Laura Suttenfield

Oxygen levels can affect how resistance genes work, impacting antibiotic efficacy. This can be relevant for the most used ones: for example, resistance to fosfomycin varies with oxygen.

Learn more in our latest paper 👉 bit.ly/3T8sdpp a work led by @jaescudero.bsky.social

#AntibioticResistance

The combination of active partitioning and toxin-antitoxin systems is most advantageous for low-copy plasmid fitness - Nature Communications Effe et al. evaluate how specific plasmid traits influence plasmid fitness; they provide mechanistic insight into the persistence of large conjugative plasmids, including those that disseminate antibi...

Happy to finally share this! Read here about the best strategy the the persistence of low-copy plasmids. @mariosanter.bsky.social @iwangtoknow.bsky.social doi.org/10.1038/s414...

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...

Improved detection of fungi and uncultivated microorganisms in soil metagenomes using a comprehensive genome database Soils harbor diverse microbial communities crucial for ecosystem functioning, but poor genomic representation of many uncultured soil microorganisms limits the utility of existing databases to address...

Looks like a very useful database for classifying fungal sequences in soil metagenomes. Makes me realize I’ve probably overlooked a lot of fungal DNA in my soil datasets! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Legend says the ancient Babylonians once tried to sequence and annotate God's own genome, and for their ambition and hubris they were forever cursed to have different annotation formats and standards so they could never do genomics with ease again.

Great read, thanks for sharing!

Congratulations! What an exciting new step 👏

Eco-evolutionary robustness of wild bacterial communities to experimental perturbation Abstract. Most knowledge about bacterial evolution and ecological interactions comes from laboratory studies. One difference between the wild and most labo

🚨Fresh out of press!
How do wild bacterial communities respond to environmental perturbations like liming?
We experimentally evolved them to find out!
academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...

We are on the lookout for postdocs for two different projects at the intersection of ecology, evolution, and the human microbiome.

See thread for more information and reach out!

I am seeking a postdoc for my group at UCLA. We work at the intersection of population genetics x microbiome (garud.eeb.ucla.edu). If interested, please message me!

Recent research has highlighted the ability of some microbes to simultaneously respire aerobically and anaerobically, a flexible strategy that reshapes our understanding of microbial metabolism. In my latest article for @asm.org , I explore this phenomenon.
Link: asm.org/articles/202...

Can’t wait to read!

New review article with @mmdesai.bsky.social is out today! Grateful for the opportunity to contribute something we hope will serve the community well

Experimental evolution in an era of molecular manipulation - Nature Reviews Genetics In this Review, Ascensao and Desai discuss how methodological advances in genotype and phenotype manipulation are transforming experimental evolution approaches and providing new insights into the und...

Experimental evolution in an era of molecular manipulation www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs

Thrilled to see this out!

#microsky #mevosky

Lab picture - June 2025

The team is growing fast!
🎉 Congratulations to Léa Masson on receiving a PhD fellowship from the BSB doctoral school @universitetoulouse.bsky.social 👏

The PhD will be co-supervised by @benoitjpons.bsky.social and myself - @cbitoulouse.bsky.social

#PhD #Microbiology #Klebsiella

Junior, Assistant, or Associate Specialist – Xue Lab University of California, Irvine is hiring. Apply now!

The Xue lab at UC Irvine is looking for a staff scientist to support our work investigating how microbes interact and evolve in the gut microbiome! Open to a wide range of previous experience levels, see ad for more.
recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF09601

POSTDOC🚨
With the excellent @anshika22.bsky.social moving to UCI 🥲Anna Zemke and I are again recruiting a postdoc on the HOST-PATHOGEN BIOLOGY of TRACHEOBRONCHITIS. This is a microbiome-device-host immunity problem of broad significance.

Contact Dr. Zemke (zemkea at upmc dot edu) if interested! 👇🏻

Population densities and frequencies of protease-deficient mutants over time. Differences in environmental factors associated with inflammation varied the population density (A) and the frequency of evolved protease-deficient mutants, PDMs (B), over time. Box plot tracks the average and overall distribution of population density at each detected time point within each selective environment. Each line shows the tracked population density or PDM frequency along the daily passage in a single population, grouped by selective environments (Casein SCFM or casamino acids, labeled CAA SCFM, and with or without supplemented 2 mM hydrogen peroxide, OS±).

Using experimental evolution in host-mimicking media, researchers show that inflammation-like environments limit the loss of quorum sensing—a common adaptation during chronic infections—in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Learn more in #mSystems: asm.social/2vd

Functional regimes define soil microbiome response to environmental change - Nature Experimental perturbation of soil pH leads to a generalizable model of the soil microcosm comprising three functional regimes with distinct mechanisms linking environmental change to metabolite dynami...

Published in Nature today! Here, we sought to systematically ask how natural community's metabolism changes with the environment. A simple consumer-resource model can predict N-cycle metabolism (nitrate use) and, more importantly, the mechanism behind its change.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Still on a science high after an incredible Microbial Population GRS/GRC. Honored to have been able to talk about my work. Grateful for all the amazing feedback, ideas, and inspiring conversations—especially from the brilliant scientists whose papers I’ve long admired. Can’t wait for the next one!

Week two on Microbial Diversity. One of our course directors, John Spear, spoke about H2 and sulfur metabolism, including his adventures doing research in caves.
@mblscience.bsky.social

That’s so exciting! 👏🏻

GRC Micro Pop Bio is one of my favorite meetings. I had a blast! Met some awesome people (+ wildlife) and had many engaging conversations. Definitely would like to return in the future. Shoutout to Pia for being an awesome roommate and for taking a photo of me catching grasshoppers during the break.

Aw that is so cute! And actually real fabric, mine was on “fabric” but a very plastic kind

Dog wrapped in scientific poster

Just got back from my first ever Microbial Population GRC/S. I met so many amazing scientists! Will definitely prioritize returning in the future! Now all that’s left to do is rest and upcycle my poster. I think I have already found its new home! #fabricforthewin #micropopGRC

Excited to get to work on GRS 2027 with @duhitasant.bsky.social!!

Hit me up here or via email if you have any feedback or ideas for the next Micro Pop Biol GRS!

New lab logo

Congrats to both of you. The GRS is in good hands.

Incredible time at my first GRC! Thank you so much to everyone who made my experience at Microbial Populations so special :) I learned so much, saw amazing people (both ones I’ve known and new folks)! Left feeling inspired and reminded how much I love microbial ecology & its ppl 🧫🦠