The Rokas Lab at Vanderbilt University

Machine-Readable Structural Information Is Essential for Natural Products Research Structural drawings of secondary metabolites encapsulate a wealth of information, but their static nature hinders their sharing and reuse. At a time when research increasingly relies on, and benefits from, access to comprehensive natural products “big data”, this hindrance is contrary to the norms of science. This Perspective discusses current challenges in sharing and accessing structure data and offers a simple solution, namely, publishing machine-readable text descriptors for new secondary metabolites. Requiring such descriptors will be straightforward to implement for both authors and publishers and will help derive even greater value from the efforts expended to understand the chemistry of Nature.

Hot of the Press!

Check it out! From @rokaslab.bsky.social and Oberlies Lab @uncgresearch.bsky.social

Machine-Readable Structural Information Is Essential for Natural Products Research | Journal of Natural Products pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Population structure in a fungal human pathogen is potentially linked to pathogenicity - Nature Communications Genetic diversity between clinical and environmental fungal isolates of Aspergillus flavus is poorly studied. Here, the authors analysed genomic data from a global set of clinical and environmental A. flavus isolates and report that clinical prevalence is associated with population structure.

Population structure in a fungal human pathogen is associated with clinical prevalence

#Aspergillus flavus

@annemakerofhats.bsky.social ‪@ameliabarberphd.bsky.social‬ @rokaslab.bsky.social

#fungi #infection #PopulationGenomics #mycology

Poster with QR code linking to the position

I'm very excited to announce that UNC Biology has 6 faculty positions open this year! The first is for an Asst Professor who studies organismal resilience using an integrative approach 1/n
unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/307...

Open Positions ERC-funded project on the mechanism of horizontal transfer of entire fungal chromosomes PhD PostDoc

Want to understand how entire fungal chromosomes can be horizontally transferred?
Join us to unravel the mechanism/consequences of horizontal chromosome transfer in a fungal pathogen as part of an ERC-funded project. Postdoc/PhD positions available.
fungal-evolutionary-genetics.de/open-positio...

We had an amazing @official-smbe.bsky.social satellite meeting in Puerto Varas. Great science, colleagues & Patagonian experience. Thanks the organizers @pablo-villa.bsky.social et al & SMBE for putting this together!

If you saw my talk on the population structure of #Aspergillus flavus at Fungal Genetics in 2024, you might have heard someone ask "how does Aspergillus oryzae fit into the picture?"
If so, you heard my answer was "wait and see--we're working on this exact topic"
Well, the wait is over! Preprint ⬇️

Convergent evolution of aerobic fermentation through divergent mechanisms acting on key shared glycolytic genes As the tree of life becomes increasingly accessible to molecular investigations, describing mechanisms underlying evolutionary convergence and constraint will be crucial to understanding diversificati...

What started as a project characterizing variation in metabolic rates across yeasts turned into an interesting story about convergent evolution acting on the same key genes through distinct molecular mechanisms with @hittingerlab.bsky.social & @rokaslab.bsky.social.

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

Assistant or Associate Professor in Microbiology The Department of Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY seeks to fill a tenure-eligible faculty position at the Assistant or Associate Professor le...

The Department of Biology at the University of Kentucky is hiring a Microbiologist (broadly defined). Microbial eco-evo folks, this is your sign to come work with us. Not in the search committee, but happy to answer questions.
ukjobs.uky.edu/postings/600...
#microbiology #ecology

illinois.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...

Job Alert: Mycology position at Illinois!!

Our lab is hiring!!
We are looking for a research assistant who will be involved with our experimental evolution studies on how stress affects population dynamics in E. coli.
Great opportunity for recent grads!
E-mail for more info and apply here:
ecsr.fa.us2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

Eis: machine learning to reverse-engineer #evolution. Brassington (@amandalea.bsky.social): Evolutionary mismatch. Rose: Genome-scale models. Bruder (@megbehri.bsky.social): Computational & experimental microbial evolution.

📢 The GSA Board of Directors is seeking a graduate student & a postdoc to serve as early career representatives! Serve a 2-year term, share the early career scientist perspective at Board meetings, and help shape GSA’s future. Apply by Oct 17: buff.ly/e7eaq6b

Assistant Professor Plant or Fungal
Genomics. Univ of Wyoming. eeik.fa.us2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

mGem: How many fungal secondary metabolites are produced by filamentous fungi? Conservatively, at least 1.4 million | mBio Since the discovery of penicillin in 1928, fungi have been at the forefront of natural product discovery (1, 2). To date, over 30,000 fungal secondary metabolites (SMs), small biologically active comp...

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/....

Natural product Chemists and Mycologists have lots of work to do!

Nice Perspective from the @rokaslab.bsky.social

Congrats to Aurelie Hinterman aurhin.bsky.social, Chase Bolt chasebolt.bsky.social, and Brent Hawkins @homeobox.bsky.social!

Coverage in NYTimes by @carlzimmer.com: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/s...

Amanda Lea, standing with a microphone, presents research in front of a projected slide to a seated audience. The slide shows images and text describing projects, including the Turkana Health and Genomics Project. Below the photo, on a yellow-orange gradient background, a quote reads, “Working with transitioning populations can lead to new models for understanding how present-day environments interact with past adaptations.” – Amanda Lea. A stylized black DNA strand curves vertically along the right edge of the banner.

Traditional Turkana huts dot a dry, dusty landscape under a bright blue sky. Small clusters of round, thatched huts sit on a flat, sandy plain with sparse shrubs and distant trees. The Kenyan flag in the shape of the country is placed in the lower right corner, and text above reads, “The Turkana homeland stretches across a vast arid landscape in northern Kenya where shade is rare and water even rarer.” A warm gradient banner at the bottom credits the photo to Julien Ayroles.

Three Turkana individuals walk away from the camera across a sandy landscape at sunset, two carrying yellow jerrycans balanced on their heads. The sky glows with soft orange, pink, and purple hues fading into blue. The text in the lower left reads, “Turkana carrying water back to their households (photo credit Michel Mata).”

Genes for desert survival discovered! New study by @amandalea.bsky.social w/ Turkana community shows how #evolution shaped their ability to thrive in extreme heat & water scarcity. @vuartsci.bsky.social https://loom.ly/4cFtYKo

ecoevojobs.net 2025-26

UPDATE: The 2025-2026 list of faculty and postdoc positions in ecology and evolutionary biology is out! Be sure to check out this active and helpful community run resources! docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

One of the best science interviews I've listed to in a while - full of wisdom and humanity!

The Dept. of BioSciences at #RiceUniversity, in Houston, Texas, invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor position in Evolutionary Biology, with a preferred focus on organismal responses to environmental change. Please RT!

Apply: apply.interfolio.com/173889

Discovery of additional ancient genome duplications in yeasts Whole genome duplication (WGD) has had profound macroevolutionary impacts on diverse lineages, preceding adaptive radiations in vertebrates, teleost fish, and angiosperms. In contrast to the many know...

We often talk about THE whole genome duplication in yeasts, but we find new evidence of additional whole genome duplications in other yeast species!

Check out this preprint led by @kylethedavid.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Please share broadly: I am looking for a postdoctoral fellow to work on a collaborative project on the temporal population genomics of invasive Capeweed (using contemporary and herbarium genomics), with ‪‪@shaky-dingo.bsky.social‬ and colleagues

Assistant Professor of Microbiology position available at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga apply.interfolio.com/172734

Promotional graphic for Gale Sinatra’s Scopes Symposium lecture Science Denial and Teaching Evolution. Gale Sinatra, wearing glasses and a patterned shirt, stands at a podium speaking with a smile. The text reads “Gale Sinatra – Science Denial and Teaching Evolution.” Logos for Vanderbilt Evolutionary Studies and the National Center for Science Education are at the bottom, along with a small image of two raised hands pressed against glass.

Science denial is real — but so are tools for teaching #evolution effectively.
@galesinatra.bsky.social unpacks both in her #Scopes100 talk, now on YouTube: https://loom.ly/8SIzwSA
@ncse.bsky.social

Session IV: The Long Reach of #Evolution is on our YouTube Playlist! https://loom.ly/4IBdeAk
Featuring: Owen Jones, @paulturnerlab.bsky.social & @kamounlab.bsky.social
@ncse.bsky.social

Promotional slide for a lecture by Sean Carroll titled 'Chance in Evolution.' On the left, a photo of Carroll speaking, wearing glasses and a dark polo shirt, gesturing with both hands held up as if emphasizing a point. At the bottom are the Evolutionary Studies Vanderbilt University logo and the NCSE (National Center for Science Education) logo. A small inset image in the lower right shows an artistic rendering of a bright light or meteor approaching Earth from space.

Sean Carroll gave a wonderful talk on the role of chance in #evolution! Thirty minutes can mean all the difference. Check it out here >> https://loom.ly/S-itA9E @ncse.bsky.social #Scopes100

A presentation slide featuring a photo of Owen Jones outdoors, smiling and wearing a blue checkered shirt with a conference badge and lanyard. The slide title reads “Owen Jones – Force of Nature: Applications of Natural Selection to Other Fields.” Logos for Vanderbilt University’s Evolutionary Studies Initiative and the National Center for Science Education appear at the bottom, along with a small image of cattle in a farm setting.

📺 Now on YouTube!

Owen Jones kicks off Session IV: The Long Reach of Evolution with “Force of Nature: Applications of Natural Selection to Other Fields.”

🎥 Watch here: https://loom.ly/W40wUvo

#ScopesSymposium #Evolution @ncse.bsky.social

mSphere of Influence: Population-level thinking to unravel microbial pathogenicity | mSphere Fungal pathogens pose a serious and growing threat to human health. A striking feature of these organisms is their high interspecies phenotypic heterogeneity, which is underpinned by exceptionally dynamic and plastic genomes. For the WHO priority pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus, this includes notable variation between strains in gene content, stress resistance, induction of host responses, and virulence in animal models. Notably, most human fungal pathogens, including A. fumigatus, have evolved from non-pathogenic ancestors and therefore remain closely related to non-pathogenic relatives. The study “Strain heterogeneity in a non-pathogenic Aspergillus fungus highlights factors associated with virulence” (1) by Antonis Rokas’ group addresses the key research questions of whether these closely related non-pathogen relatives also possess a substantial degree of interspecific heterogeneity, and to what extent does their phenotypic variation overlaps with that of the pathogenic species, particularly under infection-relevant conditions? Strikingly, the authors find that Aspergillus fischeri, a close non-pathogenic relative of A. fumigatus, displays even greater intraspecific diversity and that this variation frequently overlaps with the pathogenicity-associated phenotypes of A. fumigatus. This study challenges the prevailing practice of categorizing the entire species as “pathogens” or “non-pathogens,” which is often based on research conducted using a single reference strain. Instead, it introduces a population-based framework, where the intraspecific diversity of pathogens and closely related species is defined across a diverse set of strains. This approach allows us to learn not only how these organisms cause disease but also how their virulence evolves.

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

This is some work the Oberlies lab @uncg.edu did in collaboration with @rokaslab.bsky.social lab

Population structure in a fungal human pathogen is potentially linked to pathogenicity Nature Communications - Genetic diversity between clinical and environmental fungal isolates of Aspergillus flavus is poorly studied. Here, the authors analysed genomic data from a global set of...

Thrilled to share that the final chapter of my PhD with @rokaslab.bsky.social is now out in @natcomms.nature.com 🎉
Read it to find out how population structure impacts pathogenicity in Aspergillus flavus, a fungus that infects humans 🧪
rdcu.be/eAToj

Aspergillus fumigatus dsRNA virus promotes fungal fitness and pathogenicity in the mammalian host - Nature Microbiology A mycovirus infecting the pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus enhances its stress tolerance and virulence in mice.

🚨 Fungi + viruses + mammalian lungs? Buckle up! Our new paper in
@natmicrobiol.nature.com
uncovers the story of a deadly fungus and its gnarly viral hitchhiker — and how this duo may change how we diagnose & treat fungal disease 🍄🫁🚨 doi.org/10.1038/s415... ⬇️