...

A call for W 3 (full) professorship in Molecular and Evolutionary Zoology is now open at our department. Join our community of evolutionary biologists! Excellent facilities and scientific environment!
www.nature.com/naturecareer...

PanGene-O-Meter: Intra-Species Diversity Based on Gene-Content https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.01.673544v1

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...

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...

Efficient detection and typing of phage-plasmids https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.29.673033v1

Genomic constraints shape the evolution of alternative routes to drug resistance in prokaryotes Background Variation within the prokaryotic pangenome is not random, and natural selection that favours particular combinations of genes appears to dominate over random drift. What is less clear is wh...

New preprint reveals bacteria can't just collect all resistance genes like Pokemon cards.
We found mutually exclusive evolutionary pathways to multidrug resistance in E. coli & P. aeruginosa - some resistance mechanisms actively prevent others from coexisting www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

These Techniques Stopped the Outbreak of an Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria in a SoCal Hospital | Newswise Researchers detected Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a common hospital-acquired bacterium, often found in moist environments. But this strain carried a gene called New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM-1), an en...

UCLA Health ended an NDM-1 Pseudomonas aeruginosa outbreak by tracing it to an ICU sink biofilm via whole-genome sequencing, then eliminating it with targeted disinfection, plumbing changes, and staff education—showcasing the power of diverse IPC measures.

#AMR

www.newswise.com/articles/the...

Very happy to see this one out: doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf192
Here, we assessed the contribution of natural transformation to the acquisition of novel genes. See preprint thread. @molbioevol.bsky.social #microsky #evobio

De-novo promoters emerge more readily from random DNA than from genomic DNA Promoters are DNA sequences that help to initiate transcription. Point mutations can create de-novo promoters, which can consequently transcribe inactive genes or create novel transcripts. We know lit...

Excited / nervous to share the “magnum opus” of my postdoc in Andreas Wagner’s lab!

"De-novo promoters emerge more readily from random DNA than from genomic DNA"

This project is the accumulation of 4 years of work, and lays the foundation for my future group. In short, we… (1/4)

Genetic determinants of pOXA-48 plasmid maintenance and propagation in Escherichia coli - Nature Communications pOXA-48 plasmids have emerged as key vectors of carbapenem resistance within Enterobacteriaceae. In this study, the authors use a transposon sequencing (Tn-seq) approach to identify genetic determinan...

Our paper “Genetic determinants of pOXA-48 plasmid maintenance and propagation in Escherichia coli” is now online in @natcomms.nature.com ✨
👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@cnrs-rhoneauvergne.bsky.social @mmsb-lyon.bsky.social

Dissecting pOXA-48 fitness effects in clinical Enterobacterales using plasmid-wide CRISPRi screens Nature Communications - This study investigates the effects of the carbapenem resistance plasmid pOXA-48 in clinical enterobacteria. Using CRISPRi screens, the authors revealed that the...

This work is finally published! 🥳🧬
Plasmids are associated with very variable fitness costs in their different bacterial hosts. But, what is the contribution of each of the plasmid-genes in these host-specific effects? Study led by
@jorgesastred.bsky.social, @sanmillan.bsky.social and myself! 1/14

Research Associate in Microbiome Ecology:Oxford Road

A new 4 year PostDoc position in our lab! Modeling + experiments to explore dynamics of carbon fixing hot-spring microbiomes. Part of an exciting multidisciplinary team with Sophie Nixon, @brockhurstlab.bsky.social & others

Please share & get in touch if interested!

tinyurl.com/e7j7bha3

We are also hiring a 4-year postdoc to study the dynamics and evolution of mobile genetic elements in the C-fixing Icelandic host-spring microbiomes

Join our exciting multidisciplinary team funded by @ukri.org BBSRC sLoLa

www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

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...

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...