Dave Baltrus 🦦

Disability in ecology and evolution In this TrendsTalk series 'Disability in ecology and evolution' in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, we will be hearing from people about their experiences being disabled in ecology and evolution. We a...

www.cell.com/trends/ecolo...

New entry into the Disability in Ecology and Evolution series in TREE featuring me :)

When are you there?

Department of Microbiology | The University of Chicago

UChicago Microbiology is searching for tenured or tenure-track faculty working in host-pathogens interactions, viral and bacterial pathogenesis, and emerging infectious diseases. Come join our vibrant Department! microbiology.uchicago.edu
Apply here apply.interfolio.com/174404

Stony Brook is hiring an Assistant or Associate Professor in Marine Molecular Ecology (assistant encouraged, molecular broadly defined, includes microbial omics!): apply.interfolio.com/174869

We still can’t predict much of anything in biology Biology is hard. Yes, even for AI.

Biology is much more complicated than most non-biologists can imagine. And AI is not going to change this anytime soon.
blog.genesmindsmachines.com/p/we-still-c...

I am convinced that we have massively underestimated the impact of substitution reversions on the amount of molecular positive selection that we are able to see. Large populations will readily have reversing mutations readily available, and gene flow will also reintroduce ancestral alleles.

After being with the journal since its very inception, the time has come for me to step back from Microbial Genomics. This is a wonderful opportunity to have a leadership role in one of the leading journals for microbial genomics research

microbiologysociety.org/news/society...

🍀🔬

MSL10 is a high-sensitivity mechanosensor in the tactile sense of the Venus flytrap @natcomms.nature.com from Toyota lab.

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

I have never been jealous of a Nobel prize winner before….

The ISC - your new home at UMass Boston?

The view of Boston Harbor from front of campus

Heeeeey #Microbial #Ecology folk! My department has a job opening for a tenure track Microbial Ecologist! Feel free to DM me with questions. Come join our awesome supportive whip-smart & kind crew in the Biology Department of @umassboston.bsky.social! employmentopportunities.umb.edu/boston/en-us...

Good opportunity!

It's grad school application season! My lab (cxli233.github.io/cxLi_lab/ ) will be recruiting a PhD student via the MPS program at MSU (mps.natsci.msu.edu) for Fall 2026.

Happy to take inquires via email (which can be found in the lab website) if you are applying this cycle.

#microsky

Our paper, describing how the T6SSs of P. putida shape the tomato rhizosphere, is now in its final format in @isme-microbes.bsky.social ISME Communications. If you'd like to learn more, here is a thread (1/11) or read the Article doi.org/10.1093/isme....

"hand-to-hand combat with antifa every night"

The @uncchapelhill.bsky.social Department of Biology is searching for tenure-track Assistant Professor in Plant Molecular Biology. Chapel Hill is a wonderful place and Biology is an amazing group of people. To apply, see:
unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/307...

Genomic correlates of tailocin sensitivity in Pseudomonas syringae Abstract. Phage-derived bacteriocins, also referred to as tailocins, are structures encoded by bacterial genomes and deployed into the extracellular enviro

Here’s published version of our manuscript using GWAS to investigate tailocin sensitivity in Pseudomonas syringae. TL:DR pretty clear LPS is tailocin receptor but also that P.syringae often completely swaps out its entire O antigen biosynth pathway w/ recombination

academic.oup.com/g3journal/ad...

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...

In Arizona, a fight against a deadly fungus is under threat from Trump’s health policies What one Arizona doctor’s quest to stop valley fever says about America’s preparedness for climate-driven disease.

In the 5 to 10 percent of symptomatic cases where the fungus invades the vital organs, the death rate is as high as 25 percent. The pathogen is so powerful the U.S. army weighed whether to develop it into a bioterrorism weapon in the 1960s.

Medicine Nobel goes to scientists who revealed secrets of immune system ‘regulation’ Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi discovered cells that protect the body from autoimmune diseases.

This year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi for discovering a class of immune cells that help to prevent the body from attacking its own tissues. #medsky 🧪

That surplus doesn’t count bc knowledge and education are for losers

I needed this today

Portland never stops being Portland.

For those lucky enough to not know this is a neo-Nazi meme normally found on TRS and the Daily Stormer being shared by the official DHS account.

Just also pointing out here that the judge is a woman

In the background, research labs across the US closing shop because of the funding landscape and PhD programs on pause. Even if this person was doing exemplary research, the obvious corruption erodes NIH reputation 🧪

UVA Faculty Senate with a clear statement of values: facultysenate.virginia.edu/resolution-o...

Everyone should be saying this.

The burden is on them to DISPROVE that his aides aren't running things because he is feebleminded. They can't.

Make this a drumbeat.

UChicago Microbiology is searching for tenured or tenure-track faculty working in host-pathogens interactions, viral and bacterial pathogenesis, and emerging infectious diseases. Come join our vibrant Department! microbiology.uchicago.edu
Apply here apply.interfolio.com/174404

You don’t go for McDs. You go to experience how locals have McDs. Beer. Paying for Ketchup by the packet. Ice cream machine working. Curry sauce.

My guess if Iceland has one, béarnaise sauce is available.