Evolutionary microbiologist interested in AMR & microbiomes 🦠 UKRI Future Leaders Fellow & Group Leader @ Queen’s University Belfast. she/her. Ex-GB athlete 🇬🇧
Rachel M. Wheatley
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A wonderful Easter break with my now almost 9 (!!) month baby. Looking forward to microbiologists descending on belfast next week for #microsoc26 - and the conference has a crèche for childcare, how brill is that?!
My lab at #microbio26 - very proud PI, with Jack giving a brilliant talk in the infection forum and Lauren winning the journal of medical microbiology poster prize 🤩 (her poster presentation skills have already far surpassed mine!)
🔊 Looking for a Research Assistant in Bacterial Evolution to join my lab 🦠
🥼Main duties: Research (AMR + microbiome) + lab assistance.
⏲️ Post duration: 30 months
🗓️ Closing date for applications: 20th April 2026
💰 Salary: ~£35k
Details and how to apply: tinyurl.com/2a3v66y7
Please share!
Very happy that this piece of research finally sees the daylight! Super nice collaboration between Nanjing, York and Helsinki. Fun fact: we started this work over 10 years ago when I was working as a fellow at Imperial College. Sometimes good things come to those who wait.
What determines who wins in bacterial competition? We review how the environment can influence bacterial warfare! Hopefully interesting for anyone who likes Bacteriocins (my favorite), T6SS, or CDIs! portlandpress.com/essaysbioche...
Just over two weeks left to register for MENI 2026! A !!free!! microbial evolution meeting in Ireland with some fantastic keynote speakers @jpjhall.bsky.social @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social @drrebeccajhall.bsky.social @tweethinking.bsky.social #Evolution #microbes
www.eventbrite.com/e/3rd-microb...
How social is social resistance? Check out our new mini-review, co-authored by Rosie Randall. Her first paper! 👏🏽 portlandpress.com/essaysbioche... Thanks to @friendlymicrobe.bsky.social and @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social for the invitation. @biology.ox.ac.uk @ilesla.bsky.social
The Social Lives of Viruses is coming to Vancouver, Canada, from 4th-8th August 2026!
This is a free meeting dedicated to all aspects of virus-virus interactions & evolution.
To apply: socialviruses.zoology.ubc.ca
@sociovirology.bsky.social #socialviruses #evosky #lovevirology #virosky
PLEASE SHARE. PhD Opportunity with me, Ben Raymond and Jan Engelstaedter and Andrew Letten at University of Queensland.
Experimentally testing mechanisms of how temperature may change selection and spread of AMR in E. coli. Coupled with some advanced modelling and sequencing.
🧪🦠 #microsky
Phage constrain multidrug resistance spread
#Phage #Plasmid #AMR #EvolutionaryBiology #CraigMacLeanLab
The final version of our paper is out in @isme-microbes.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...
bsky.app/profile/dani...
More exciting phage and plasmid research coming soon!
Rachel M. Wheatley
Rachel M. Wheatley
Abstract. Bacteria have evolved complex protein systems known as bacterial weapons to inhibit or kill their competitors. These bacterial weapons are a remarkably diverse arsenal that influence the com...
Abstract. β-lactamases are central to bacterial resistance against β-lactam antibiotics and are often treated as a textbook example of cooperative resistance. The cooperative aspect of their action ar...
Abstract. Phage therapy offers an alternative to antibiotics for treating multidrug-resistant infections. Plasmid-dependent phages (PDPs) are promising the
Happy to share that our latest research on the eco-evolutionary dynamics of MDR plasmids and PDPs is now out (open access vAuthor) in The ISME Journal doi.org/10.1093/isme...
Here, we explored how plasmid-dependent phages (PDPs) act as a selective pressure against the spread of multidrug resistance
Abstract. Phage therapy offers a promising alternative to antibiotics for treating multidrug-resistant infections. Plasmid-dependent phages (PDPs) are part
Out Now! Bacteria–phage coevolution drives variation in bacterial wilt disease incidence via resistance–virulence trade-offs #MicroSky
Nature Microbiology, Published online: 12 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02373-9Phage–bacteria coevolution is associated with field-specific anti-phage defence and locally adapted phage populations, resulting in phage-resistant but weakly virulent pathogens.
