Malaka De Silva

Registration - EMBO Workshop Shigella: from biology to prevention EMBO Workshop Shigella: from biology to prevention

To make sure the whole Shigella community will be gathered at this inaugural meeting, we have re-opened abstract submission for poster presentation until the end of the month. Please RT!
www.shigella2026.conferences-pasteur.org/registration...

The natural history of the emergence of sexually transmissible shigellosis Shigellosis is a gastrointestinal illness caused by bacteria belonging to one of four species of Shigella. Sexually transmissible (ST) shigellosis was first reported in 1974, but recently there has be...

Did you know shigellosis also transmits as a sexually transmissible illness? This has increased since the early 2000s with marked AMR. Read the back story on ST shigellosis emergence here, and come to Paris for #Shigella2026 to find out more! doi.org/10.1099/mgen...

Happy New Year Shigellophiles! There's only 105 days to go ... don't forget to get your abstract in!

Come and join us at @shigellameeting.bsky.social in Paris 2026. Registrations are now open! www.shigella2026.conferences-pasteur.org/home and follow the Shigella starter pack go.bsky.app/6Vbwhjc (message to be added)! 215 days to go!

EASY-edit: a toolbox for high-throughput single-step custom genetic editing in bacteria Abstract. Targeted gene editing can be achieved using CRISPR–Cas9-assisted recombineering. However, high-efficiency editing requires careful optimization f

Happy to share the published version of our genetic toolbox, EASY-edit, for simple, flexible and efficient targeted editing in E. coli!

Feel free to to try it, we can send strains and plasmids!

academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

“…we demonstrate that although human use may affect the prevalence and mobility of genomic resistance in clinical isolates, for most antibiotics, genomic resistance existed within the pangenomes of sampled pathogens prior to clinical introduction.”

Really neat stuff!

Heterogeneity drives plasmid maintenance in large microbial communities Microbiomes are complex systems comprised of many interacting species. Species can survive harsh or changing conditions by rapid adaptation, a process accelerated by the exchange of genetic material b...

Is the era of microbial metagenomics over? Check out our new preprint on using species abundance distributions to predict plasmid maintenance in bacterial communities: arxiv.org/abs/2509.01695

New preprint with my HFSP collaborators. Network structures for bacterial and plasmid interactions determine community structure and evolvability: doi.org/10.32942/X21...

Species interactions determine plasmid persistence in a 3-member bacterial community Microbial communities are shaped by complex forces, including interspecies interactions and the effects of mobile genetic elements such as plasmids. How these forces interact to affect community respo...

Plasmids can be lost from a bacterial community even under positive environmental selection: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

At last ! A tool specifically for phage-plasmid hunters. Check tyPPing by @karinailchenko.bsky.social and @eugenpfeifer.bsky.social

Senior Research Associate (RA2346) in University of East Anglia | UEA View details and apply for this Senior Research Associate (RA2346) vacancy in University of East Anglia. Faculty of Science School of Biological Sciences Senior Research Associate Ref: RA23...

Vacancy! We have a postdoc position at UEA to explore the microbiology of metal resistance in Gram-positive pathogens.
📍 Norwich UK
🗓️ Apply by 21st September 25
🔗 tinyurl.com/mrssbd7f
RPs appreciated!
@microbiologysociety.org @asm.org @aussocmic.bsky.social @femsmicro.org @norwichmicro.bsky.social

Research Technician (TC923) in University of East Anglia | UEA View details and apply for this Research Technician (TC923) vacancy in University of East Anglia. Faculty of Science School of Biological Sciences Research Technician (Part-Time, 0.6 FTE) R...

Vacancy! We have a Technician role at UEA to support research on metal resistance in Gram-positive pathogens.
📍 Norwich UK
🗓️ Apply by 21st September 25
🔗 tinyurl.com/mr3ev3ke
RPs appreciated!
@microbiologysociety.org @asm.org @aussocmic.bsky.social
@femsmicro.org @norwichmicro.bsky.social

Antimicrobial treatment options for extensively drug-resistant (XDR) shigellosis in men who have sex with men The sexual transmission of Shigella s onnei and Shigella flexneri has been observed since the 1970s between men who have sex with men (MSM) associated with living with HIV, sexually transmitted infect...

How should #XDR #shigellosis cases be treated? Our new education piece at #BMJ #SexuallyTransmittedInfections explores specific empirical treatment. Our recommendations are subsequent to our microbial genomic, phenotypic #AMR, and clinical/pharmacological analyses. sti.bmj.com/content/earl... 🧫💻🛟🧪🧬🦠

232 days to go ...

New paper in collaboration with the @asantoslopez.bsky.social lab!

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

Why not follow our @shigellameeting.bsky.social starterpack of people who are speaking at and attending the conference - please message to be added to the starter pack if you're planning on coming or we haven't found you yet! go.bsky.app/6Vbwhjc

I hope all my fellow #shigellaphiles have 20 - 24 April 2026 blocked out in their diaries for @shigellameeting.bsky.social next year in Paris! In the meantime, check out (and join) our starter pack to start community building now 🧫

Finally out!! It was a long time in the making, I hope you enjoy it!! #salmonella #iNTS #AMR

It was great fun writing this review with @gemccallum.bsky.social , even if our conclusions are rather scary. Lots of important pathogen evolution must be occurring outside of the infection context...

Huge amount of work in this paper, very proud of Hugh getting through all these benchmarking tests. We’re much more confident now using ONT-only data for our clinical questions

The hospital sink drain microbiome as a melting pot for AMR transmission to nosocomial pathogens - npj Antimicrobials and Resistance npj Antimicrobials and Resistance - The hospital sink drain microbiome as a melting pot for AMR transmission to nosocomial pathogens

Delighted to have this review out with @jpjhall.bsky.social!

We discuss the risk of transmission of antimicrobial resistance in the hospital sink drain microbiome, highlight studies providing evidence of transfer, and consider strategies to mitigate these risks 🪠🦠

doi.org/10.1038/s442...

There are half a million cases of invasive non-Typhoidal Salmonella (iNTS) every year and while you might know S. Typhimurim and Enteritidis, you may not have heard of S. Panama 💩 🩸 🧫 💊 Check out our latest in @lancetmicrobe.bsky.social doi.org/10.1016/j.la... and the 🧵 below to find out more 1/n

Conference flyer, all info is on link too

Please share! 🦠
Workshop on Phage Therapy in Liverpool on 25th November organised by Stineke van Houte, @jojofoth.bsky.social, @brockhurstlab.bsky.social, & Edze Westra.

Limited FREE tickets & more info here: sites.exeter.ac.uk/vanhoutelab/...

#MicroSky

graphical abstract of the article the extended mobility of plasmids

Here's our new broad review on the extended mobility of plasmids, about all mechanisms driving and limiting their transfer. From conjugation to conduction, phage-plasmids to hitchers, molecular to evolutionary dynamics, ecology to biotech. The state of affairs. 1/9 academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

@ksbakes.bsky.social is representing PDU at the GRC Microbial Population Biology conference this week introducing the AMR through time and space session - check out the work of the other attendees here:

Organoid models advance dysentery control - Nature Genetics Shigella is a major human pathogen with a stark lack of pipelines linking genome content to clinical pathogenesis. An innovative study using large-scale organoid models, combined with genome-wide muta...

💫Don't miss the N&V💫

📰Organoid models advance dysentery control.

By Sydney L. Miles & Serge Mostowy.

⬇️

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

Thank you to everyone who attended the 3rd UK MGE workshop. What an incredible few days of science and community building! Next stop: York 2026, hosted by @pcmfogg.bsky.social. See you all next year! #UKMGE

🚨 Reminder! You have just over two weeks to submit an abstract, if you want to present at the @microbiologysociety.org meeting "Understanding and predicting microbial evolutionary dynamics" in Liverpool in November! #microsky 🦠🧫🔬

Plasmid Biology and Evolution lab Tracing the evolution of antibiotic resistance

Under the PLASFIGHTER project, we drive innovative solutions against AMR.

🔹 We use CRISPRi to dissect plasmid and multidrug-resistant enterobacteriaceae interactions

🔹 Through multi-omic data, we model real-world environments where AMR evolves 

Learn more 👉 plasmidlab.es

#AntibioticResistance

🚨 Very excited to finally say… 🚨

The story of Noodlococcus - the contaminant that started ContamClub - is available to read 📖🍜🦠

Check it out ➡️ doi.org/10.1101/2025...

1/15 🧵