helping cells spend their molecular cash wisely | ants, microbes, and combinations of both | biochemist behind a computer @kit.edu | ex @vuamsterdam.bsky.social, @uniheidelberg.bsky.social & U Vilnius | rookie bassist, saxophonist | pranasag.github.io
Pranas Grigaitis
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I thank everyone who interacted and discussed our/their work with me, and especially the fellow social transfers (www.socialtransfer.net) speakers: Sanja Hakala, Peter Kwant, and Melissah Rowe; Kudos to @joriskoene.bsky.social, Bart Pollux, Aniko Korosi for organizing the session.
This Friday: microbial superheroes in socially transferred materials! Those who know me can easily guess I will be mostly talking about the feeders, but one just has to appreciate _all_ the microbial goods that circulate in STMs.
... which means that less complex meals get co-consumed by the host and its microbes, who chip in some small molecules that metazoans cannot produce themselves (some amino acids, vitamins, etc.). Some of these heroes are well known, but some are truly unsung ones. Needs more research!
The NWO Life conference was a blast! Great keynotes, very valuable input on our current research, and the cherry on the top was the focus session on socially transferred materials. There I gave a talk on my post-doc shenanigans regarding microbial up-cycling of social fluids in ant colonies...
Where one finds food, lactobacilli follow - sweet sweet ant honey is not an exception at all. Quoting Oded Rechavi, the father of The Woodstock of Biology, what's the physiological relevance? Here comes the first set of genome- and proteome analysis-driven ideas on what these replete microbes do.
The metabolic modeling part of this manuscript is just the beginning of what we set up back in my previous life, last fall in Amsterdam. It was great to host Ian Oiler in the low lands back then, and happy to have laid my finger on this whole endeavor. Stay tuned for more ants AND microbes!
With Bart Pollux and @anikokorosi.bsky.social , I will chair the Focus session “Socially Transferred Materials" at NWO Life (28-29 May 2026) 🐜🐸🐌🐄🥚
Invites speakers are @sanjahakala.bsky.social , @pranasag.bsky.social, Peter Kwant and @melissahrowe.bsky.social
@socialtransfernet.bsky.social
I will probably be hiring either a PhD or a Postdoc in the near future. If you are interested in deep biochemical history or molecular mechanisms of evolution please get in touch.
