Nidhi Vijayan, PhD

Excellent work from @aroneys.bsky.social here. Free to read version at rdcu.be/ePJp4

OMG SOME GOOD NEWS 🧪 #MedSky

The Ozone Hole Is Steadily Shrinking because of Global Efforts After nearly 40 years of global efforts, the ozone hole over Antarctica is continuing to heal

A little bit of good news for you. And a reminder that we *can* solve big, global problems--when we want to. 🧪

(by @meghanbartels.bsky.social)

Ebola Outbreak Is Declared in Kasai Province of Congo Health officials have recorded 28 suspected cases and 15 fatalities so far in the latest outbreak of the deadly virus, which has claimed thousands of lives in previous outbreaks in the Central African country.

Health officials have declared an Ebola outbreak in a province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization announced on Thursday, with 28 suspected cases and at least 15 deaths.

Gut fungi are associated with human genetic variation and disease risk In contrast to decades of research on gut bacteria, human genetic determinants of the gut fungal community (mycobiome) remain understudied. This investigation presents the first GWAS on the number and...

We published a new lane of research today on human gut fungi. Shout out to 1st author @emilyvansyoc.bsky.social sky.social & @erdavenport.bsky.social For 20 years, bacteria received the lion's share of interest in the human gut. Yet we know little about the gut mycobiome. doi.org/10.1371/jour...

Researchers have filmed thousands of climbing catfish scaling waterfalls, providing a rare insight into the daring migration of an enigmatic fish.

Learn more: https://scim.ag/4lDlFux

Electron micrograph of two phage infecting a host cell side-by-side, with hearts between them

Do you love phage? I have an opening for a postdoc in my lab at the University of South Florida College of Marine Science (@cmarinescience.bsky.social) looking at interactions between marine phage and iron, which is an important limiting trace metal in the oceans (1/5) 🧵#phagesky 🦠🌊

figure showing nine data points (each for a distinct publisher) in a graph where Y-axis is our open science index and X-axis is academia friendliness (=proportion of published journals co-owned by an academic entity); strong positive relationship

Non-profit publishers (PLoS, Oxford, Cambridge) and publishers partnering a lot with academia (Wiley) are much more committed to open science than the others - MDPI being the worst by large. (4/5)

Austria is stepping up to support US postdocs:
stipendien.oeaw.ac.at/en/fellowshi...

A small marsupial, the eastern quoll, illuminated under ultraviolet light, revealing vibrant blue fluorescence on its fur, especially around its white spots and tail, while standing on a reddish-brown rock in a dark environment.

Stunning image of a mammal (the eastern quoll) that glows✨ under UV light💡

📷: Ben Alldridge, reported in the @nature.com briefing

#nature #neature #marsupial

Are you an early-career biologist or ecologist who would benefit from an invited seminar? Would you like to come to UMaine next fall or spring to give a talk? Leave a brief comment with some info about what you do. I'm co-hosting our seminar series again, and am filling out our rosters.

whoa

MetaPhlAn 4.2.2 release (initial long-read sequencing support and database update) Announcement We are pleased to share that MetaPhlAn 4.2.2 is now available, which incorporates taxonomic profiling of long-read metagenomes for the first time and includes a new version of the MetaPhl...

The new version of MetaPhlAn v4.2.2 released!

📌taxonomic profiling of long-read metagenomes for the first time
📌new version of the MetaPhlAn db (vJan25_202503) containing >21k new SGBs

Try it out & @hutlab.bsky.social and we are looking forward to your feedback!
forum.biobakery.org/t/metaphlan-...

Industry-Academia Alliance Update: We've put it all into innovation and a leadership alliance with QIAGEN to optimize MICROBIOME PhD training from @psumbiome.bsky.social. Home to the 1st Microbiome PhD, the team is always looking for the next round of future PhD talent.

www.psu.edu/news/huck-in...

Can't wait to dig into this!

Special Application Deadline for Students Accepted or Studying in the United States

The OIST Graduate School has opened a Special PhD Admissions Portal for students currently enrolled in, or accepted to, universities in the U.S. #PhDProgram www.oist.jp/admissions/s...

An update on open postdoc positions, in my group and the adjacent group of Howard Ochman, here at UT-Austin. #SymbioSky

Mine: insect-bacterial symbiosis with emphasis on intracellular endosymbionts and molecular mechanisms.
web.biosci.utexas.edu/moran/contac...

Pooled analysis of 3,741 stool metagenomes from 18 cohorts for cross-stage and strain-level reproducible microbial biomarkers of colorectal cancer - Nature Medicine An analysis of 18 metagenomic datasets of individuals with colorectal cancer, adenomas and healthy controls yields improved cancer prediction accuracy based solely on gut metagenomics, as well as the ...

🥁NEW publication from our lab:
the largest meta-analysis of gut microbiome associations with CRC!

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

🧵⬇️

1/6

our lab is blessed to have 3 new postdoctoral fellow positions. we would welcome scientists interested in...

This is some Last Airbender shit.

The role of the enteric nervous system in the pathogenesis of Clostridioides difficile infection Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Published online: 22 May 2025; doi:10.1038/s41575-025-01071-xThis Perspective highlights emerging evidence of an interaction between Clostridiodes difficile and the enteric nervous system (ENS) during infection, discussing underlying mechanisms and how the ENS and extrinsic innervation are affected by C. difficile infection and toxins and how ENS responses contribute to pathogenesis and disease outcomes.

ICYMI: New online! The role of the enteric nervous system in the pathogenesis of Clostridioides difficile infection

2 versions of the same design, all of which say "Biology is bigger than binaries", with a central image of a bee, a clownfish, and a lily. The one on. the left is pink, the right is orange,

Today we hit 250 orders of these shirts (designed by @franzanth.bsky.social) which absolutely rocks. Thank you to everyone who ordered one! I can't wait to see you all wearing them!

Pre-order is open until June 1, then I'll send 'em to the printer.

Look hot, get a shirt: Squidfacts.bigcartel.com

Oxford Nanopore sequencing will be ubiquitous for multiomics….and the next step is proteomics.

First panel-based proteomics assays, before driving towards full protein sensing in the future. #nanoporeconf

New preprint led by @brunoluviano.bsky.social & Fernando Santos.

We show that filamentation enhances bacterial survival under toxic stress — not as collateral damage, but as a regulated morphological response.

TL;DR: Filamentation isn’t a symptom, it’s a strategy!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Flier with colorful queer science logo. Info https://inclusion.engr.uconn.edu/queer-science-2/ Register tinyurl.com/qsc2025

Do you know a high school student who's queer and interested in STEM? Do they want to come to UConn for. *free* one day conference to meet and learn about queer scientists and engineers work. Join us for Queer Science June 8 in Storrs.

This month's editorial is an invitation to submit papers on clinical and translational aspect of the microbiome.

This collection is a joint effort with @naturemedicine.bsky.social @natcomms.nature.com and @commsbio.nature.com

#MicroSky #MicrobiomeSky 🦠⚕️🧪⚕️

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

Longitudinal profiling of low-abundance strains in microbiomes with ChronoStrain - Nature Microbiology ChronoStrain accurately profiles low-abundance strains in longitudinal samples by jointly modelling nucleotide sequencing errors, strain presence/absence and the temporal information associated with e...

Longitudinal profiling of low-abundance strains in microbiomes with ChronoStrain www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs

Figure 2 from linked paper. Relative abundance of archaeal orders and bacterial phyla found using Archaea-Specific and Universal PCR primers. Relative abundance of archaeal orders and bacterial phyla from Anna’s Hummingbird, Canada Goose, Ruddy Turnstone, and Saltmarsh Sparrow was found using Archaea-Specific (top) or Universal (middle and bottom) PCR primers.

Our lab’s latest paper just came out & I ❤️ it. Look at all the Archaea in wild bird poop that Universal primers miss. Amazing job by @thunterbio.bsky.social!

#birds #archaea #AcademicSky

Archaeal diversity in the microbiomes of 4 wild bird species. Check it out —>
journals.asm.org/eprint/3VYAS...

Information storage across a microbial community using universal RNA barcoding - Nature Biotechnology Barcoding microbial ribosomal RNA creates a recording of gene transfer events without requiring translation.

Fresh in @NatureBiotech! We developed a synthetic biology tool for tracking gene transfer in microbial communities and applied it to study plasmid hosts in a wastewater microbiome. Awesome collab with James Chappell & @joffsilberg.bsky.social and incredible students. www.nature.com/articles/s41...