Our paper "Gene ancestries reveal diverse microbial associations during eukaryogenesis.” is finally out in Nature.
Eukaryogenesis was likely a gradual process shaped by multiple microbial partners and virus-mediated gene transfer, rather than a single binary symbiosis.
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Toni Gabaldón
Multiple fully funded PhD/postdoc positions available: experimental evolution of tumour suppression, egalitarian & fraternal ETIs, jumbo phage ecology & genetics. Related EoIs welcome.
Email CV/statement of motivation written in own words. Open until filled.
Grateful for reposting 🙏
Check it out, this is a truly useful dataset! #mevosky
New paper out! 🔈
Genomic Characterization of the RyC collection: 50 Multidrug Resistant Clinical Isolates of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp.
50 MDR gut isolates, 2 sequencing platforms, 4 “omes,” and 1 mission: provide a resource to decode AMR and MGE dynamics
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Great article about EvolvingSTEM & Dr. Abigail Matela's leadership to infuse dozens of schools w/ authentic microbiology research experiences that demonstrate evolution in real time.
We've engaged more than 11,000 students over 11 years! 😅 🧪 🧫
www.hotmetalcampus.com/news-researc...
🚨 New preprint from the lab! 🚨
We show that multireplicon plasmids are true AMR "jack-of-all-trades":
Widespread, highly mobile, broad host-range, and packed with resistance genes.
Far from random, they form co-evolving associations driven & 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 by IS elements.
See Nacho's thread below!👇👇
Paul Rainey
www.biorxiv.org
Jorge Sastre Domínguez
Plasmids are DNA molecules that replicate independently of the bacterial chromosome and are typically associated with the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and virulence determinants, among other relevant traits. Fusion events between plasmids generate larger, complex backbones that carry two or more replication systems, known as multireplicon plasmids. Despite decades of study, we are still far from understanding how multireplicon plasmids arise, persist, and shape the evolution of AMR. Here, we analyzed 24,000 non-redundant plasmids across bacterial genera and found that more than 30% of them encoded multiple replicons. Compared to single-replicon plasmids, multireplicon plasmids were larger, were enriched in genes encoding antimicrobial, metal, and biocide resistance as well as virulence factors, and showed higher mobility and a broader host range. We also found that multireplicon assembly is not random. Some replicon pairs repeatedly merge into stable multireplicon plasmids, while other pairs rarely fuse even when they commonly coexist intracellularly. We also show that replicon pairs tend to be localized either in close proximity to one another or on opposite poles of the plasmid. We further highlight that multireplicon plasmids can be broadly classified into two groups: long-term coevolving replicon pairs and transient associations that lack a shared evolutionary history. Finally, we reveal the molecular mechanisms underlying multireplicon formation and highlight the role of insertion sequences in their formation and maintenance. Together, our work sheds light on the abundance, gene content, evolutionary patterns, and formation dynamics of multireplicon plasmids and pinpoints their relevance to bacterial evolution and human health. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Instituto de Salud Carlos III, https://ror.org/00ca2c886, PI23/01945, PFIS - FI22/00265, Miguel Servet - CP22/00164 European Research Council, https://ror.org/0472cxd90, HorizonGT, 101077809 Fundación Ramón Areces, "Ayudas Fundación Ramón Areces para la realización de Tesis Doctorales en Ciencias de la Vida y de la Materia 2025" Coordenação de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, https://ror.org/00x0ma614, 88881.128025/2025-01
Why does antibiotic resistance evolution vary between patients?
Come to @officialuom.bsky.social @mermanchester.bsky.social to help us find out!
2.5 year @wellcometrust.bsky.social postdoc position in experimental evolution
Closing 15 May. Apply here: www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...
What if multireplicon plasmids are not an oddity, but an evolutionary strategy?
We found that they are common, more mobile, broader-host-range, and enriched in AMR.
Even more interesting: their assembly doesn’t look random. 👀
Paper preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thread below!🧵👇
Vaughn Cooper
What if multireplicon plasmids are not an oddity, but an evolutionary strategy?
We found that they are common, more mobile, broader-host-range, and enriched in AMR.
Even more interesting: their assembly doesn’t look random. 👀
Paper preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thread below!🧵👇
In celebration of good friends and collaborators Erin Gloag @sirmicrobe.bsky.social, Dan Wozniak and @nanamikubota.bsky.social, here's a cool new study about rapid P. aeruginosa adaptation in wounds, with some hidden phage phun as bonus.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
@vscooper.micropopbio.org & @isabelott.bsky.social let me crash their high-school bacteria hunt while I was working on my book "Life's Edge." Their paper's now out, featuring lots of mutants (including my very own CZ1A).
