Sonja Billerbeck

Pulcherriminic acid Biosynthesis and Transport: Insights from a heterologous system in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Abstract. Pulcherriminic acid is an iron chelator produced by some Kluyveromyces and Metschnikowia yeasts. Its biosynthesis is encoded by the four–gene PUL

New paper out by @aliciamv.bsky.social 🤩🥳

…where we study the yeast-based antifungal compound and iron-chelator pulcherriminic acid

academic.oup.com/femsyr/advan...

Brilliant #DailyShow life yesterday in NYC hosted by Jon Stewart 🤩! Good to see voices raised

Jon Stewart to Los Angeles: ‘Is Your City Ever Not on Fire?’

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/10/a...

Join us for the next edition of this wonderful conference series in 2026! The last editions were very well received by all participants! Great speakers, setting and atmosphere.

I will be recruiting new postdocs with start dates end 2025 - early 2026. If you'd like to work at the Pasteur Institute in the heart of Paris surrounded by amazing scientists, reach out to discuss possible projects on SynBio / Bacterial Immunity!

My dept in London at Imperial (Bioengineering) is recruiting a group leader at Professor level 🧑‍🎓 Please RT. It's a great place with world-class expertise in all sorts of biomedical & biological engineering topics like synthetic biology. It's also not in the USA. www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...

If you are in #Groningen tomorrow, don't forget the upcoming YAG's Pub Lectures:

* Clemens Mayer: Evolution as an all-purpose problem solver
* Corina Prent: Innovation and imagination

📅 16 April
🕔 17.00-18.00
📍 Café de Toeter

for download: www-sciencedirect-com.proxy-ub.rug.nl/science/arti...

Can expression of a peptide lead to antimicrobial resistance? Yes it can!

We discovered this for a toxin we work with and started exploring how #peptides, #antimicrobialresistance and de-novo gene birth can come together.
@cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social
Amazing work by @rianneprins.bsky.social

Great opportunity at a great place to work!

Liveblog: the RUG is on strike against impending mega budget cuts De Rijksuniversiteit Groningen staakt dinsdag 18 maart vanwege de dreigende bezuinigingen in het hoger onderwijs. In dit liveblog volgen we de staking, uniek in de Groningse universitaire geschiedenis...

LIVEBLOG in English: The University of Groningen is on strike on Tuesday, March 18, due to the looming budget cuts in higher education. In this live blog, we will follow the strike, which is unique in the university’s history, hour by hour. ukrant.nl/marathonstak...

Liveblog: de RUG staakt tegen dreigende megabezuiniging De Rijksuniversiteit Groningen staakt dinsdag 18 maart vanwege de dreigende bezuinigingen in het hoger onderwijs. In dit liveblog volgen we de staking, uniek in de Groningse universitaire geschiedenis...

Vandaag staak ik - het is de beurt aan de @unigroningen.bsky.social en de @hanzehogeschool.bsky.social in de estafettestaking van het hoger onderwijs. De hele dag doet @ukrant.bsky.social verslag.
#DoeHetNiet @woinactie.bsky.social

ukrant.nl/marathonstak...

🟥 Solidarity with my colleagues in the Netherlands, striking today (and in the coming weeks) to resist outrageous budget cuts proposed by the far-right-led government. 💪

Small proteins and peptides conferring protection against antimicrobial compounds The secretion of antimicrobials is widespread among microorganisms, many of which have developed protection mechanisms. While well-characterized protection mechanisms involve relatively large proteins...

Small proteins and peptides conferring protection against antimicrobial compounds

@cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social by
@rianneprins.bsky.social and @billerbecks.bsky.social

www.cell.com/trends/micro...

Join us @apnet.bsky.social to build a strong network of Assistant Professors in the Netherlands. www.ap-net.nl/register

Imperial Fungal Science Network | Seminar Series 2025 | Seminar A hybrid seminar program focussing on our key research themes: Biotechnology and Engineering; Ecology, Evolution and the Environment.

For yeast and fungi fans: I’ll be speaking about our work on the yeast toxicome on March 13th. Hybrid attendance possible.

www.imperial.ac.uk/events/18820...

It’s been a tough few weeks. My 10yo daughter was diagnosed with a very rare, aggressive cancer called interdigitating dendritic cell sarcoma (IDCS). I’m reaching out to identify clinicians/patients who have encountered pediatric IDCS or other (non-LCH) dendritic or histiocytic sarcomas cases.

Looking north at the Washington Square Arch, with 1 Fifth avenue behind it and a fountain in front of it. NYU Biology is a block to the right from this scene, on Washington Square East.

🚨 Tenure-track jobs at NYU Biology!!
We're going to hire two new assistant professors working in ecological and evolutionary genetics and genomics.
Live and work in Greenwich Village, with friendly colleagues invested in your success.
Apply!
apply.interfolio.com/155792

Hi Skeeps, if you are in the London area and would like me to speak at your university or company, I will be in London on Thursday April 10 and Friday April 11.

Looking for talks that can offer some travel/lodging reimbursement.

Here the correct link ☺️

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Protocol to study toxic, immune, and suicidal phenotypes of killer yeast Killer yeast produce antimicrobial proteins, often together with a self-protective immunity factor. Here, we present a protocol for analyzing the toxi…

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

In the original article, we explored how #KillerYeast protect themselves from self-intoxication. For the ionophore toxin #K2, Rianne found that its immunity is encoded within its secretion signal peptide.
doi.org/10.1016/j.celr…

For those working with antifungal yeast, we consolidated protocols to test for killing, immunity and suicidal phenotypes by @_rprins 🥳🥳

sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

SAMPL-seq reveals micron-scale spatial hubs in the human gut microbiome - Nature Microbiology Split-And-pool Metagenomic Plot-sampling sequencing (SAMPL-seq) can be applied to complex microbial communities to reveal spatial co-localization of microbes at the micron scale.

Happy to share our new paper in @naturemicrobiol.bsky.social on mapping spatial relationships of the human gut microbiome. We identified distinct spatial hubs between gut bacteria that reflect sub-community assemblies at the micron-scale. Led by Miles Richardson & co.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

We will use these active yeasts as templates for further engineering and exploitation.

Interestingly, many foods we consume every day already contain antagonistic yeasts.

57.5 % of active yeasts showed iron-dependent antagonism, likely due to iron chelators, and 31.7 % secrete toxic proteins.

Out now! We consolidated >600 Dutch yeast and characterised their activity against spoilage yeasts and relevant human and plant pathogens, focusing on yeasts that secrete antifungal proteins. Great resource for biocontrol and beyond.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39875071/

Big day!
New year, new job 🤩.

Settled into my new office and
visited the partly original DNA helix model by Watson and Crick in the London Science Museum next door.

Fully inspired for 2025 now 😆!

Best farewell gift by @dirkscheffers.bsky.social !
2025 Discovery walks and runs in my new home fixed 😁.
Meanwhile saying good bye to pretty Groningen in Christmas lights.

🚨 We’re Hiring! 🚨

Join the Molinari Lab @UMD_BioE as a Postdoctoral Associate or Staff Scientist and help shape the future of engineered living materials! 💡🔬

📅 Apply today by sending your CV and cover letter at saramol@umd.edu

#syntheticbiology #ELMs